A bottleneck occurs when one component of our PC does not allow another to perform at its best, causing the end result not to be as expected. If you find that your favorite computer games are not working as they should depending on the hardware you have, it is possible that your system is out of balance and it is time to renew it. This is why we are going to explain the relationship between the CPU and frames per second and how to know when it is limiting performance in games.
First of all, it should be clarified that processor and graphics card requirements are not the same for all games and vary from title to title. However, when it comes to improving our PC to be able to enjoy better performance in our games, we may find ourselves limited. We know that we don’t always have the capital to update both components and we have to choose which one to update. So our recommendation is that if you can, replace both to improve the performance of our PC.
How does the processor influence the frames per second?
Video games are nothing more than a continuous loop in which, in each frame, the processor updates the situation of the scene and creates a list of screens which is nothing more than a series of instructions for the graphics to generate the image.
So the frame time is not what the graphics card needs to generate the frame, but rather the sum of the two.
- If the FPS rate is not capped, a more powerful CPU or GPU will cause the frame rate to increase.
- If the FPS rate is fixed, an underpowered processor will take power away from the graphics card, which will have to reduce the level of detail to reach the stipulated speed. This can be achieved by cutting the resolution, removing the use of certain graphics filters, or using other equivalents that require less computing power.
That’s why if you increase the processor power, you still see a performance increase, despite the fact that the rest of the hardware is exactly the same, since, on the one hand, the time per frame is reduced, and on the other hand on the other hand on the other hand it gives us more time to chart in a fixed time. Let’s not forget that saying FPS is equivalent to talking about frequency, which is the inverse of time.
How do you know that your PC’s CPU is the bottleneck?
The first thing you should look at is the technical requirements of the game, if you see that they are lower than what is recommended by the game developer, then what you should do is reduce the level of detail of the game so that the CPU spends less time creating the list screen and saves a few extra milliseconds. If you meet the specifications, make sure to close any other applications you are using that also require CPU attention.
However, there is another bottleneck which is due to the lack of activity. If when running a video game on your PC you go to Task Manager and you find that the CPU has a very low utilization percentage, then it’s time to force the machinery. Not in vain, the current Intel and AMD processors when they have a low workload release the clock speed to reduce their consumption and heat. Consequently, they decrease their performance.
Maybe the game runs at a stable frame rate and is fully playable with great fluidity, but it’s time to press the gas. How? Easy, increase the resolution of the game image and suddenly you will see the magic. Your graphics card will switch to motion graphics under a higher resolution at nearly the same frame rate as before.
