Why this exists
Most bottleneck calculators online were written years ago and never updated. They output a single opaque percentage that nobody trusts — Reddit threads about "your bottleneck calculator says my build is 90% bottlenecked, is that real?" are a daily occurrence.
We built this because PC builders deserve better. Every answer here is anchored on real measured benchmarks — PassMark, TechPowerUp, manufacturer datasheets — and every prediction carries a confidence score so you can tell which answers are measured and which are estimated.
What we're building
- CALCULATORBench-anchored bottleneck verdicts, FPS predictions, and PSU sizing.
- PART PAGES20 CPUs and 20 GPUs indexed with specs, perf indices, and best pairings.
- GAME FPS10 games tracked with measured FPS data per popular CPU + GPU combo.
- METHODOLOGYOpen-source engine with the full algorithm explained on the methodology page.
Who’s behind it
Made by Salman Ahmed — software engineer (10+ years building production web apps in TypeScript / Next.js / Postgres) and a hands-on PC builder since 2009. Built or repaired roughly 40 PCs over the years for friends, family, and clients — which is where the “why isn’t there a calculator that doesn’t lie” itch came from.
The site is a one-person project. I write the engine, curate the benchmark data, fact-check every CPU and GPU spec against manufacturer datasheets, and personally verify the prediction accuracy on the 36 measured FPS rows in the CI test (21.6% MAE, 72% within ±35%). No editorial board, no contributors yet, no ghostwriters.
I’m reachable through the portfolio site (above), the project’s GitHub, or by email at the address in the privacy policy. I answer every message that isn’t SEO spam.
Editorial stance
Recommendations are driven by the engine, not affiliate margin — which I’ve laid out in the affiliate disclosure. I’ve never accepted payment, free hardware, or any other compensation from NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, board partners (ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, EVGA, Sapphire, etc.), game publishers, or any other commercially-interested party. If that ever changes, I’ll disclose it on this page first.
This site is independent and not affiliated with NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, or any game publisher. Every benchmark cited belongs to its original source — see the data sources page for full attribution.