How to See Your Frames Per Second (FPS) in Games (2023)

So you just got ashiny newgraphics cardand you want to see how it performs. Or maybe your games are more sluggish than you expected, and you want to try and diagnose the problem. Monitoring your game's frame rate can help, and there are a number of tools you can use to get the job done.

What Is Frame Rate, and Why Should I Care?

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Your frame rate, measured in frames per second (fps), describes how smoothly a given game runs on your PC. The more frames you can pack into one second, the smoother on-screen motion will appear. Lower frame rates—typically frame rates lower than 30fps or so—will appear choppy or slow.It's a useful metric for evaluating your hardware's gaming performance, and often touted by PC enthusiasts looking to boast about their system.

It isn't just about bragging rights, though—knowing your frame rate can also help you ensure you're getting the best performance possible. For example, if your game is running slowly, displaying the frame rate can help you figure outwhich graphics settings to turn downfor the most meaningful performance improvement.

Knowing your frame rate can help you decidewhichmonitorto buy—after all, there's no reason to spring for a 144Hz monitor if your graphics card is only powerful enough to produce 60fps in the games you play. Monitoring the frame rate alongside other hardware stats—like CPU, GPU, and VRAM usage—can even tell you which component is the bottleneck in your system, and where you'd benefit most from an upgrade. Convinced? Here are a few ways to measure your frame rate, depending on how much info you need.

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Quick and Dirty: Use a Built-In FPS Counter

You can usually monitor your frame rates from the launcher you use to the play a game. How you enable this feature will differ based on the app, but they all tend to give the same basic data in one corner of the screen.

Steam's FPS Counter

If you're launching a game onSteam, even if it's a game you didn'tbuyon Steam, you can use the launcher's in-game frame rate counter to measure performance. On Steam, openSettings > In-Game > In-Game FPS Counter. Select a location in the drop-down to turn it on. The next time you launch a game, you'll see your frame rate displayed in the corner using dark gray text (though you can check the High Contrast Color box to display it in more readable text).

EA Origin's FPS Counter

If you're playing an EA game, Origin has its own FPS counter in the launcher's settings. Click the Origin tab at the top and select Application Settings. Choose the Origin In-Game heading, then use the Display FPS Counter drop-down to choose where it should be displayed on the screen. You can then change the size and transparency of the in-game counter.

Ubisoft Connect's FPS Counter

For Ubisoft games, you can turn to the Ubisoft Connect desktop app and enable the FPS counter. Open the app's hamburger menu and select Settings > General, then enable the Display FPS counter in game option.

GOG Galaxy's FPS Counter

With the GOG Galaxy program, there is no option in the settings menu to enable an FPS counter. Instead, you can simply press Ctrl + Shift + Tab while in-game to make a small FPS tracker appear on-screen.

Nvidia's FPS Counter

As an alternative, those with an Nvidia graphics card can use GeForce Experience to embed a small FPS tracker over their game. Open GeForce Experience and select the Settings gear, then enable the In-Game Overlay option. From there, click Settings > HUD Layout > FPS Counter, then select a location.

These options are easy to enable, but they're pretty basic—you don't have the option to show any other stats like third-party tools may offer. But for something quick and unobtrusive, it's a perfect solution. For something that gives you more information, keep reading.

For More Detailed Info: Monitoring Software

Sometimes, monitoring your frame rate isn't quite enough. Other hardware stats can show you if a component is being maxed out. If your CPU is always at 100% in-game while your GPU chugs along at 40%, for example, you're better off putting your upgrade money toward a new CPU. Or maybe your CPU and GPU usage are fine while VRAM usage is maxed out, which would indicate that texture resolution is set too high for smooth performance.

Install MSI Afterburner

For seeing these other stats, I like using a tool calledMSI Afterburner(Opens in a new window). Technically, its main purpose isoverclocking your graphics card, but it also provides an incredibly detailed, customizable overlay with more stats than you can shake a stick at. And it works with any graphics card, not just those manufactured by MSI.

Install MSI Afterburner, making sure you include the bundled RivaTuner Statistics Server application (which is required for displaying performance information). Open Afterburner and click the Settings gear in the app. Click the Monitoring tab inside the pop-up menu and look through the list of metrics you can display on-screen.

Go through the list and click the checkmark next to any stat you want to monitor—such as frame rates, GPU usage, memory usage, CPU usage, or fan speed—then click the item and make sure the Show in On-Screen Display option is selected. You can then open the On-Screen Display tab and assign a shortcut to toggle the on-screen display.

Once you're done, click OK and launch your game of choice. Strike the keyboard shortcut you chose in the settings, and you should see the on-screen display appear in the corner of your monitor, full of juicy stats about your PC's performance.

AMD Radeon Software

If you have a Radeon graphics card and don't wish to install another program, you can turn to Radeon Software for an in-depth tracker that Nvidia users don't get. Open the Radeon Software program and click the Performance tab. With the Tracking tab visible, enable the options for FPS, GPU, VRAM, GPU, and RAM to make these stats visible in the Metrics window.

Click the Overlay tab and enable Show Metrics Overlay to make a stat counter appear on the screen. You should then be able to launch any game and the metrics will appear visible in the corner of the screen.

Windows Game Bar

Your Windows PC also comes with a built-in FPS counter, thanks to the Windows Game Bar overlay. You can launch this feature with the Win + G shortcut, with performance data—CPU, GPU, VRAM, RAM, and FPS—displayed in the lower-left widget. Click the Pin icon to keep the widget visible on the screen even when the Game Bar disappears.

Hit the Performance options icon at the top of the widget to customize the widget's positioning, transparency, and color. You can also remove any metric you don't want to see in the widget.

Check Your Game's Settings

If you don't want to get involved with any extra software, many games actually have their own frame rate monitors built right in. These are particularly useful for online games, since they can show stats like latency. Here are a few popular examples:

• Apex Legends: Open Settings > Gameplay > Performance Display to show FPS and Ping data.

• Call of Duty: Warzone: Go to Options > General > Telemetry and enable Frames Per Second (FPS) Counter.

• Destiny 2: Click Game Options > Open Settings > Gameplay and set FPS Display to On.

• Dota 2: Head toSettings > Options > Advanced Options > Display Network Information.

• Fortnite: Look underSettings > Video > Show FPS and turn the feature on.

• Halo Infinite: Go into Settings > UI and enable FPS Counter and Network Statistics to show FPS and ping, respectively.

• League of Legends: Press Ctrl + F in-game to view frame rate and latency stats.

• Overwatch: CheckOptions > Video > Display Performance Stats, and expand the Advanced menu to enable extra stats.

• Roblox: Hit Shift + F5 in-game to view FPS, latency, and other data.

• Rocket League: Go to Options > Interface > Performance Graphs and select Performance Summary from the drop-down menu.

• Valorant: Open Settings > Video > Stats, then set the Client FPS to show text, graph, or both.

• World of Warcraft: Hit Ctrl + R to view frame rates in-game.

Check your game's settings to see what's available. In some cases, it may be hidden behind a console command,like in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive(Opens in a new window), and you may need to Google around if a setting isn't easily accessible.

There are countless other tools if none of the above options suit you. Third-party tools likeFraps(Opens in a new window)andFPS Monitor(Opens in a new window)are also popular, though they may cost money for certain features. No matter your needs, there's probably something out there if you're willing to look around. But for most people, these above options should cover your bases.