SpotBottle

Any PC is bound to experience some sort of bottleneck, as it is impossible to have components that offer identical performance, even in pre-built machines. Figuring out what the issue is can be difficult, however, and this is where a specialized utility can help you out.

SpotBottle is a command-line program that monitors resource usage in an attempt to determine which of your components is slowing down the system. It is not too difficult to use, but the lack of a GUI makes it unsuitable for novices.

The application keeps an eye on CPU, RAM, disk and network usage, while also watching for processes that are using a large amount of system resources. It relies on the Windows Performance Counters API, and the gathered data is displayed in a command-line window.

An identifier is provided with each reading, letting you know what the cause of the bottleneck is. In the case of a CPU bottleneck, an estimation of the percent CPU time used by the listed process is also displayed.

You can set how often the program should collect data, as the default 1-second interval may be too much, especially if you are saving the data to a log file, which can be stored in a user-defined location.

It is also possible to change the column formatting method, and a complete list of supported arguments, as well as usage examples, can be brought up with a simple command.

SpotBottle can be a useful tool in the right hands, but you have to be comfortable with using the command console, as the program lacks a GUI. It offers a decent set of features, and it comes with documentation that should help first-time users.