Bottlenecking is a natural result of an unbalanced PC build.
Or just the most expensive one out there thats usually not the best approach.
That might mean waiting a little to be able to afford a slightly pricier part that fits better.
Or actually selecting a cheaper alternative that works better in your setup.
If you make the wrong choice, you end up with a bottleneck.
A computer can only perform as well as its weakest part.
Contents
Why Is It a Problem?
Either way, its best to avoid them or fix them as soon as possible.
What Are Common Bottlenecks?
The most common two bottleneck points are CPU and GPU.
CPU
The CPU is the heart of the computer.
It controls basically everything that happens and performs the vast majority of the computers processing.
There are two factors in CPU performance, core count and processing power.
Both can cause bottlenecks but in slightly different scenarios.
This has overall performance benefits, but some programs benefit more than others.
Some programs have logic that can be neatly divided into multiple processes.
Each process can then be run on a separate CPU core simultaneously.
This can provide a performance boost of up to two times running on a single CPU core.
A clock rate is simply how many processor cycles the CPU can complete per second.
IPC or Instructions Per Cycle represents how many instructions a CPU can complete per cycle.
Typically, this number isnt advertised, but each generation of CPU improves on the previous.
This is especially the case when the CPU doesnt get enough cooling.
It is generally the bottleneck in any gaming system, even if you have the most expensive flagship GPU.
GPUs are generally limited by power or by heat.
RAM
RAM is where your gear stores data that it needs for the currently running processing.
It can provide that data to the CPU much faster than even the fastest SSD can.
While RAM speed can be a bottleneck for some, the more likely RAM issue is capacity.
Some programs like using a lot of RAM.
Google Chrome is a notorious example, though there are many others.
Editing large files such as photos or videos involves loading them into RAM.
8GB of RAM is generally enough, but there are workloads where you could need much more.
SSD/HDD
The Solid-State Drive or older Hard Disk Drive is where data is saved on your system.
HDDs are cheap and available in huge capacities.
However, theyre very slow to both read or write data.
SSDs are now also available in fairly large capacities.
If you think storage capacity will be a bottleneck issue, youll probably want to use HDDs.
However, if it’s crucial that you read or write data quicker, youll want an SSD.
At least in gaming, a slow hard drive often causes things like slow loading times.
It can also cause your box to be slow at booting up.
Still, while reading a lot of data from a slow hard drive, it can be a bottleneck.
Display
The display is rarely a bottleneck, but thats not to say it cant be.
you’re free to display more detailed images or graphs on higher resolution screens.
It may even be helpful to get a second screen.
Standard monitors display 60 frames per second.
Motherboard
The motherboard is basically the spine of your gear.
Everything attaches to it and communicates through it.
Budget motherboards cut features to reduce costs.
Unfortunately, you also often dont get the latest feature sets.
This can, for example, force your expensive PCIe5 SSD to operate at PCIe3 speeds.
In that case, cutting potential SSD performance by three quarters.
you should probably confirm your motherboard is compatible with all your parts.
With motherboards, the bottleneck isnt a direct performance of the motherboard.
But more if it can enable optimum performance of the rest of your components.
Power supply
Computers need power, and all of this comes through the PSU.
Its important to determine how much power your rig will draw when under load.
Then ensure that your PSU can provide more than that, ideally by 20-30%.
There are online calculators where you’re free to type your components and estimate the total power draw.
This is followed by recommendations for PSU power capacities.
Realistically, most standard computers will be fine with a 650W PSU.
you’re able to need even more if youre running particularly high-end gear and overclocking it.
Generally, however, you shouldnt need a 1600W power supply.
That will just be overkill, and the money can be better spent elsewhere.
Again, aim for 20-30% more than you need, and you should be fine.
How Can You Fix/Avoid It?
For example, video games require a huge GPU processing power and comparatively little CPU processing power.
A flagship GPU will run 100% in most computers with even mid-tier modern components.
