How High FPS and High Refresh Rate Impact Gameplay FPS helps measure the performance of your system, benchmark your GPU, and can highlight if there is any bottleneck or instability. Many people think that a monitor’s refresh rate and the framerate are the same, but that’s not correct. In reality, your PC can produce a much higher FPS than your monitor’s refresh rate — you just won’t actually see the smoother visuals unless your screen supports it. Low FPS means your system is struggling to keep up, and this slowdown is quite noticeable. On the flip side, CPUs can sometimes limit very high framerates because every frame needs to be processed before it appears on your screen. While having more FPS won’t always make you a better gamer, it does make gameplay feel smoother and more responsive — even on standard 60Hz monitors. This is because FPS is directly tied to input delay, so more frames per second usually means lower latency. Some gamers lock their framerates to 144 FPS or 165 FPS to match their monitor’s refresh rate. This helps avoid putting extra stress on the system once the FPS goes beyond what their monitor can display. There are many applications and built-in tools that let you track your framerate in real time. Thanks to modern software, the readings are usually consistent between different programs.
How to Display Your FPS in Games?
Depending on your game and launcher, you might already have built-in options to show performance stats like FPS. If your game doesn’t offer this, you can still use third-party tools.
1) Use Steam’s Built-In FPS Counter
Steam hardly needs an introduction — it’s the biggest game launcher for PC. It comes with lots of customization options, including an easy-to-use FPS counter that works in any Steam game.
2) Use MSI Afterburner
MSI Afterburner works with all GPUs, not just MSI branded ones, and lets you track your hardware in real time. It uses RTSS (RivaTuner Statistics Server) to display your system information on screen. Many benchmarking YouTube channels use this tool.
3) Use Game Bar Offered by Windows
The Game Bar is included with Windows 11 and 10, and it lets you see performance stats and record your gameplay.
4) Use Your GPU’s Software
Both NVIDIA and AMD offer powerful software that lets you lower latency, apply graphics filters, capture gameplay, and show your FPS. We’ll use the new NVIDIA App here as an example, but older versions or the AMD Adrenalin suite work similarly (the interface may just look different).
5) Use the In-Game FPS Counter
Many games now include their own built-in FPS counters or performance overlays. This is especially true for competitive titles like Fortnite or Warzone. However, story-driven or single player games may not offer this feature. Enabling the FPS counter is usually as easy as heading into the graphics settings and turning the option on. The setting is often found in the Graphics or Video menu. For games like Minecraft, you can just press F3 to see your FPS and other stats. If you’re not sure, a quick search for “how to show FPS in [game name]” will point you in the right direction.
