PC Gaming Bottlenecks: How CPU, GPU, RAM, and Storage Affect Your Game - DIY in 5 Ep 239

Опубликовано 29 декабря 2024, 14:00

This video is about how factors like CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage affect your PC gaming experience. Gaming on the PC is about smooth performance, so bottlenecks (when a component of your system holds back the performance of the others) it can be a real let-down. How do these happen? How can you get the most out of your gaming computer? Let’s find out.

Common gaming bottlenecks
The most common bottlenecks in gaming PCs are either due to the CPU (central processing unit) or GPU (graphics processing unit). The CPU handles non-graphical tasks like game logic, AI behavior, game physics etc. Open-world RPGs and other CPU-intensive genres of game can stretch your processor’s capabilities, holding up the rest of your system. Poor performance such as stuttering and FPS drops don’t only cause frustration, bottlenecks can cause excess temperatures and energy usage.

If the situation is reversed – that is to say, the GPU is struggling and the CPU is running smoothly. This is most common in games with ambitious graphical effects/frame rates, like Black Myth: Wukong and Cyberpunk 2077. A GPU bottleneck, where the CPU sends your GPU more data than it can handle, gives you lower frame rates or can force you to use lower graphics settings.

Upgrading your gaming experience
Dealing with these issues can mean upgrading your CPU or GPU. Upgrading other components, such as RAM or storage, can also be a big help. Faster RAM with sufficient capacity for gaming lets your system store temporary data your CPU and GPU need to access quickly, reducing strain on those components, and improving overall system performance. Faster storage such as NVMe SSDs mean that your games load much faster, reducing lag in gameplay, allowing maps and textures to load instantly (useful in open-world games or when switching levels). Lightning-fast read and write speeds won’t directly help a CPU or GPU bottleneck, but can bump overall system performance to make it smoother and more responsive, so that you notice the bottlenecks less.

Other upgrade options
Other upgrades, such as to the cooling system, can help preserve peak performance by keeping an overheating CPU or GPU within optimal operating parameters and preventing throttling (which can mimic the effects of a bottleneck). An insufficient PSU can cause instability and crashes, so upgrading to make sure you have enough power for everything can be beneficial. Between 200 and 250 watts of headroom is a good rule of thumb. Lastly, an upgrade to a motherboard that supports newer, faster CPUs, RAM, and storage can also be very helpful – though upgrading your motherboard is often most of the way towards fully rebuilding your system, so a solution to be tried after the other options.

Bottlenecked components can really put a damper on your game time, but seeking balance to ensure your components are working harmoniously will lead to better outcomes!

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Timecodes:
0:00 Intro
0:46 Common gaming bottlenecks
2:04 Upgrading your gaming experience
2:57 Other upgrade options
3:40 Outro