If you want to understand what FPS rates your Steam games are running at, multiple third-party programs help.
But if all you require is a very basic counter and you don’t care about other hardware stats, you don’t need to download any of these — you can use a feature built right into Steam.
Check your game’s Steam FPS performance without downloading extra stuff; It takes about five seconds to set up.
Here’s how to set up Steam’s built-in FPS counter for your PC.
- Open Steam.
- Go to Steam > Settings > In-Game.
- Under the In-game FPS counter, select the corner where you’d like the counter to appear. You can also review the High contrast color if you prefer.
- Click Ok.
- Now, go ahead and start your game. You should see the frame rate your game is running at displayed in the corner that you specified.
Here’s how to switch on in-game settings and enable monitoring programs to support track frame rates and CPU and GPU usage.
So you just got a glossy new graphics card and want to see how it performs. Or maybe your games are more passive than you expected, and you want to try and analyze the problem. Monitoring your game’s frame rate can assist, and there are several tools you can use to get the job done.
Your frame rate, calculated in frames per second (fps), explains how smoothly a game runs on your PC. The more frames you can plug into one second, the smoother on-screen motion will materialize. Lower frame rates—typically frame rates more inferior than 30fps or so—will appear choppy or slow. It’s a valuable metric for evaluating your hardware’s gaming performance and is often touted by PC enthusiasts looking to boast about their system.
It isn’t just about bragging rights; knowing your frame rate can also help you guarantee you’re getting the best performance possible. For instance, if your game runs gradually, displaying the frame rate can help you determine which graphics settings to bend down for the most significant performance improvement.
Knowing your FPS rate can assist you in deciding which monitor to buy—after all, there’s no reason to jump for a 144Hz monitor if your graphics card is only powerful enough to deliver 60fps in the games you play. In addition, monitoring the frame rate with other hardware stats—like CPU, GPU, and VRAM usage—can tell you which element is the bottleneck in your system and where you’d help most from an upgrade. Convinced? Here are a few methods to measure your frame rate, depending on how much info you need.
You can usually scan your frame rates from the launcher you use to play a game. How you allow this feature will differ established on the app, but they all tend to share the same primary data in one corner of the screen.
If you’re pitching a game on Steam, even if it’s a game you didn’t buy on Steam, you can operate the launcher’s in-game frame rate counter to measure performance. First, on Steam, open Settings > In-Game > In-Game FPS Counter. Please select a location in the drop-down to turn it on. Then, the next time you launch a game, you’ll notice your frame rate in the corner employing dark gray text (though you can check the High Contrast Color box to display it in more readable text).
Origin holds its own FPS counter in the launcher’s settings if you’re playing an EA game. First, click the Origin tab at the top and select Application Settings. Next, choose the Origin In-Game heading, then use the Display FPS Counter drop-down to decide where it should be displayed on the screen. You can then adjust the size and transparency of the in-game counter.
You can shift to the Ubisoft Connect desktop app and enable the FPS counter for Ubisoft games. First, open the app’s hamburger menu, select Settings > General, and then allow the Display FPS counter in-game option.
With the GOG Galaxy schedule, there is no choice in the settings menu to allow an FPS counter. Instead, you can press Ctrl + Shift + Tab while in-game to make a small FPS tracker appear on-screen.
Alternatively, those with an Nvidia graphics card can use GeForce Experience to embed a small FPS tracker over their game. First, open GeForce Experience, select the Settings gear and then enable the In-Game Overlay option. Next, click Settings > HUD Layout > FPS Counter, then choose a location.
These choices are easy to enable, but they’re pretty basic—you don’t have the opportunity to show any other stats like third-party tools may deliver. But for something quick and discreet, it’s a perfect solution. For something that offers you more information, keep reading.
Sometimes, monitoring your frame rate isn’t quite enough. Other hardware stats can show you if a component is being maxed out. For example, if your CPU is always at 100% in-game while your GPU chugs at 40%, you’re better off placing your upgrade funds toward a new CPU. Or maybe your CPU and GPU usage are acceptable while VRAM usage is maxed out, indicating that texture resolution is too high for smooth performance.