How To Check Framerate On Pc

If you want to know how well your games or demanding software are performing, learning how to check framerate on pc is an essential skill. Monitoring your framerate provides immediate feedback on how well your hardware is running a particular game or application. This simple metric, measured in frames per second (FPS), tells you if your experience is smooth, choppy, or somewhere in between.

Whether you’re a competitive gamer needing every edge, a creative professional ensuring a fluid workflow, or just someone who wants their PC to run smoothly, checking your FPS is the first step to optimization. This guide will walk you through every major method, from built-in game tools to powerful third-party software, so you can find the best approach for your needs.

There are several reliable ways to check your framerate, each with its own advantages. The method you choose depends on the software you’re using, the level of detail you need, and your personal preference. We’ll start with the simplest, built-in options before moving to more advanced tools.

Using Built-In Game Overlays

Many modern PC games include a built-in FPS counter you can enable in the settings. This is often the easiest and least intrusive method, as it uses the game’s own systems to display the information.

To find this option, look in the game’s settings menu. Common labels include “Display,” “Graphics,” “Interface,” or “HUD.” The setting might be called “Show FPS,” “Performance Display,” or “Statistics.” Enabling it usually places a small number in a corner of your screen.

Popular game platforms like Steam, Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft Connect also have their own universal overlays that can show FPS in any game you launch through their client.

Steam: Go to Steam > Settings > In-Game. Here you’ll find the “In-Game FPS Counter” dropdown menu to choose its position. It works in most Steam games.
Epic Games Store: Open Settings from the launcher and scroll to the “Manage Games” section. Enable the “Show FPS Counter” option.
Xbox Game Bar: Press Windows Key + G to open the Game Bar. Go to Widget Menu > Performance. Pin the widget to see FPS, CPU, GPU, and RAM usage.

Third-Party FPS Monitoring Software

For the most detailed data and system-wide compatibility, third-party software is the best choice. These tools offer real-time monitoring, historical graphs, and tracking of other vital components like CPU and GPU temperature.

MSI Afterburner With RivaTuner Statistics Server

This is the most powerful and popular combination for advanced users. MSI Afterburner handles hardware monitoring and overclocking, while RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS) provides the customizable on-screen display (OSD).

Download and install both MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Statistics Server (they often come in a single installer).
Open MSI Afterburner and click the settings gear icon.
Navigate to the “Monitoring” tab. Here you’ll see a list of metrics you can track.
Scroll to find “Framerate” and click the checkbox next to it. Also check “Show in On-Screen Display.”
You can add other metrics like GPU temperature, usage, and CPU stats by checking their respective boxes and selecting “Show in On-Screen Display.”
Click Apply. Now, when you run a game or application, the OSD will show your selected data.

Fraps

Fraps is a classic, lightweight tool focused primarily on FPS monitoring and video capture. It’s very simple to use but less feature-rich than modern alternatives.

After installing and running Fraps, a small yellow number will appear in any 3D application, defaulting to the top-left corner.
You can change the overlay position and hotkeys in the Fraps settings window.
While great for a quick FPS check, its development has slowed, and it may not work with every new game.

NVIDIA GeForce Experience

If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, this is a convenient built-in option. The overlay provides FPS and recording/streaming features.

Ensure GeForce Experience is installed and you are logged in.
Press Alt + Z to open the overlay sidebar.
Click the “Performance” button (or press Alt + R) to open a performance monitoring HUD.
You can customize the layout and which stats are shown by clicking the “Wrench” icon in that panel.

AMD Radeon Software

AMD GPU users have a similar integrated tool within the Radeon Software Adrenalin driver suite.

Open Radeon Software (right-click desktop and select it).
Go to the “Performance” tab at the top.
Click on “Tracking” and ensure “FPS” is enabled.
Then, click on the “Overlay” settings and toggle the “Performance Overlay” to “Enabled.” You can choose a simple or detailed view.

Using Windows Performance Monitoring Tools

Windows 10 and 11 include the Xbox Game Bar, which we mentioned earlier, as a basic tool. For a deeper, non-overlay look, you can use the built-in Task Manager.

Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to the “Performance” tab, and select your GPU. For newer GPUs, you will see a “Dedicated GPU Usage” graph, but note this is not the same as FPS. It shows how hard your GPU is working, which correlates with framerate but doesn’t give you the exact FPS number. For a direct FPS readout, the other methods listed are superior.

Benchmarking Tools And In-Depth Analysis

Sometimes you want more than a real-time counter. Benchmarking tools run a standardized test on your system to measure average FPS, 1% low FPS (which indicates stutter), and other performance data. This is ideal for comparing hardware changes or graphic settings.

3DMark: The industry standard for synthetic gaming benchmarks. It provides detailed scores and comparisons to other systems.
Unigine Superposition: Another excellent stress test and benchmark that gives detailed FPS results.
Built-In Game Benchmarks: Many single-player games include a built-in benchmark tool in their graphics options. Running this gives you a reliable FPS report for that specific game.

Understanding Your Framerate Results

Seeing your FPS number is just the beginning. Understanding what it means is crucial for taking action. Here’s a breakdown of common FPS ranges and what they indicate about your experience.

What Is A Good FPS?

A “good” FPS depends on your display, the type of game, and personal tolerance. Here are general guidelines:

30 FPS: Often considered the minimum for a playable experience. It’s common for console games and slower-paced single-player titles. Some people may notice slight choppiness.
60 FPS: The standard target for PC gaming. It provides a very smooth and responsive feel, especially in fast-paced games. It matches the refresh rate of most standard monitors.
120/144+ FPS: The realm of high-refresh-rate monitors. This provides an exceptionally fluid and responsive experience, highly valued in competitive esports titles like Valorant or Counter-Strike 2. You need a monitor that supports these high refresh rates to see the benefit.
240+ FPS: Pushes into the ultra-high-end, primarily for professional competitive gamers with top-tier hardware and 240Hz or 360Hz monitors.

What Are 1% And 0.1% Lows?

Modern monitoring tools often show “1% Low” and “0.1% Low” FPS metrics alongside your average FPS. These are critical for understanding smoothness.

Average FPS: The mean framerate over your session.
1% Low FPS: The average of the lowest 1% of frametimes. A low number here indicates occasional stutters or hitches that disrupt smoothness, even if the average FPS is high.
0.1% Low FPS: The average of the very worst 0.1% of frametimes. This captures severe, brief stutters. A high average FPS with very low 1% and 0.1% lows can feel worse than a slightly lower but more consistent average FPS.

How To Improve Your Framerate

Once you’ve checked your framerate and found it lacking, you can take steps to improve it. Boosting FPS usually involves adjusting software settings, updating drivers, or addressing hardware limitations.

Optimizing In-Game Graphics Settings

This is the most direct way to gain performance. Every game’s settings menu has key options that heavily impact FPS.

Resolution: Lowering your resolution (e.g., from 1440p to 1080p) is the single biggest FPS booster but makes the image less sharp.
Shadow Quality: Shadows are often very demanding. Try setting them to Medium or Low.
Anti-Aliasing: Techniques like MSAA and SSAA are heavy. Use lighter methods like FXAA or TAA, or reduce the sample count.
Texture Quality: This uses VRAM. Lower it if you have a card with less memory, but it usually has a smaller impact on FPS than other settings.
View Distance/Detail: Reducing how far you see objects or their complexity can help, especially in open-world games.
Volumetric Fog/Lighting: These are often “eye candy” settings with a high performance cost. Consider lowering them.

Updating Your Graphics Drivers

Outdated GPU drivers can cause significant performance issues. Both NVIDIA and AMD regularly release “Game Ready” drivers optimized for new titles.

For NVIDIA: Use the GeForce Experience app or visit the NVIDIA driver website.
For AMD: Use the Radeon Software app or visit the AMD driver website.
Always perform a clean installation if you are experiencing persistent problems, as this removes old driver files.

Managing Background Applications

Programs running in the background can steal CPU cycles, RAM, and even GPU attention. Before gaming, close unnecessary applications like web browsers with many tabs, streaming software, and file-sharing clients. You can use Task Manager to see what’s using resources.

Checking For Hardware Bottlenecks

If your FPS is lower than expected, your system might have a bottleneck. This is where one component limits the performance of another. Use your monitoring software (like MSI Afterburner) to check component usage during a game.

If your GPU usage is consistently at or near 100%, your graphics card is the limiting factor.
If your GPU usage is well below 100% while your CPU usage is very high (especially on one or two cores), your CPU may be bottlenecking the GPU.
If you have very little RAM (like 8GB) or slow RAM, this can also cause stuttering and lower FPS in modern games.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Show FPS In Any Game?

The most universal method is to use a third-party overlay like the one provided by MSI Afterburner with RivaTuner Statistics Server. Once configured, it will inject an FPS counter into almost any DirectX or Vulkan application, making it the best tool for showing FPS in any game.

What Is The Best Free FPS Monitor?

MSI Afterburner with RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS) is widely considered the best free FPS monitor due to its high customizability, low system impact, and ability to track many other system metrics alongside framerate. It’s a bit more complex to setup than some options, but its the most powerful.

Does Checking FPS Affect Performance?

Most modern FPS counters have a negligible impact on performance, often reducing FPS by less than 1%. Lightweight tools like the Steam overlay or RTSS have an extremely small overhead. However, very old tools or running multiple monitoring overlays simultaneously could have a more noticeable effect.

Why Is My FPS So Low?

Low FPS can be caused by many factors. The most common are overly high graphics settings for your hardware, outdated graphics drivers, background applications consuming resources, or a hardware bottleneck (like a weak CPU limiting a powerful GPU). Thermal throttling due to poor cooling can also cause low FPS.

What Is The Difference Between FPS And Refresh Rate?

FPS (Frames Per Second) is the number of frames your PC’s hardware can generate each second. Refresh Rate (measured in Hz) is the number of times your monitor can update the image on screen per second. Your experience is limited by the lower of the two numbers. A high FPS on a low refresh rate monitor won’t look smoother, and a high refresh rate monitor can’t display smoothness if your PC can’t produce high FPS.