GPU-bound
A workload is GPU-bound when the graphics card is fully utilised and frame rate is limited by rendering work rather than by the CPU.
Also known as GPU limited, GPU bottleneck
Measured by SystemCheck
Part of the four-stage run: a 60-second sustained CPU load reporting throughput, decay and consistency; a memory stage reporting bandwidth and latency; a calibrated GPU raster load reporting frame time, pacing and decay; and a path tracer reporting samples per second. The paragraphs below say which metric carries this term.
GPU utilisation near 100% with frame rate responding directly to graphics settings is the definition. For gaming this is usually the desirable state. It means you are getting everything the card can give, and it is why competitive players deliberately lower settings to leave the GPU-bound region and hit CPU-limited frame rates instead.
Being GPU-bound is not automatically fine, though. If your card is GPU-bound at a frame rate well below what that model normally delivers, something is limiting it: thermal decay, a power limit, a VRAM shortfall causing stalls, or a driver problem. Full utilisation at a bad frame rate is a real symptom.
SystemCheck's raster and path-tracing stages measure GPU capability under sustained load with frame-time and consistency reporting. If your GPU result is well below comparable machines with the same card, the problem is in your system state (cooling, contention, driver) rather than in the card's design.
Related terms