Cursor for Windows takes up a lot of GPU resources

[Frank_Chen1 (Frank Chen)]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

I’m using the latest version of Cursor on Windows 11, and it’s using up a significant amount of my GPU, causing my computer to overheat and experience interface lag. I’ve tried switching the GPU Cursor uses, but Cursor always uses up the GPU I choose (whether it’s an NVIDIA or Intel CPU with integrated graphics).

Steps to Reproduce

Windows11
version:1.7.54
GPU: 4090 for laptop and intel UHD gpu

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

cursor version:1.7.54

For AI issues: which model did you use?

gpt5 and claude sonnet 4.5

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

[deanrie]

Hey, thanks for the report. This looks similar to a GPU issue we’ve seen.

To help diagnose it, please share:

1. Process Explorer screenshot: Ctrl+Shift+P → “Developer: Open Process Explorer”
2. Actual GPU usage (%) from Task Manager while Cursor is running
3. A test with extensions disabled: launch Cursor with cursor --disable-extensions and see if the issue persists

Also, please try launching Cursor with GPU acceleration disabled as a temporary workaround:

cursor --disable-gpu

This will help confirm if it’s related to GPU acceleration and help us prioritize a fix.

[Frank_Chen1 (Frank Chen)]

I found that PID 27268 was consuming most of the GPU resources. I’ve already run Cursor with the GPU disabled, which does solve the high GPU usage issue, but Cursor is still lagging, and the interface switching speed and code editing area rendering speed are very slow.

[deanrie]

Thanks for the screenshots! I see the ptyHost process (PID 27268). The ptyHost process manages terminal instances in Cursor.

This is important diagnostic info, please test with extensions disabled to isolate the cause:

cursor --disable-extensions

While running with extensions disabled:

• Does ptyHost GPU usage drop?
• Are you running any terminals or tasks that might be rendering heavily?

Also helpful to know:

• Does this happen right at launch, or only with specific files/projects?
• Do you have multiple terminal instances open?

If high GPU usage persists with extensions disabled, this points to a core Cursor/Electron issue we should escalate. If it goes away, find which extension is causing the terminal rendering issue.

[Frank_Chen1 (Frank Chen)]

i tested cursor --disable-extensions but gpu usage also high.

I’m creating automated trades using a cursor, and there are no tasks that involve high GPU usage.

[deanrie]

Thanks for the additional info, that’s very helpful.

[ma-lihui (Ma)]

Press Ctrl+Shift+P and select Preferences: Configure Runtime Arguments. This will open argv.json file. Uncomment the line // "disable-hardware-acceleration": true

[Ed_Butler]

I am also facing significant GPU usage - Approx 30-40% load of an RTX 3500 Ada when running the latest version as of 25/11/2025.

The issue is caused by the AI pane, and is evident when a very long conversation thread is being worked on in Agent mode. If i close the AI pane, or switch to a new conversation, the GPU performances drops to near-zero.

[bokanist]

I also confirm that the GPU usage is related to the terminal. And especialy when it scrolls.

It’s a big concern when runing auto reload servers and having huge stack trace.

It seems to eat a lot even on high end GPU, looks like there’s a loop on the refresh that copies same memory many times.
I also noticed that the spikes are lower when limiting windows refresh rate at 60Hz instead of 144Hz.

VsCode suffer the same problem. Slightly less I think.

Hope this helps.

[bokanist]

I finally found the cause and created an issue on xterm, please upvote and share it :
https://github.com/xtermjs/xterm.js/issues/5447

You’ll see what’s the problem and how to solve it.