FPS stands for Frames Per Second, and it tells you how many pictures there are in a moving clip per second. For example, movies are generally between 24 and 28 frames per second. The human eye can’t see more than 28 FPS, but when it comes to gaming, things are a bit different. The more FPS you have, the better the game works. So, if you like playing video games, read on – you will learn how to find out how many FPS you have in any game.

How Does It Work?
Your FPS depends on a lot of factors. The biggest factor is the power of your GPU, but it also depends on your monitor and other computer hardware. If you are using a dated graphics card, you won’t be able to get enough FPS for modern games. Even if your GPU is top-notch, you still need a monitor that supports 120 FPS and higher to get the best gaming experience.
The FPS depends on the graphics settings in the game itself. High or Ultra settings will lower your overall FPS, which won’t be a problem as long as it doesn’t drop under 40 FPS. Anything lower than that will make the game unplayable.
Let’s assume that you have a rig that can cope with cutting-edge video games. The FPS will tell you what graphics settings to tweak to get the best experience. We will now look at all of the different ways you can figure out how many frames per second you have in real time.
Steam Games
Steam is one of the biggest game store services online. The platform is designed by gamers for gamers. As such, it has many built-in features designed to improve the gaming experience, and the FPS tool is one of them. It will work only for games tied to the platform, but the good thing is that it’s easy to set up.
Here is what you need to do:
- Open Steam and go to “Settings.”
- Select the “In-Game” tab and enable the FPS overlay.
- Select the corner of the screen, where you want the number to show.
Again, the FPS tool works only with Steam games, so you can’t use this method if your game wasn’t bought on this platform.
In-Game FPS Tool
Most online games, especially shooter games, have a built-in FPS tool designed to help you figure out what works best for your rig. They also have a Benchmark test you can run to see the average FPS and other parameters. You can usually find the feature in the “Options” menu. It will show up either in the “Gameplay” or the “Screen/Video” settings.
Third-Party FPS Apps
If you want to check the FPS on a non-Steam game that doesn’t have a built-in FPS tool, you can always download and install a third-party app. These programs are usually designed for gamers, and they can help you improve your FPS by stopping background processes and freeing up RAM.
Here are some of the best apps you can download for free:
FPS Monitor
The name of this app already tells you what it does. The FPS Monitor software provides you with various stats about your FPS, which can help you improve your gaming experience. You can download and install the software for free. The program allows you to choose where you want the FPS overlay to show while you are gaming, but you can also select the color of the numbers, their size, and so on. You can use FPS Monitor to see what all of your hardware components are doing when you play a game.
Razer Cortex
Razer Cortex is much more than just a simple FPS tool. It’s a game booster program that can help you get the most out of your PC. The in-game FPS overlay will tell you how many FPS you have. Each session will be recorded, which means that you can see which of the graphics tweaks you made worked the best. Apart from that, Cortex will block all background processes to make sure you get a frame boost. It’s easy to use, and it’s especially useful to users with mid-range PCs.
Fraps
FPS tools can’t get any simpler than Fraps. This is one of the oldest FPS tools there is, and it’s still used by many gamers all over the world. Fraps is a tiny program that allows you to take screenshots and record videos of your screen. Of course, it also comes with a built-in FPS tool. It’s probably the easiest such software to use.
GeForce Experience
The NVIDIA GeForce Experience is reserved for people who own an NVIDIA graphics card. You can use the native software designed to improve your gaming experience to check the FPS in any game. But GeForce Experience can do so much more than that – for example, you can use it to capture videos, improve your PC performance, and keep your GPU drivers up to date.
Learn How to Improve Your Gaming Experience
You can adjust your FPS by tweaking the quality of your in-game graphics until you get the most out of your gaming PC. Try it, and you will see the difference right away.
What FPS counter tool do you use? Did it help you improve your gaming experience? Tell us how you did it in the comment section.
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