{"id":22567,"date":"2022-12-11T14:37:22","date_gmt":"2022-12-11T14:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/11\/how-to-view-and-improve-your-games-frames-per-second-fps\/"},"modified":"2022-12-11T14:37:22","modified_gmt":"2022-12-11T14:37:22","slug":"how-to-view-and-improve-your-games-frames-per-second-fps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/11\/how-to-view-and-improve-your-games-frames-per-second-fps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to View and Improve Your Game\u2019s Frames Per Second (FPS)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Game performance is measured in \u201cframes per second,\u201d or FPS. High FPS gives you smooth gameplay, while low FPS looks more like a slideshow. Here\u2019s how to see any PC game\u2019s FPS \u2014 and increase your FPS in your favorite games.<\/p>\n

In general, you\u2019ll want at least 30 FPS for smooth gameplay. But more is definitely better \u2014 you\u2019ll notice games look at lot smoother at 60 FPS.<\/p>\n

How to View a Game\u2019s FPS<\/h2>\n

Many games have integrated FPS counters, but they\u2019re almost always disabled by default. To view FPS using an in-game option, you\u2019ll either need to poke around the game\u2019s graphics settings menu or its advanced options menu. If you can\u2019t find it, perform a web search for the name of the game and \u201cview FPS\u201d to see more information about a specific game.<\/p>\n

For example, to see your FPS in Fortnite, head to Menu > Settings > Video, and then turn on the \u201cShow FPS\u201d option at the bottom of the screen. To view your FPS in Overwatch 2, click Options > Video > Details, and then turn on the \u201cDisplay Performance Stats\u201d option. To show FPS in DOTA 2, navigate to Dashboard > Gear > Options > To Advanced Options, and then enable the \u201cDisplay Network Information\u201d option.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll see a small FPS meter somewhere on your screen. Each game shows it in a different position.<\/p>\n

\"Fortnite<\/p>\n

Steam features its own FPS overlay that you can use in any game in your library. If you\u2019re playing a game in Steam, click Steam > Settings > In Game, click the box under \u201cIn-game FPS Counter,\u201d and choose a position for the FPS counter on your screen. You\u2019ll see an FPS overlay for all games you play on Steam.<\/p>\n

\"Open<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also find options for viewing any game\u2019s FPS<\/a> in other tools like NVIDIA GeForce Experience<\/a> and FRAPS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 4 Quick Ways to See a PC Game’s FPS (Frames Per Second)<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Increase Your FPS by Updating Your Drivers<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s important to have the latest graphics drivers for your computer\u2019s graphics hardware, or GPU. Graphics processor manufacturers like NVIDIA, AMD, and even Intel regularly release new versions of graphics drivers that are optimized to make new games play better. You should keep your graphics drivers updated for maximum gaming performance<\/a>, especially if you play newer games.<\/p>\n

Get the latest drivers from NVIDIA<\/a>, AMD<\/a>, or Intel<\/a>, depending on what graphics hardware your PC has inside. These driver installers include tools that automatically check for updates to help keep your drivers updated in the future.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How to Update Your Graphics Drivers for Maximum Gaming Performance<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"NVIDIA<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not sure what GPU your computer has, Windows 10 makes it easy to check. To view the name of your computer\u2019s GPU, open the Task Manager<\/a> by right-clicking your taskbar and selecting \u201cTask Manager.\u201d Click the \u201cMore Details\u201d option if you see a small window. Click the \u201cPerformance\u201d tab and look for \u201cGPU\u201d in the left pane to see the type of GPU your system has.<\/p>\n

\"Open<\/p>\n

If you see an Intel GPU alongside an NVIDIA or AMD GPU here, your computer has both a powerful NVIDIA or AMD GPU for gaming and a power-efficient Intel GPU for other tasks. You must update your NVIDIA or AMD drivers for maximum gaming performance, although you should also update your Intel graphics drivers.<\/p>\n

On Windows 7, you can find the name of your system\u2019s GPU in the dxdiag tool<\/a>. To open it, press Windows+R, type \u201cdxdiag\u201d in the run box, and then press Enter. Click the \u201cDisplay\u201d tab and look to the right of the \u201cName\u201d entry in the \u201cDevice\u201d section.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Intel and AMD both have \u201cintegrated graphics\u201d cards that are integrated directly into the computer\u2019s CPU. While integrated graphics uses less power, it won\u2019t provide anywhere near the performance of a modern dedicated NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel GPU while gaming. Integrated graphics may still perform okay, especially if you have one of the latest integrated Intel or AMD GPUs and you\u2019re playing an older game or a newer game on lower settings.<\/p>\n

If the latest Intel graphics drivers refuse to install on your PC and you see a message like \u201cthe driver being installed is not validated for this computer,\u201d there\u2019s a way to bypass this error and install the latest drivers straight from Intel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How to Fix “The Driver Being Installed Is Not Validated For This Computer” on Intel Computers<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Boost Your FPS by Tweaking Graphics Settings<\/h2>\n

The higher your graphics settings \u2014 in other words, the more graphical detail you see in a game \u2014the lower your FPS. If you need more FPS in a game, the easiest way to get it is by decreasing your graphical fidelity. The game won\u2019t look as pretty, but it will run faster and more smoothly.<\/p>\n

Each game has its own graphics options. To find them, open the game\u2019s Options menu and look for a category like \u201cGraphics\u201d or \u201cVideo.\u201d\u00a0 You can tweak individual settings or just use presets. For example, you could lower a game\u2019s graphics settings from High to Medium or Low to improve your FPS.<\/p>\n

You can also lower the game\u2019s display resolution, which will make the picture look less crisp, but boost FPS. This option may be located in a \u201cVideo\u201d options menu separate from the \u201cGraphics\u201d settings menu in some games.<\/p>\n

Many older games perform a bit better when they\u2019re set to exclusive \u201cFull screen\u201d mode instead of \u201cWindowed\u201d, \u201cFull screen (windowed)\u201d, or \u201cBorderless windowed\u201d mode, so you can also try enabling full-screen mode to see if that improves the game\u2019s FPS.<\/p>\n

\"Overwatch<\/p>\n

Some tools can automatically set your PC games\u2019 graphical settings<\/a>, giving you an optimal combination of graphics and performance without any fiddling.<\/p>\n

If you have NVIDIA hardware, we recommend using NVIDIA GeForce Experience to optimize your games.<\/a>\u00a0It is included with your graphics drivers. Just launch the GeForce Experience application from your Start menu and you\u2019ll see a list of game you have installed. Select a game and click the \u201cOptimize\u201d button to automatically use NVIDIA\u2019s recommended settings for that game based on your system\u2019s hardware.<\/p>\n

Even if you want to tweak your settings manually, GeForce Experience optimization<\/a> is a good starting point. You can still go into the game\u2019s settings and tweak them after using an optimization tool like this one.<\/p>\n

\"GeForce<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How to Set Your PC Games’ Graphics Settings with No Effort<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Make Sure the Game Is Running on Your Powerful GPU<\/h2>\n

If you do have both an integrated Intel GPU and NVIDIA or AMD GPU, you should ensure your demanding games are running on the NVIDIA or AMD hardware and not the slower Intel hardware.<\/p>\n

Most games should automatically launch on the more powerful GPU. However, some games may use the slower GPU by default, resulting in mysteriously low FPS.<\/p>\n

You choose which GPU a game uses on latest version of Windows 10<\/a> by heading to System > Settings > Display > Graphics settings. The Task Manager also shows you which GPU an application is using.<\/p>\n

\"Windows<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How to Choose Which GPU a Game Uses on Windows 10<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For PCs with Windows 7 or an older version of Windows 10, you can adjust which GPU a game uses in your graphics driver\u2019s control panel. For example, NVIDIA users can assign applications to different GPUs in the NVIDIA Control Panel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More Tips For Boosting FPS<\/h2>\n

Here are some other tips for boosting your FPS in PC games:<\/p>\n

Close Background Apps<\/strong>: There are only so many CPU, GPU, and disk resources to go around. If background apps are using resources, less resources are available for the game you\u2019re playing, which means lower FPS. Close background applications \u2014 especially applications that are using a lot of resources \u2014 while playing a game. You can check which applications are using a noticeable amount of system resources from the Task Manager<\/a> if you like.<\/p>\n

Plug In Your Laptop<\/strong>: Plug your laptop in while playing games. Windows typically \u201cthrottles\u201d your hardware and makes it perform slower on battery power<\/a> to save energy, so plugging in can dramatically improve your FPS.<\/p>\n

Avoid Recording Gameplay<\/strong>: If your PC is set to automatically record gameplay with a feature like Windows 10\u2019s Game DVR<\/a> or NVIDIA ShadowPlay<\/a>, this will reduce your FPS. Disable any gameplay-recording features and you\u2019ll see higher FPS.<\/p>\n

Try Game Mode<\/strong>: Windows 10 has a \u201cGame Mode<\/a>\u201d that automatically de-prioritizes background tasks and assigns more resources to games while you\u2019re playing them. To enable Game Mode, open the Settings app, then navigate to Gaming > Game Mode, and click the toggle under \u201cGame Mode.\u201d We haven\u2019t seen huge improvements with this feature, but it\u2019s worth a shot. Based on our testing, we don\u2019t recommend using most third-party \u201cgame booster\u201d tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Overclock Your Hardware<\/strong>: If you want to make your existing hardware run faster, you can overclock it. You can overclock your GPU<\/a> and CPU<\/a>, although overclocking the GPU will be more important for FPS in most games. Note that overclocking makes your computer use more power and run hotter, so it could damage your hardware or just make your system unstable while it\u2019s overclocked.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How to Overclock Your Graphics Card for Better Gaming Performance<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Restart Your PC<\/strong>: If your PC is performing unusually slowly and your FPS is lower than normal for no particular reason, try restarting your PC. Restarting your computer can fix all sorts of problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Upgrade Your Hardware<\/strong>: If you\u2019re not happy with a game\u2019s FPS even after following all these other tips, you can always improve it by purchasing and installing a faster graphics processor<\/a> \u2014 or just getting a new PC with more powerful hardware. Depending on the game and your PC\u2019s hardware, a faster CPU<\/a> or more RAM<\/a> may also help.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How To Upgrade and Install a New Graphics Card in Your PC<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n