“When we discuss gaming performance, we often refer to the acronym FPS, which stands for Frames Per Second. This metric measures the number of image updates processed by your graphics card each second, and a higher FPS count leads to smoother gameplay. While discussing FPS is essential, it’s equally crucial to be able to monitor it in real-time while gaming. In this article, we’ll walk you through five straightforward methods to do just that.
It’s important to note that monitoring FPS in games doesn’t necessarily provide a competitive advantage or critical information. However, it can help you assess your PC’s performance in a specific game, especially when you encounter performance drops or lag issues. Let’s dive into these methods:
How to Monitor In-Game FPS
All the methods we’ll discuss are free, although some may be limited by your hardware. Rest assured, one of these five alternatives should work for you. Let’s explore them:
1. Using Xbox Game Bar:
This method is suitable for Windows 10 and Windows 11 users, as it leverages Microsoft‘s native tool, Xbox Game Bar. To activate it, simply launch any game and press the WIN + G key combination to bring up the Xbox Game Bar overlay.
Within the overlay, click on ‘FPS’ in the performance widget to view the game’s current FPS. To keep it displayed while playing, click on the small thumbtack icon.
2. Monitoring FPS in Steam Games:
For Steam users, this method is ideal. Keep in mind that it only applies to games in your Steam library. To enable this feature, open Steam, navigate to ‘Steam’ -> ‘Settings.’ In the resulting menu, go to the ‘In-game’ section on the left, and enable the ‘In-game FPS counter.’
As depicted, you can choose the position of the FPS counter within your games, such as the four corners of your monitor.
3. Using GeForce Experience:
If you own an NVIDIA graphics card and have GeForce Experience installed, you can monitor FPS using this utility (please note that this option is exclusive to NVIDIA users and won’t work for Intel or AMD graphics). Launch GeForce Experience and click on the gear icon in the top right corner, next to your username. In the settings window, activate ‘In-game overlay.’
Once you’ve ensured this setting is active, you can press ALT + Z at any time, even in-game, to access the NVIDIA Overlay. Select ‘Performance’ on the right, and then, on the left side of the screen, click on the gear icon next to ‘FPS,’ as shown.
Within the configuration screen, you can select what information you want to display and where.
Once configured, you can enable or disable the FPS display in games by pressing ALT + R. This method offers the advantage of displaying additional information alongside FPS, such as your graphics card’s temperature.
These methods provide various options for monitoring your FPS in games, catering to different hardware and preferences.