Bottleneck (CPU-bound vs GPU-bound)
Also searched as: bottleneck · cpu bound · gpu bound · cpu bottleneck · gpu bottleneck · bottlenecking
What it means
The part of your PC running flat-out while the rest waits is the bottleneck. In games it is usually the GPU (GPU-bound) or the CPU (CPU-bound), and which one it is decides what will actually raise your FPS.
More detail
Watch usage during a game. If the GPU sits near 100% and the CPU has headroom, you are GPU-bound — lowering resolution or settings, or turning on upscaling, buys frames. If the GPU is well under 100% but one CPU core is pegged, you are CPU-bound — resolution barely helps; the limit is draw calls, physics, or a 1%-low and stutter problem instead. A bottleneck is not a defect to eliminate: something is always the limit. The goal is to know WHICH limit you are hitting, change the thing that matters, and ignore the dozen tweaks aimed at the part that already had headroom.
The Compy Blackbook holds 174 graded entries like this one, judged against your hardware — and every change it does make is reversible, with the receipt to prove it.
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