What is PC bottleneck? Cause and simple check

When using a computer, you must have encountered a situation where your computer is slow, frozen or unable to perform simple tasks. One of the main causes of this is PC bottlenecks. So what is a PC bottleneck? Let’s find out with Tnhelearning.edu.vn through the article below!

What is PC bottleneck?

“PC bottleneck” is a term that refers to a condition when a computer’s components experience limitations in performance because one component is limited or slower than others, resulting in stuttering. , lag when playing games.

PC bottleneck on computers

Causes of computer bottlenecks

The main causes of PC bottlenecks include:

• The processor (CPU) is overloaded or has insufficient performance to handle the running tasks. If the RAM memory is too small , tasks that require a lot of memory will not be able to perform well. Or a slow, out of space, or faulty hard disk (HDD) can also cause this condition.
• If the CPU is slower than VGA , the CPU’s scripting speed will be slower than the VGA’s drawing speed, resulting in the CPU having to work at 100% capacity but still not meeting the VGA’s drawing speed. This bottleneck can also occur in reverse.

Causes of PC bottlenecks on computers

How to check for PC bottlenecks

PC-builds.com is a popular website widely used by the gaming community to check for computer bottlenecks.

Step 1: Visit the PC-builds page

To access the PC-builds website, you can visit at PC-builds.com or click HERE.

Step 2: Choose the right hardware components for your computer.

For example, I tested with an Intel Core i5 10400 processor, a GEFORCE RTX 3070 graphics card and 16 GB of RAM.

Provide your computer specs on the website

Step 3: Click the Calculate button.

Click the Calculate button to have the website perform a “congestion level” measurement of the devices on your computer.

Click the Calculate button to let the website do the calculation

Step 4: View the results in percentage (%) displayed on the PC-builds.com page screen.

With the configuration I tested, the bottleneck was only about 0.08% , which means no bottlenecks . The higher the ratio, the heavier the bottleneck and vice versa.

To determine if your computer is experiencing a weak CPU + strong VGA bottleneck, you can rely on the following milestones:

• From 0% – 10% : your computer is not bottlenecked or only has a small amount, does not affect the performance of the whole system.
• From 10% – 60% : the computer is experiencing quite a heavy bottleneck, affecting the performance of the whole system.
• Exceed 60% : your computer is experiencing a complete bottleneck and you need to check your computer’s configuration again.

Bottlenecks aren’t as worrisome as you might think. In fact, it does not cause performance loss or lag when playing games, but only makes the graphics card or processor not work at its maximum performance.

The result returned on the screen is the level of the bottleneck on your computer

Guide to choosing hardware to limit bottlenecks

Currently, most synced laptops or PCs are pre-configured , tweaked and optimized as much as possible. Therefore, bottlenecks are very rare, so you do not need to worry.

Here are a few notes to help you choose hardware for your gaming PC set:

CPU

The choice of CPU of each person is different, depending on the purpose as well as usage needs and personal finances to find the right product line.

If you only play simple games or have low CPU requirements, then CPUs with 4 cores or 6 cores will meet your needs. If you want to play CPU demanding games or are looking for the best gaming experience, you should consider choosing a CPU with 8 cores or more .

Users should choose the right CPU for their needs

VGA

You should choose the right VGA with the CPU you selected earlier to help the computer run at maximum capacity without bottlenecks. In addition, the VGA configuration needs to match the requirements of the game you are playing. If you play simple games, mid-range VGA can meet the requirements. If you play heavier games, a more powerful VGA is needed to ensure better picture quality and gaming experience.

If you want to play heavy games like: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, or Metro Exodus, you need a powerful VGA like: Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti , 3070 , or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT . If you want to play simpler games like: League of Legends or Dota 2, you can use mid-range VGAs like: Nvidia GTX 1650 or AMD RX 5500 XT .

You should select the VGA that matches the CPU selected earlier

RAM

The amount of RAM needs to match the requirements of the games you are playing. If you only play simple games, then 8GB of RAM may be enough to meet your needs. However, if you play heavier games or use multiple apps at the same time, at least 16GB of RAM or higher is required.

You need to choose the right RAM for the requirements of the game

SSD/HDD

In case the need to store a lot of data, such as video or audio files , then HDD will be a more suitable choice , because they have large capacity and lower cost than SSD.

However, with a gaming PC set , using an SSD will speed up game loading and make the game run smoother . SSD has faster access speed than HDD, helping to reduce game load time and reduce waiting time when starting the system.

Therefore, if you want to increase gaming performance and speed, then you should choose an SSD solid-state drive. However, if you have a need to store a lot of data, an HDD hard drive will be a more suitable choice. Both drive types can also be used to take advantage of each.

You should choose SSD/HDD that suits your needs

Screen

The choice of monitor for a gaming PC set is also very important and directly affects the user’s gaming experience. The higher the resolution, the sharper and more detailed the image. For gaming PC monitors, 1080p (Full HD) resolution is the minimum recommended.

If possible, users should choose a screen with a higher resolution such as: 1440p (2K) or 2160p (4K) for a better gaming experience.

Asus TUF Gaming VG249Q1A 23.8-inch FHD/165Hz/1ms/FreeSync/HDMI/DisplayPort monitor for faster gaming

Other hardware

In addition to basic components such as: CPU, VGA, RAM, hard drive and screen, there are some other hardware that is also very important for a gaming PC such as:

• Motherboard (Mainboard) : This is an important component to connect other components together, so it is necessary to choose a quality motherboard and suitable for use.
• Computer power supply (Power Supply) : To provide enough power for the components in a gaming PC, it is necessary to choose a computer source with guaranteed capacity and quality.
• CPU Cooler : When using a powerful CPU to play games, the temperature can rise and affect the performance of the computer. Therefore, it is necessary to choose an efficient CPU heatsink to help reduce the temperature of the CPU .

You should choose a high-quality motherboard

So Tnhelearning.edu.vn has joined you to find out what a PC bottleneck is as well as its causes and how to check for this situation. Hope this article will help you get more useful information!