Let's talk about 'Bottlenecks'

[Sarra]

There are many, many threads where people ask the same question: "Will this cause a bottleneck?" Often, there's a little bit of hardware sprinkled in with the question, typically a CPU and a GPU. Sometimes, an entire build. Maybe even a diagram, PCPartpicker list, or copy of an invoice...

 

The answer is "Yes. Yes, there IS a bottleneck."

 

The answer isn't wrong, the question is.

 

The question everyone should be asking is: "Will this cause a noticeable degradation in performance?"

 

And almost always, the answer is 'No, you won't notice a problem."

 

A modern CPU and a modern GPU will almost invariably give reasonable performance. Pairing a high end CPU with a low end GPU might give a limited performance, but a low end CPU and high end GPU will likely be fine for gaming. A low end CPU and low end GPU will make a fine budget system, and a high end CPU and GPU will provide a good gaming experience while also being usable for productivity, if needed.

 

When asking about pairing mismatched hardware, generationally (example, a CPU from 2016 and a GPU from 2022), instead of asking 'is this going to bottleneck?', consider asking "Will this give satisfactory performance?" The answer is going to be more applicable than asking if it'll bottleneck.

 

Always keep in mind, there are factors beyond your GPU and CPU that effect performance. Having a 13900k and 4090, but having Windows 11 sitting on a budget 5600RPM hard drive from 2009 is going to cause some issues in performance. Running a 13900k with a 4090, but having DDR4 2133 RAM is going to hurt performance. The key is a balanced system, you can pair old parts and new parts, if you ask the right questions, or know what you're doing, and still have a usable gaming experience.

[tkitch]

I still say we just ban the word bottleneck and get it over with.

[cmndr]

Will my 4090 system be bottlenecked by a 7950x with 3dvache phase change cooled and run at 6GHz? 128GB RAM running at 6GTS with tight timings and 3.2TB of RAID10 Optane p5800x for storage. 25Gbps networking connected to a NAS with 2TB RAM caching files off of a ~100TB array of nvme 4.0 drives.
Using a 24" 480Hz 1080p monitor. Also an 85" 4K 120Hz Oled.

 

I'm playing mine sweeper on windows 3.1.

[thrasher_565]

1 hour ago, cmndr said:

Will my 4090 system be bottlenecked by a 7950x with 3dvache phase change cooled and run at 6GHz? 128GB RAM running at 6GTS with tight timings and 3.2TB of RAID10 Optane p5800x for storage. 25Gbps networking connected to a NAS with 2TB RAM caching files off of a ~100TB array of nvme 4.0 drives.
Using a 24" 480Hz 1080p monitor. Also an 85" 4K 120Hz Oled.

yes... your pocket

 

7 hours ago, Sarra said:

There are many, many threads where people ask the same question: "Will this cause a bottleneck?" Often, there's a little bit of hardware sprinkled in with the question, typically a CPU and a GPU. Sometimes, an entire build. Maybe even a diagram, PCPartpicker list, or copy of an invoice...

 

The answer is "Yes. Yes, there IS a bottleneck."

 

The answer isn't wrong, the question is.

 

The question everyone should be asking is: "Will this cause a noticeable degradation in performance?"

 

And almost always, the answer is 'No, you won't notice a problem."

 

A modern CPU and a modern GPU will almost invariably give reasonable performance. Pairing a high end CPU with a low end GPU might give a limited performance, but a low end CPU and high end GPU will likely be fine for gaming. A low end CPU and low end GPU will make a fine budget system, and a high end CPU and GPU will provide a good gaming experience while also being usable for productivity, if needed.

 

When asking about pairing mismatched hardware, generationally (example, a CPU from 2016 and a GPU from 2022), instead of asking 'is this going to bottleneck?', consider asking "Will this give satisfactory performance?" The answer is going to be more applicable than asking if it'll bottleneck.

 

Always keep in mind, there are factors beyond your GPU and CPU that effect performance. Having a 13900k and 4090, but having Windows 11 sitting on a budget 5600RPM hard drive from 2009 is going to cause some issues in performance. Running a 13900k with a 4090, but having DDR4 2133 RAM is going to hurt performance. The key is a balanced system, you can pair old parts and new parts, if you ask the right questions, or know what you're doing, and still have a usable gaming experience.

 there a lack of what is a bottle neck and a list of what can this + this do.  how to set all the stings for the best option. what monitor to use at what restorations. 

 

then there other things like drivers and os then amd vs nvidia.

 

how to set gpu fan profiles oc/under volt, how to set cpu fan profiles, how to set ram profiles, what programs to use to monitor what temps are normal for gpu / cpu

 

there post all around bout this stuff but nothing in one spot is the problem... there might be a list of psu but it dose no good if people cant find it.

 

i dont even no how to setup my stuff haha... and i been playing / building pcs for 15+ years now

Edited November 15, 2022 by thrasher_565