How to use bottleneck calculator while building your next gaming PC

Bottleneck calculators come in handy while deciding the specifications of a gaming machine. It is quite difficult to guess which components will best fit together. Thus, gamers might end up spending more money than they ideally should.

One way to figure out the perfect hardware choice for a gaming rig is to skim the internet for benchmarks on any given combination. However, this can be time-consuming. In addition, there might not be detailed benchmarks for every CPU and GPU combination possible.

To solve this problem, developers have come up with a robust tool called the bottleneck calculator. However, one should check out a credible bottleneck calculating tool to ensure they don't get false information. In this guide, we will list some of the best options on the internet and detailed instructions on how to use them.

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Detailed guide to using a bottleneck calculator in 2023

Out of the multiple bottleneck-calculating tools available on the internet, the best are listed below.

1. PC builds bottleneck calculator
2. CPU Agent bottleneck calculator
3. TechWafer bottleneck calculator

In addition to these options, users can identify bottlenecks manually as well. The best offline options include:

1. MSI Afterburner
2. Windows Task Manager
3. GeForce Experience

Using an offline bottleneck checker can be a bit difficult for non-tech-savvy gamers. Thus, using an online tool is a more viable option.

In addition, users who are planning a gaming PC build will not be able to manually test out every piece of hardware either. In these cases, online bottleneck-calculating tools come in handy.

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How to use an online bottleneck-calculating tool

Using an online tool is quite straightforward. For instance, we will guide users through the PC Builds calculator, which is one of the most well-known offerings out there.

The home page of the bottleneck calculating tool on the PC Builds website (Image via PC Builds)

Step 1: To begin with, head over to the webpage for the calculator via a quick Google search. You will be greeted with a page as shown above.

Step 2: From this page, you can then enter your preferred CPU and GPU.

Step 3: Alongside this, you will also need to mention your target resolution for the PC setup. At lower resolutions like FHD, video games are more CPU-bound. However, at higher resolutions like 4K and above, titles tend to be more GPU-bound.

Thus, resolution plays a pivotal role in determining which processor and graphics card one should opt for when going for a gaming PC build.

The CPU and GPU details have been fed into the calculator (Image via PC Builds)

Step 4: In addition, you also need to choose the workload you will use your PC for. The calculator comes with three options, namely general, processor-intensive, and graphics card-intensive tasks.

Basic browsing and casual word processing needs can be classified under general tasks, while data compression and complex mathematical calculations are processor-intensive workloads.

Gaming is a graphics card-intensive task, so in the above screenshot, we chose accordingly.

A detailed report on how much bottleneck gamers can expect (Image via PC Builds)

Step 5: Next, you can hit "Proceed to Calculation." This will provide a detailed report on what to expect from the gaming PC listed in the steps above.

PC Builds does an incredible job and outlines the estimated percentage utilization of each component in workloads. The tool also lists which parts should be upgraded to get rid of the bottlenecks.

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Online bottleneck calculators are not perfect

Gamers should note that online bottleneck calculators might get multiple things wrong. In addition, the reports are generally based on performance aggregates and the scenarios may wildly vary depending on the video game.

Although these tools can provide some vital insight into the expected performance and bottlenecks of a system, one should do some further digging before finalizing any component.