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What is PC Bottlenecking? [Causes & Prevention]

Upgrade your PC and tune it up to avoid bottlenecking

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

You’ve likely encountered the term bottlenecking if you’re a PC gamer. It’s a complex term that infers you’re not getting the best performance out of your PC.

This article covers a comprehensive overview of computer bottlenecking, its signs, causes, and solutions. You can also check our recommendedbottleneck calculatorsfor accurate diagnosis.

What is computer bottlenecking?

A bottleneck is a term commonly used by PC gamers to describe a situation where one PC component restricts the performance of another component. A bottlenecked computer simply means that its performance is being limited by one of its hardware components.

Generally, a PC bottleneck involves three major components: the CPU, RAM, and the graphics card. During a bottleneck, if the graphics card is way more advanced than the CPU, its performance will automatically reduce to match the capacity of the central processing unit.

Here are some common examples of PC bottlenecking:

MSI Afterburner is one of themost popular PC monitoring toolsavailable today and can also be used forGPU overclocking. You can download and launch the software to see a detailed CPU and GPU performance log.

On average, anything below 50% utilization is considered low usage, while anything above 70% is high. If your CPU and GPU usage ranges from 50% to 70%, it’s balanced.

How can I prevent PC bottlenecking?

1. Upgrade your PC Components

If you’re experiencing a bottleneck caused by an underperforming PC component, e.g., GPU, CPU, RAM, or hard drive, upgrading the component is the best way to fix the issue. This is because building a PC with components having an imbalanced performance ratio will lead to bottlenecks.

Balancing your PC isn’t a complex task; all you need to do is take stock of the type of hardware you’re running and contact the manufacturer for the corresponding type.

2. Scan for malware

Viruses trigger high CPU usage in computers, which can be misinterpreted as a bottleneck. If your PC is infected with a virus, it’ll lead to a spike in CPU usage, leading to a bottleneck.

You can also check out our guide showing you thebest antivirus tools for Windows in 2023.

3. Update drivers

Sometimes, you might experience a bottleneck if one component runs outdated software. Updating the drivers of such components can help fix PC bottlenecking.

Here is a detailed guide showing you how toinstall drivers manually.

Outbyte Driver Updater

4. Adjust in-game settings

If you’re experiencing a bottleneck while playing games, you can fix or prevent it by adjusting the in-game settings.

Lowering the graphics, resolution, and other settings can help balance the performance of all components on your PC.

Also, avoid running more apps at the same time and disable the ones you don’t use. It’s the most sensitive thing to do to avoid bottlenecking.

Most traditional Windows users don’t have to worry about bottlenecks and PC efficiency, but if you’re a gamer or a heavy user, you’ll often experience bottlenecks. Identifying and resolving bottlenecks are easy and can be done by applying the steps in this article.

If you’ve got other suggestions on preventing a bottleneck, please let us know in the comments.

What is PC Bottlenecking? [Causes & Prevention]#

What is computer bottlenecking?#

How can I prevent PC bottlenecking?#

1. Upgrade your PC Components#

2. Scan for malware#

3. Update drivers#

Outbyte Driver Updater#

4. Adjust in-game settings#