Methodology

This page explains, in detail, how the numbers on ComputingSkill.com are actually produced — the data behind them, the formulas each calculator runs, and what we do (and don’t do) to keep both current. The short version lives on the About Us page; this page is the long version, for anyone who wants to see exactly how a specific result was reached before relying on it.

Two Kinds of Numbers on This Site

Everything you see falls into one of two categories, and it matters which one you’re looking at:

• Published specifications. Core counts, clock speeds, TDP, VRAM, memory bus width, and game system requirements — these are facts taken directly from a manufacturer’s or publisher’s own official page, not measured or estimated by us. Every CPU, GPU and game page on this site that uses this kind of data links directly to the specific source it came from.
• Derived estimates. Bottleneck percentages, FPS ranges, recommended PSU wattage, recommended RAM — these are calculated by our own formulas, using the published specifications above as inputs. They are reasoned estimates, not measurements, and we label them as such everywhere they appear.

Where the Hardware and Game Data Comes From

Every CPU and GPU in our calculators, and every game’s system requirements, is sourced from a manufacturer’s or publisher’s own page — NVIDIA, AMD and Intel’s own product/specification pages for hardware; each game’s own Steam listing or the developer/publisher’s own support page for system requirements. We do not use third-party aggregator sites, retailer listings, or community wikis as a primary source.

As of the most recent full audit (September 2026), every hardware and game entry on this site carries a visible source link on the page where it’s shown — the “Sources” line under a spec table, or the “Source” line under a game’s system requirements. If you ever see a spec without a source link, or a spec that looks out of date compared to its own linked source, please use the Contact page to tell us — that’s a bug, not intended behavior.

Specs change. A manufacturer revises a boost clock, a game studio raises its minimum requirements, storage footprints grow with content updates. We periodically re-check entries against their listed source and update anything that’s drifted; the source link on each page is also there so you can independently check whether it’s still current yourself, at any time, without waiting on us.

The Relative “Score” System

Several calculators (bottleneck, FPS, upgrade) need a single number that represents roughly how capable a CPU or GPU is, so they can compare two parts against each other. We generate this as a simplified 1–100 relative index per part, built from its published specs (cores, clocks, architecture generation, and — for GPUs — a small number of well-sourced native-resolution benchmark comparisons used only to calibrate relative standing between generations, never as an absolute performance claim).

This score is not a benchmark result, and we don’t present it as one. It exists purely to drive the math on this site — ranking parts against each other well enough to catch an obviously mismatched pairing or a reasonable FPS ballpark, not to stand in for a real performance review.

How Each Calculator’s Formula Works

PC Bottleneck Calculator

Takes your CPU and GPU’s relative scores and compares them using resolution-specific sensitivity curves: at 1080p, a CPU/GPU score gap matters more (games are more CPU-bound at lower resolutions); at 4K, the same gap matters less and a GPU-side gap matters more (games shift more load onto the GPU as resolution rises). The output is an estimated bottleneck percentage and which part is more likely the limiting one, calculated separately for 1080p, 1440p and 4K.

FPS Calculator

Estimates a GPU-driven frame rate from the GPU’s relative score, adjusted for your chosen resolution and graphics preset, then caps that estimate against a separate CPU-driven ceiling derived from the CPU’s relative score (so a very strong GPU paired with a weak CPU won’t show an unrealistically high number). The lower of the two becomes the estimate, shown as a range (roughly ±18%) rather than a single misleadingly precise figure, since actual FPS depends heavily on the specific game engine, drivers and settings we can’t see.

PSU Calculator

Adds up an estimated power draw from your CPU’s TDP, your GPU’s TDP, and typical draw for RAM sticks, storage drives and case fans, plus a fixed allowance for the motherboard and other small components. It then applies roughly 30% headroom on top of that total (good practice for efficiency and transient power spikes) and rounds up to the nearest 50W. As a safety floor, the recommendation is never allowed to fall below the GPU manufacturer’s own published minimum PSU recommendation for that card, even if the component tally alone would suggest a lower number.

RAM Calculator

Uses a lookup table of baseline RAM recommendations by primary use case (browsing, gaming, streaming, content creation, development, heavy multitasking), then adds a small amount on top depending on how many applications or browser tabs you say you typically keep open at once, and rounds up to the nearest common kit size (8/16/32/64/128GB).

PC Power Consumption & Build Cost Calculators

Power consumption estimates an average wattage draw at roughly 65% typical load (CPU TDP + GPU TDP + a fixed allowance for the rest of the system), then multiplies by your stated daily usage hours and electricity rate. Build cost is a straightforward sum of whatever component prices you enter — no estimation involved, just arithmetic.

What These Formulas Deliberately Don’t Account For

None of these models can see your specific game engine, driver version, RAM speed, storage speed, background software, thermals, or power limits — all of which affect real-world results. They’re built to catch clearly mismatched hardware and give a reasonable planning number, not to replace an actual benchmark run on your specific system. Where a result is close to a threshold (a near-even bottleneck, a borderline RAM recommendation), treat it as “this probably doesn’t matter much either way” rather than a hard verdict.

Corrections

If you find a spec that’s out of date, a source link that’s broken, or a formula that seems to produce an unreasonable result, please use the Contact page — we read every message and update the underlying data or logic when a correction is confirmed against its source.