B*ttleneck

[MadShadow]

So we all know that the word "bottleneck" is looked down on at OC3D, but I never understood why. Surely its a decent analogy for certain cases, no?

The purpose of this thread is to clear things up about why its such a terrible word to use. I believe I've been slapped in the face with a fish by Tom once or twice for using the word, so I'd like to know how it got it's reputation.

Thanks guys

 

[Doomslayer]

So we all know that the word "bottleneck" is looked down on at OC3D, but I never understood why. Surely its a decent analogy for certain cases, no?

The purpose of this thread is to clear things up about why its such a terrible word to use. I believe I've been slapped in the face with a fish by Tom once or twice for using the word, so I'd like to know how it got it's reputation.

Thanks guys

Noooo oh no it's too late, you done it now

 

[MadShadow]

Noooo oh no it's too late, you done it now

It had to be asked ^_^

 

[Doomslayer]

It had to be asked ^_^

Your going to get into trouble when TTL sees this

 

[Thelosouvlakia]

The way that people use the word is wrong. Bottleneck means that something is saturating the bandwidth of something else. For example, a 295x2 graphics card needs more bandwidth than a pcie2.0 x16 slot can provide, thus when you have one installed in a slot like that you may say it's getting bottlenecked by the pcie interface
Same with having a sata 3SSD and installing it on a sata2.0 port

 

[MadShadow]

The way that people use the word is wrong. Bottleneck means that something is saturating the bandwidth of something else. For example, a 295x2 graphics card needs more bandwidth than a pcie2.0 x16 slot can provide, thus when you have one installed in a slot like that you may say it's getting bottlenecked by the pcie interface
Same with having a sata 3SSD and installing it on a sata2.0 port

Alright, I suppose I get that. But what would be the wrong way to use the word?

 

[AverageNinja]

HEY! There's a new rule on the forum. No more bad language!

All joking aside, I'm fairly sure it's about this:

A Pentium will b*ttleneck a 290x, sure. Though if you're on a budget, and would get an i5 instead of a Pentium, you would need to get a much cheaper GPU. A Pentium with a 290x will still perform better in most games than a 4690k with an R9 285. That's why people need to stop asking about b*ttlenecks and just get the best GPU they possibly can. A better CPU can come later.

I might be entirely wrong though, so don't pin me on this.

 

[MadShadow]

HEY! There's a new rule on the forum. No more bad language!

Thats why I censored the title ^_^

All joking aside, I'm fairly sure it's about this:

A Pentium will b*ttleneck a 290x, sure. Though if you're on a budget, and would get an i5 instead of a Pentium, you would need to get a much cheaper GPU. A Pentium with a 290x will still perform better in most games than a 4690k with an R9 285. That's why people need to stop asking about b*ttlenecks and just get the best GPU they possibly can. A better CPU can come later.

I might be entirely wrong though, so don't pin me on this.

Intersting, I suppose that might be right

 

[SPS]

It's perfectly fine to use the word when there is actually a bottleneck, I just imagine it's one of those words that's always used way out of context. There's only so much one can take

 

[MadShadow]

It's perfectly fine to use the word when there is actually a bottleneck, I just imagine it's one of those words that's always used way out of context. There's only so much one can take

Thats fair enough.

So if someone asks "Will my i3 bottleneck a 980", is that fine or not? Im trying to figure out what scenarios it can be used in

 

[Doomslayer]

I'm getting confused

 

[JR23]

Thats fair enough.

So if someone asks "Will my i3 bottleneck a 980", is that fine or not? Im trying to figure out what scenarios it can be used in

No because you sound like a noob. You can't just use it in a general situation. For example if you said will having an i3 have a negative effect on my average FPS when playing GTA V on a 980 at 1440p... then thats a much better question that is easier to answer.

JR

 

[MadShadow]

No because you sound like a noob. You can't just use it in a general situation. For example if you said will having an i3 have a negative effect on my average FPS when playing GTA V on a 980 at 1440p... then thats a much better question that is easier to answer.

JR

I get that it makes you sound like a noob but why? Is it just because its so commonly used by noobs or is there an actual reason?

 

[JR23]

I get that it makes you sound like a noob but why? Is it just because its so commonly used by noobs or is there an actual reason?

Yeah it is commonly used by noobs, but the problem is it's commonly applied poorly by noobs making it even more nooby. Limiting factor, held back, weakest component... are all nicer ways of wording the question should you need to ask it but most importantly be specific about the application. Rather than being like haha u haz 750Ti in an i7 rig, thats a total bottleneck bro, when you don't know anything about what the rig is for

JR

 

[Dicehunter]

Alright, I suppose I get that. But what would be the wrong way to use the word?

There's nothing wrong with using the term bottleneck as long as it's used in a correct way.

For example a proper bottleneck is putting 3 Titan X's with an AMD 4350, Now that's a bottleneck as the CPU can't cope with the sheer amount of info being pumped it's way ergo the cards are bottlenecked *Held back* by the CPU's performance or lack there of.

 

[SPS]

There's nothing wrong with using the term bottleneck as long as it's used in a correct way.

For example a proper bottleneck is putting 3 Titan X's with an AMD 4350, Now that's a bottleneck as the CPU can't cope with the sheer amount of info being pumped it's way ergo the cards are bottlenecked *Held back* by the CPU's performance or lack there of.

It will bottleneck in an extreme game situation but in a CUDA application, maybe not so much.

 

[MadShadow]

Alright I think I understand the mysterious "bottleneck" now, hopefully Tom doesn't see this

 

[Dicehunter]

It will bottleneck in an extreme game situation but in a CUDA application, maybe not so much.

Jayz two cents did a good video about it with 3 Titan X's, His results were pretty much identical going from 1440P down to 1080P in tests, He explains it properly in his videos but CPU's are starting to become a limiting factor, Until DX12 comes out any way.

Alright I think I understand the mysterious "bottleneck" now, hopefully Tom doesn't see this

No harm in asking, If you don't ask you don't learn and OC3D isn't yet a nazi run police state the last time I looked so if you need info ask away

 

[SuB]

Mostly because it was thrown around as a kind of flash word for so long incorrectly.

 

[Davva2004]

IMHO, the only way to correctly use the word "bottleneck" is when describing which part of the bottle to drink beer from.

It has become such a generic term for poor performance issues that it is effectively useless at describing a problem. "Oh noes my ram isn't gayming spec so it will bottleneck my gee pee yooz" and "oh em geez my mouse isn't 6 billion DP eyes so it will bottleneck Call of Battlefieldz 23"... pass me a shotgun. This ain't /v/.