I've recently switched from Chrome to Opera GX because Chrome was consuming too much RAM and causing screen tearing. Initially, Opera GX was smooth, but now I'm facing memory issues again. Even when I only have Opera GX and Discord open, my idle memory usage is around 70-80%, despite having set a 2 GB memory limit for Browser GX and keeping only 1-2 tabs open. Is this normal? How can I reduce memory usage? Should I consider reinstalling Discord? I've updated my drivers and my computer is on the latest version, yet my RAM usage sits between 10-11.5GB of my total 16GB.
3 Answers
If your system uses integrated graphics (iGPU), it could be utilizing some of your RAM as VRAM, which reduces the available memory for applications. Look out for viruses, bloatware, or miners. Windows might be taking around 3.5-5 GB just for its processes, and in your case, consider limiting the number of open tabs and programs or even upgrading to 32 GB of RAM if your system supports it.
You might want to check for underlying issues, like viruses or malware. They can consume a lot of resources. Try running a full scan with Microsoft Defender—it may find something the quick scan missed.
I ran a quick scan with Microsoft Defender, but it didn't find anything. I guess a full scan would be next.
With Windows 10 and 11, the OS tends to cache RAM to preload apps for quicker access. This might be why your RAM usage seems high, especially if Task Manager shows most of it is cached. Check what exactly is using your memory there for more details!
I notice Discord takes between 500 MB to 1.5 GB and Opera GX uses around 1.8 GB even when just a couple of tabs are open. Not sure why it's so high.
Any specific apps you recommend for virus scanning or checking for bloatware?