Who doesn’t want their PC performing at its best? On a gaming PC, the GPU determines most of your gaming experience. Chasing 100% GPU utilization seems like a reasonable goal. After all, you don’t want to leave performance on the table. However, that doesn’t mean you start panicking when your GPU utilization drops below 100%, desperately hunting for a CPU bottleneck or worrying about GPU overheating. GPU utilization is dynamic, and the factors that influence it are varied. In many cases, it might even be ideal to set a limit on your GPU performance — here’s why.

Lower GPU usage isn’t always a bottleneck

Don’t jump to conclusions

GPU usage, as a metric, is only useful when it depicts an extreme disparity between the GPU and CPU utilization. For instance, if your GPU is hitting 50–60% utilization while your CPU is struggling at 90–100% utilization, you have a severe CPU bottleneck. However, people tend to overestimate CPU bottlenecks when their GPU usage is around 80–95%. This scenario is a far cry from a CPU bottleneck that needs immediate fixing. In most games, your GPU will probably sit at a consistent 99–100% utilization, but some games are more CPU-dependent than others and won’t stress your GPU as much.

Other games don’t even scale beyond a certain framerate, so your high-end GPU might show relatively low utilization, which shouldn’t be seen as a sign of a bottleneck. Even different scenes in the same game can lead to different GPU utilization numbers, so the concept isn’t as hard and fast as it might seem. Fluctuation in GPU utilization is perfectly fine, and you should focus on metrics like frametime instead of worrying about “wasting” your GPU’s potential.

Low GPU utilization alone can be a sign of a CPU bottleneck, but it doesn’t guarantee it. Unless you’re looking at terribly low utilization numbers, you need other metrics to confirm a system bottleneck. If you can’t get hold of that data, you probably don’t have anything to worry about.

Your GPU might be better off running under its limit

Low GPU utilization might be a boon

Unless you have a budget GPU or an older model that has started to struggle in the latest titles, you often don’t need to push your GPU to the limit. I’m not advocating you throttle your GPU’s performance and harm your gaming experience, but in most cases, you can enjoy your games even without your GPU firing on all cylinders. You need to weigh power consumption and longevity against peak performance when deciding whether an overworked GPU is worth it. If your PC is compact or has a lack of airflow, 100% GPU utilization might raise your GPU temperature beyond the comfortable range, and could also lead to higher noise levels.

Undervolting your GPU has genuine advantages for cutting down on power consumption and extending the life of your graphics card. By reducing the amount of power being supplied to your GPU, you can essentially make it cooler and more silent. In some cases, you might have to sacrifice a bit of performance, which might show up in the form of low GPU utilization. However, you probably won’t notice a difference on your screen. Your graphics card will last longer, delaying forced upgrades and saving you money in the long term.

Your perceived experience matters more than the numbers

An FPS cap can actually improve your experience

If you’re running your games with an uncapped FPS, you’re allowing your GPU to render all the frames it possibly can. While this might sound ideal, once the framerate goes beyond your “target framerate”, it doesn’t do much for your gaming experience, unless you’re playing professionally and want minor latency benefits. This target framerate can be 100 FPS on a 144Hz monitor, or even 60 FPS if you’re using upscaling or frame generation to further boost it to, say, 90 or 120 FPS. Capping your game to your target framerate will then allow you to enjoy it the way you want without letting your GPU consume excess power to do basically nothing useful. It could render more frames, but it wouldn’t impact your experience in a meaningful way.

Another underrated benefit of capping your framerate is a more consistent experience. No matter which game you play, your FPS will fluctuate all over the place, from 100 FPS to 80 to 120 to 140. With an uncapped FPS, an FPS drop from, say, 140 to 80, will feel quite jarring, ruining your immersion. Once you know that your FPS rarely falls below 80 FPS, and stays around 100 FPS, on average, you can cap it at 100, so that any drops to 80 FPS don’t feel as jarring. This will lead to a much smoother gaming experience without wasting GPU power. If you’re enjoying your game the way you want, how does it matter if it’s not utilizing your GPU to the fullest? Limiting your framerate is one of the best performance tricks on gaming PCs.

100% GPU utilization is overrated

Once you understand GPU utilization, you’ll agree with me that it’s not as useful as most people think. Yes, it can uncover a severe CPU bottleneck, but in all other cases, it’s best to ignore it. Chasing the highest possible FPS can be counterproductive to improving your gaming experience. A capped framerate can actually make your game smoother while reducing GPU power and extending its lifespan. After all, it’s your perceived experience that matters the most, not performance numbers.