Building a quality gaming PC isn’t as simple as buying the most expensive CPU or GPU. A holistic and balanced hardware setup is critical for an ideal user experience.
A “balanced” PC is one in which the hardware is equipped for the workloads the machine will be handling, such as gaming, and should be designed to avoid “bottlenecks.” With a properly balanced PC, your components will achieve the level of performance they were designed for, without any one component (or set of components) being disproportionately over or under-utilized. This means a better gaming experience, and a better user experience overall.
All PCs should be properly balanced, but we’re mostly going to focus on the hardware of a system designed for gaming. Many of the recommendations will apply to other systems as well.
What Is a PC Bottleneck?
In the context of a PC, a bottleneck refers to a component that limits the potential of other hardware due to differences in the maximum capabilities of the two components.
A bottleneck isn’t necessarily caused by the quality or age of components, but rather their performance. Bottlenecks aren’t unique to high-end systems either; balance is equally important in systems with more entry-level hardware.
Imbalance in Action
Bottlenecks are not exclusive to the CPU and GPU, but the interplay between these two components illustrates how a bottleneck can impact a system. Discussing that interplay can provide insight into how bottlenecks work and why balanced hardware is preferable.
The central processing unit (CPU) is responsible for calculating operations like physics, audio, netcode, positional data, and countless other systems in modern PC games. It also sends rendering instructions to the graphics processing unit (GPU).
These instructions from the CPU contain everything the GPU needs in order to know what to render, including shaders, textures, and other visual data. They are then executed by the GPU, resulting in the image you see onscreen. If the GPU is rendering these instructions faster than the CPU can provide them, the GPU will remain idle until the next set of instructions is ready.
This means the GPU is not operating at peak performance, and this can result in fewer frames per second being rendered. This is a bottleneck, in that the performance level of the GPU is being restrained by the limitations of the CPU.
The same can happen in the opposite direction. If a powerful CPU is sending instructions to the GPU faster than the GPU can render, the maximum computational effort of the CPU is being limited by the slower speeds of the GPU. The system would perform better with a CPU and GPU that are more closely matched in performance capability.
Again, almost any hardware can contribute to a bottleneck, not only the CPU, and GPU. Ideally, system hardware will work as close to maximum performance as possible, and one link in the hardware chain will not detrimentally impact the others.
Balance Your Build
One of the advantages of pre-built PCs is that they are usually designed to be balanced. If you are building or upgrading your own system, however, you want to buy hardware that isn’t just compatible but complementary from a performance perspective.
Consider the best way to disperse your budget. You want the highest quality components, but you also want to prioritize for your needs. For example: If you want a higher resolution experience, allocating your budget to accommodate a higher resolution display and high-end graphics card is ideal. Or, If you play fast-paced shooters like Call of Duty*: Modern Warfare or Over watch, prioritizing a high frame rate with the right gaming CPU and a higher refresh rate display makes sense.
When putting together your PC, keep in mind that you can always upgrade later. It’s preferable to have a balanced build you can upgrade rather than one very powerful component in a system that otherwise lags behind.
A balanced build goes beyond ensuring a better gaming experience. It’s about putting together a system that will perform at its best regardless of how you use it. Whether you’re gaming or creating, prioritizing balanced hardware will result in a better all-around experience.
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