Bottleneck Calculators: What are they for? - MSPoweruser

Bottleneck calculators online come in a variety of forms, but they all do the same job of calculating the bottleneck percentage between pieces ... BottleneckCalculators:Whataretheyfor?June21Share0AuthorSharronBennet//inDevice,Electronics,GamingLaptop,Hardware,Laptop,SoftwareSearchrecentpostsAndroidDataRecoverywithoutRoot-ReviewofTenorshareUltdataforAndroidTwitterpostsitsfirst-evereditedtweet,officiallaunchseemsimminentDifferentwaystolockandunlockFnkeyinWindows10and11MicrosofttodiscontinueSwiftKeykeyboardappforiOSonthisdateCreateandcustomizedesktopwebsiteshortcutslaunchingviaChrome,Edge,orFirefoxHowtoTransferWhatsAppfromAndroidtoiPhone14withoutErasingData?Pre-builtPCsaregenerallydesignedtobebalanced,butifyouareupgradingorbuildingyoursystem,youmightwanttobecarefulinselectingyourcomponentstopreventPCbottlenecks.Onewaytohelpyouwiththattaskisareliablebottleneckcalculator.WhatisaPCbottleneck?Whatisabottleneckcalculator?BottleneckcalculatorsonlineArebottleneckcalculatorsprecise?CanItrustthem?ConclusionWhatisaPCbottleneck?PCbottleneckoccurswhenthecomponentswithinyourPCarenotcomplementingeachother,whichcausesacertainPChardwarenottoreachitsfullpotentialbecausetheothersimplycan’tkeepup.Inaway,thinkofhaving100sofinputatatime,butyou’reonlycapableofprocessingtenatacertaintimeunit.Beforedivingdeeperintotherealpurposeofbottleneckcalculators,itisimportanttounderstandfirstwhatabottleneckphenomenonis.ThisoccurswhenthecomponentswithinyourPCarenotcomplementingeachother,whichcausesacertainPChardwarenottoreachitsfullpotentialbecausetheothersimplycan’tkeepup.Inaway,thinkofhaving100sofinputatatime,butyou’reonlycapableofprocessingtenatacertaintimeunit.ItcanhappentodifferentcomponentsofaPC.Still,thebestwaytoillustratetheeffectofabottleneckisthroughtheunequalperformancesofagraphicsprocessingunit(GPU)andacentralprocessingunit(CPU).Theprocessorisresponsiblefortheoperationcalculationsofaudio,netcode,physics,positionaldata,andmore.Morenotably,itsendsthegraphicscardrenderinginstructions,fromtexturestoshadersandotherimagedataneededtoproducepleasingscreenvisuals.Now,iftheGPUwouldperformtheseinstructionsfasterthanthepassingofinstructionsbytheCPU,itmeansthegraphicscardwouldjustrestbeforeanothersetofinstructionsarrives.ThedownsideaboutthisisthattheGPUwouldrenderfewerframespersecond.Ontheotherhand,iftheCPUsentinstructionsfasterthantheGPUcouldhandle,yourPCwouldstillexperienceunfavorableperformance.AgoodexampleisthepairingoftheIntelCorei9gamingprocessorandtheGeForceRTX3090GPU,whichcansignificantlyimbalancethePCperformance.SuchinstancesconcludethePCbottleneckandtheimportanceofcomponentscomplementingeachother.HavingtherightbalancebetweenthosepiecesofhardwarewillencourageasoundperformanceofthePCwhilepreventingeachpartfromhinderingoneanotherfromperformingtotheirfullpotential.Whatisabottleneckcalculator?Whenyouarebuildingorupgradingacomputer,findingtheformulatingtheproperhardwarecanbechallenging.Assaidearlier,youneedthepartsthatcomplementeachothertoensuretheentiresystemwillworkinthebestwaypossible.Thisisimportant,especiallyifyouaimtohaveagreatgamingPC.However,testingthepartsphysicallyisalmostimpossibleforeveryone.Justimaginethecostandeffortyouwouldhavetodealwithifyouhadtotestthegraphicscardsorprocessorsindividuallyinanactualscenario.Theperfectanswerforthatisthebottleneckcalculatorsthatwillcalculatethebottleneckpercentagewithinyoursystem.Thistypeofcalculatorishandywhenyouneedtoanalyzetheperformanceofyourcomputersystem.Byshowingyouthecalculationsorthebottleneckpercentage,youwillbeabletodeterminehowthepartsworktogetherandidentifywhichpartofthecomputeriscausingittoslowdown.Thatway,youcanalsopointoutthethingsyoucanimprove.Bottleneckcalculatorsonlinecomeinavarietyofforms,buttheyalldothesamejobofcalculatingthebottleneckpercentagebetweenpiecesofhardware.Theywillaskyoutonameoridentifythechipsfromaspecificmaker(e.g.,IntelorAMD),cores,andmore.Somewillalsogiveyoudropdownoptionstofindthehardwareyouarehopingtocompareeasily. Whenusingthem,itisgenerallyconsideredthatanythingbeyond10%isalreadyabottleneck.Forexample,theNVIDIAGeForceGTX970andIntelI5-8600Khaveabottleneckpercentageof14.3%,primarilycausedbytheGPU.BottleneckcalculatorsonlineYou’llfindalotofbottleneckcalculatorsonline.Althoughtheydifferinsomeways,theywillgiveyoutheserviceofcalculatingbottleneckpercentagesbetweenpairedpiecesofPChardware.Herearesomeofthemostwell-knownsuggestionswecanshare:PCBuildsBottleneckCalculatorPCBuild’scalculatorisprettysimpleandeasytouse.Uponenteringthepage,youwillbeaskedabouttheprocessorandgraphicscardyouwanttocompare.Youcanentertheirdetailsinthesearchbar,andtherewillbesuggestionsthatwillappear.Justselecttheonethatmatchesyoursearch.YouwillalsobeaskedforthePCscreenresolution(widthandheight)andthepurposeofthecomparison(e.g.,generaltasks,processorintensetasks,orgraphiccardintensetasks).Itwillthencalculatethepercentageforyou.Thegoodthingaboutthiscalculatoristhatitpresentsnotjustthepercentagebutsoassomeinsightsintowhetherthecomponentswilljiveperfectlyinspecificsituations.Itwillalsotellyouwhetheritmakessensetomakeanupgradeornot.BottleneckedBottleneckCalculatorTheBottleneckedcalculatorisoneofthemostpopularcalculatorsonline,butsurprisingly,itisnotasperfectastheotherswehaveonthislist.Whenwetestedit,itshowedinconsistenciesintheresults,whichisprimarilybecauseofthebugsonitswebsite.Nonetheless,usingitisasintuitiveastheoneonPCBuilds.Youjustneedtoidentifythegraphicscardmakerhereandselectthespecificmodelyouarelookingfor.YouwillalsobeaskedforyourPC’sRAM,screenresolution,CPU,andstorage.Onceyouhavecompletedtherequirements,youcanselecttheSubmitbuttonandRevealbuttontoseetheresults.Apartfrombottleneckpercentageinsights,itwillalsoshowwheretheproblemoccurs,suggestedreplacement,andthebottleneckpercentagethatwillberemovedifyouapplysuchchanges.CPUAgentBottleneckCalculatorThiscalculatorfromCPUAgentisjustliketheothers.ItwillrequireyoutoentertheCPU,GPU,RAMsize,RAMspeed,resolution,andqualitysettings.Clickingintotherespectiveboxesofthesaidcomponentswillgiveyouadropdownselectionforthechoices,andthereareevenpricesforeach,givingyouanideaofhowmuchyouwouldspendifyoudecidetomakehardwareupgrades.Theresultthiscalculatorcanpresent,though,isthemainhighlight.Asidefrombottleneckpercentage,itwillalsoshowyouthespecificationsoftheCPUandGPU.What’smore,itwillgiveyouadeeperlookatthestreaminganalysisbasedonthebenchmarkof9games,suchasShadowoftheTombRaider,ForzaHorizon4,CallofDutyModernWarfare,BattlefieldV,andmore.Ingeneral,itisoneofthebestbottleneckcalculatorsthatwillpresentyouwiththecompletesetofinformationyouneed.Arebottleneckcalculatorsprecise?CanItrustthem?BottleneckcalculatorsmakeyourlifeeasierindeterminingthebottleneckpercentagebetweenCPUandGPU,butyoushouldn’ttrustalltheinformationtheywillprovide.Theyarenotpreciseatalltimes,andsomeareevenbuilttohelptheircreatorsmonetizefromthem.Forinstance,somecalculatorswillshowyouhardwaresuggestionswithaffiliatelinks.Thismeanspurchasingthemwillhelpthemearnsomecommissions,sosomecalculatorsonlinewillgiveyouupgraderecommendationsthoughtheyareunnecessary.Assuch,youmustknowyourmainpurposeformeasuringthebottleneckpercentageofyourPCsystem.Supposeyouarebuildingorupgradingacomputerforgamepurposesandotherdemandingtasks.Inthatcase,youmightwanttoconsiderthesuggestionsofthecalculatorbutbesuretodofurtherresearchtoensureyouaremakingtherightdecisions.ButupgradingtoahigherandmorepowerfulCPUorGPUdoesn’tmakesenseifyourpurposeisjustforgeneraltasks.Ontheotherhand,ifyoudon’ttrustthesecalculators,youcanstillmanuallycalculatethebottleneckpercentageofyourPCsystem,thoughitmeansmoreworkforyou.YoucandoitbyobservingtheCPUandGPUusageofthecomputer.TryusingtheMSIAfterburnerandplayagamefor30minutes.ThisshouldletyousaveadetailedlogoftheutilizationoftheCPUandGPU.(YoucanfindtherecordonC:/ProgramFiles(x86)/MSIAfterburner/HardwareMonitoring.hml)Toensuretheprecisionoftheresults,youwillcompareandtryplayingmoregamestogetmoreinformationforthelogs.Andoncetherecordsarecollected,comparethemandseeifthereisabigdifferencebetweentheirusage.Asmentionedabove,thelowerthedifference,thebetter.ConclusionBottleneckcalculatorsareanexcellentwaytogetaninstantideaifyourPCsystemhasabottlenecksituation.Itisalsoveryconvenientasyouwon’tneedtophysicallyattachanewcomponenttotestthecompatibilityofcomponents(unlikemanuallyobservingtheCPU/GPUusage).Whenusingoneonline,takeeverythingwithapinchofsalt.IfyouarebuildingorupgradingaPC,donotjustrelyonyourdecisionssolelyontheinformationthatthecalculatorwillprovide.Domoreresearchtomaketherightdecisions,especiallywhenmakingahardwareupgrade.PreviousNext{"email":"Emailaddressinvalid","url":"Websiteaddressinvalid","required":"Requiredfieldmissing"}