What is Bottleneck in Computers? How to Calculate Bottleneck?

You might have heard the term Bottleneck when people are talking about CPU and GPU performance. So, many non-techies might be thinking What is Bottleneck?

In this article, we will explain what is Bottleneck, and also provide a step-by-step guide on how to use the Bottleneck Calculator.

What is Bottleneck?

In simple words, Bottleneck is the process in which one component of a PC is stopping other components to perform at their best. 

For example, if you see the above image, the entire bottle has a large area, but the neck area is very narrow. If you try to pour liquid in or out from the bottle, the process is going to be slow, because the neck is narrow, and the liquid passes slowly through it. Similarly, when you have a weak component in your computer, it prevents other components from performing at their fullest.

How Bottleneck occurs?

Bottlenecking can happen in several cases. For example, when you buy a powerful Graphics Card and insert it into a very old PC, it can cause Bottleneck issues. There is an increase in performance, and you can even play games. But, it will prevent the powerful Graphics Card from giving you the best performance. All the other components of the computer, like CPU and RAM, will be slow and would transfer the data to & from the Graphics Card at a slow rate. Therefore, the Graphics Card won’t be working at its full potential. 

Gaming is not always about having the best GPU. Some games also require a powerful CPU, when you are playing online multiplayer games, or VR games. But, People often go for buying a cheap CPU, and a powerful GPU for gaming purposes, which causes Bottleneck issues. There are also people who just upgrade their Graphics Card without upgrading the other parts like CPU and RAM. Such actions end-up causing Bottleneck issues in the computer.

A Simple Example:

Let’s take an example of the railway traffic. Suppose there is a high-speed electronic train and a low-speed steam train running on the same track. The electronic train has the tendency to travel at a high speed. But, the electronic train cannot overtake the steam train until it reaches the station. Here, the steam train is Bottlenecking the electronic train, and preventing it from working at its full potential. 

Another Example:

Suppose a team of four people are tied together in a running race. Three of them are world champions, and one of them cannot run that fast. So, because of that one person, the other three cannot give their best. Similarly, when you have an expensive Graphics Card, SSD, 16 GB RAM, but an i3 2nd generation CPU, it will cause Bottleneck issues.

How to Prevent Bottleneck?

Even if you assemble all the best components in your PC, there will be one thing or another that may cause Bottleneck issues. Although we cannot completely remove the Bottleneck issue from your PC, but we can try to reduce it to the minimum. 

  • Having unnecessary programs opened in the background while playing games will reduce the gaming performance. It is because the opened programs are taking up CPU and RAM usage. Hence, the game is utilizing more GPU and less CPU, which causes a Bottleneck. Therefore, you can close all the unnecessary programs and services running in the background to prevent Bottleneck issues while playing online games.
  • Another solution is to Overclock the less powerful component. If you already have a powerful Graphics Card, and a less powerful CPU, overclocking the Graphics Card won’t be much helpful. In this case, you need to overclock the CPU to match its performance with the GPU.

How to Calculate Bottleneck?

There are several ways you can check whether your PC is having Bottleneck issues.

Checking manually:

Here, you need to install software and see the CPU and GPU percentage to identify Bottleneck issues. You need to install CPU-usage trackers like MSI afterburner and enable the in-game overlay.

If your GPU usage is at 100%, then your computer is working fine. But, if your CPU is running at 100%, and GPU usage is less, then you have CPU Bottleneck issues.

You can use a Bottleneck Calculator before upgrading any parts or buying a new computer.

Bottleneck Calculator:

Check out this Bottleneck Calculator by PC-Builds.com to check the percentage of Bottleneck. 

How to use Bottleneck Calculator?

  • After you click on the above link and go to the website, First select AMD or Intel CPU.
  • Next, select the CPU series, and enter the CPU model.
  • Similarly, you need to select AMD or NVIDIA GPU.
  • After that, select the GPU series and Model.
  • Finally, enter the amount of memory (RAM) you have in your PC, and click on the Calculate button.

As you can see in the below image, using an Intel i5-9400F CPU with Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti has the least Bottleneck issues.

What is Bottleneck, Bottleneck Calculator
Screenshot taken from pc-builds.com

However, using an Intel i3 Third Generation processor with Nvidia’s 1050 Ti Graphics Card shows more Bottleneck percentage.

What is Bottleneck, Bottleneck Calculator
Screenshot taken from pc-builds.com

Similarly, calculate the Bottleneck percentage using different combinations, and choose the one that suits you better.

Conclusion:

Bottleneck issue is very common if you build or assemble a PC. However, it is not completely possible to prevent the Bottleneck. Therefore, you need to make sure the Bottleneck percentage is as less as possible by using the Bottleneck Calculator.

Now that you know What is Bottleneck, share this article with your friends using the share icons. Also, tell us how much Bottleneck percentage your PC has after testing using the free Bottleneck Calculator.

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