FPS

Updated: 02/06/2025 by Computer Hope

FPS may refer to any of the following:

FPS shown in a video game.

1. Short for Frames Per Second, FPS is a measurement of how many frames a device can render each second. It is dictated by the speed of the video card, CPU (Central Processing Unit), and memory in a computer. A user with a higher FPS can perform better and react faster than someone with a lower FPS. Many games today have a command or keyboard shortcut that displays the frames per second you are getting. There are also programs, such as Fraps, that display the frames per second you can get with your computer hardware and certain settings. The picture shows a game displaying an FPS of 99.3 or 99 frames per second.

Tip

With online games, FPS is still important, however, latency or ping (connection between you and the server) is even more important.

Note

Your monitor Hz (Hertz) (e.g., a 240 Hz monitor) is different than the FPS your video card or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) generates.

How to increase FPS in video games

A games FPS can be increased by doing any of the following.

Upgrade video card

Upgrading the video card in the computer is the best method of increasing the FPS. If a better video card is used, it'll be able to generate the frame faster than earlier generations. New video cards from NVIDIA can also use the AI (Artificial Intelligence) to help generate the frames in new ways.

Decrease the games settings

If upgrading the computer's hardware is not an option the only other method to improve the FPS is by adjusting the games settings. Decreasing your resolution, textures, shadows, and other video game settings can increase your games FPS. Unfortunately, the decreased quality may not look great but if you're competing online against others, an improved FPS may help you competitively.

Doom first person shooter or FPS computer game.

2. FPS (First-Person Shooter) is a genre of video game. In an FPS, the player views the game in a first-person view. Game interaction largely involves moving, aiming, and shooting a gun. First-person shooter games became popular with the release of Doom in 1993. In the picture, the player has a handgun and is shooting a character in the game.

Note

If you're looking over the shoulder of a character in a game, the game is considered a third-person shooter and not a first-person shooter.

Computer acronyms, Frame, Fraps, Game terms, Measurement, POV, Refresh rate, Smurf, TLA, Video card terms