Fix Opera GX High RAM and CPU Usage

Problem overview

Despite being marketed as a gaming browser designed for low resource consumption, Opera GX can consume high amounts of CPU and RAM, slowing down your games and overall system performance.

Common causes

• GX Control limiters are turned off or set too high
• Background features like GX Corner, Twitch integration, or background music are active
• Too many active tabs running complex scripts
• Resource-heavy extensions running in the background

Solution 1: Configure GX Control limiters

Opera GX’s defining feature is its built-in resource limiters. You need to configure them to actually restrict the browser.

1. Open Opera GX and click the GX Control icon (the speedometer) in the left sidebar.
2. Scroll down to RAM Limiter and toggle it on.
3. Use the slider to set your maximum desired RAM limit.
4. Toggle on the Hard limit option to ensure the browser never exceeds this amount (though tabs may crash if it runs out of memory).
5. Scroll down to CPU Limiter, toggle it on, and set the slider to restrict maximum processor usage.

Solution 2: Disable background features

Opera GX includes several aesthetic features that consume background resources constantly.

1. Open Opera GX Settings (Alt + P).
2. Scroll down to the Features section.
3. Toggle off Background music and Browser sounds.
4. In the sidebar settings, right-click the sidebar and uncheck integrations you don’t need (Twitch, Discord, WhatsApp).
5. If you do not use GX Corner, you can hide it by going to Settings and disabling Show GX Corner in sidebar.

Solution 3: Audit extensions and tracker blocking

Extensions run continuously and can bloat memory usage.

1. Click the Extensions cube icon in the sidebar (or press Ctrl + Shift + E).
2. Disable any extensions you do not use daily.
3. Ensure Opera GX’s built-in Ad blocker and Tracker blocker are enabled in Settings. Blocking scripts and ads dramatically reduces the CPU and RAM required to load heavy websites.