1. Hardware facts
Core product specifications should come from first-party manufacturer documentation whenever practical: socket, memory support, VRAM, power guidance, architecture and other hard attributes. When a field is uncertain, BuildPilot should mark it as such rather than invent a value.
2. Compatibility before performance
A fast combination is useless if it is incompatible. The Builder checks platform constraints such as CPU socket, memory standard and system power before recommendation ranking.
3. FPS is an estimate, not a promise
BuildPilot’s game model uses relative CPU/GPU performance weights and resolution multipliers to estimate a useful comparison range. It is not a controlled lab benchmark. Game patches, maps, drivers, settings, background software, thermals and memory behavior can change the result.
4. Price changes the answer
Recommendations are evaluated against the price data available to the app. BuildPilot distinguishes verified retailer offers from reference prices and records user price observations over time. A price drop can legitimately change the best-value system without any change in hardware performance, so the final checkout price should still be verified.
5. Three recommendation profiles
- Maximum FPS: biases spending toward modeled gaming output within the budget.
- Balanced / value: looks for a better total-system tradeoff rather than the most expensive compatible combination.
- Upgradeable: gives more weight to platform life and future upgrade paths when the immediate performance cost is reasonable.
6. Editorial pages
Our guides use official game requirements and manufacturer specifications as a factual baseline, then add decision analysis. We do not describe BuildPilot’s modeled values as independent hands-on benchmark results.
7. Affiliate independence
BuildPilot does not currently let a sponsor purchase a better recommendation rank. If affiliate links are introduced, commercial relationships should be disclosed and kept separate from the recommendation logic.
8. Upgrade ROI is a decision score
Upgrade ROI combines estimated FPS gain, total required component cost, compatibility overhead and benchmark confidence. It is not a financial return calculation. CPU platform changes can include motherboard, memory and cooling; GPU changes can include power-supply or case costs when required.
9. Personal FPS calibration
If a signed-in user supplies a measured average FPS for a game and resolution, BuildPilot can store a bounded correction factor for that user. The factor is limited to a conservative range and is applied to that game/resolution estimate so the model can better reflect the user’s own environment without presenting the result as a lab benchmark.