These tools allow us to measure performance in games, and also see other essential features, as for example the employment rates recorded by the central processing unit and the GPU, temperature, consumption and work speeds. However, we also have the possibility of using other free programs such as MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Statistics. This gives us the opportunity to choose the metrics that we want to see on the screen, it is effective, fast and, in addition to this, it is very simple to use.

We must take into consideration that, in each and every one of these tools, it is required to offer a previous step to turn on the cover overlay that will show the performance data, and that in order for it to be shown we must press a button, or a button combination specifically. For example, in the NVIDIA situation it is activated by pressing "Alt + Z" and accessing the «performance» menu, at the same time as MSI Afterburner we have the possibility to choose with which key we want it to be activated. In case we have an AMD Radeon graphics card, we must press “Alt + R”.

Using a tool to measure performance in games is very simple, that was clear, but to carry it out like a professional and understand interpret the data it teaches us it is somewhat more difficult. Yes, now I know it doesn't take a genius to understand that a lot more FPS means a lot more performance, but the information that a complete measurement of gaming performance can give us goes beyond frames per second, and it can actually contain data. useful for the specialist eye.

On the other hand, there are several things that have the possibility of influencing the outcomes achieved when measuring performance in games and that should be avoided, whenever possible, if we want to achieve realistic and firm outcomes. It is a very interesting topic on which I have been wanting to reinforce reality for some time, and today I have decided to offer form to this guide that, I hope, will be a tool for you to measure performance in games as genuine «pros». ». You can enlarge each and every one of the images by clicking on them.

Keys to measure performance in games appropriately

The first thing you have to take into consideration is that there are several things that have the possibility of harming the result that you are going to achieve, and that finding 2 identical measurements is almost impossible. With this I do not mean to say that measuring the performance of a game in a consistent way is a pipe dream, but simply it is usual to get changing outcomes, although always and at all times within a reasonable limit. So, for example, it would be reasonable to get an average of 65 FPS in one round of testing and record 61 FPS in a second round of testing (average values in a single region), but it would not be reasonable to get 65 FPS and 35FPS.

The list of things that have the potential to harm the results achieved when measuring performance in games is quite extensive, but these are the much more essential keys that you must have at all times present:

1.-The game configuration, introducing each and every one of the points related to graphic quality, effects, screen resolution and anything that increases the load that both the processor and the graphics card have to assume, and other elements that play a vital role in the performance of the device.

If we want to achieve firm and realistic outcomes to measure the ability of 2 teams, we must use the same resolution and exactly the same graphical changes.

2.-The region where the tests are done, and even the actions we take have the potential to influence outcomes. For example, if we do the tests leaving the character immobile in a fairly empty region, the graphic load is much smaller than what we would have in another region full of buildings and NPCs, and if on top of that we find ourselves attacking and causing effects and detonations the story tells itself. In the second case the performance will be lower, but considerably truer.

Therefore, I suggest you do the same thing I do in my tests, measure performance in at least three different areas of the game, with different graphic loads and doing different actions. Here's a sample case: In Cyberpunk 2077 I have fixed saves that let me measure performance in a high-traffic area during the day, another region at night, also local but a bit much quieter, and another indoors.

3.-Caution with background processes, while they have the possibility of consuming elements that, in the end, will produce disagreements between outcomes that have the possibility of giving you that feeling that "something is not right." Imagine, for example, what can happen if the antivirus performs a spontaneous analysis while we do a performance test.

The ideal is disable those processes that manage to hinder performance, and also those that consume elements in the background that manage to make an appreciable difference, such as, for example, apps that consume central processing unit elements even though they are in the background.

4.-Program and drivers, It is essential that you have the device correctly updated, both at the OS and driver levels, and that you do not suffer from any type of confrontation. It may seem like an obvious thing, but more than once I've been told that a game doesn't perform as it should on their device, and in the end it was all because I haven't updated the drivers for a year. of the graphics card.

Keep in mind that in addition to this, a driver level clash can cause serious problems when measuring performance in games, and produce abnormal outcomes that won't make any sense. Do not leave your device without updating, it will be counterproductive.

5.-General condition of the device, and by this I mean points like cleanliness and the cooling system. The same setup that is well watched and has the thermal paste changed in the right cycles can end up giving quite a lot more performance than another one that is full of dust and with the thermal paste carried out with grit.

Holding your PC cautiously will make it possible for you to measure gaming performance in a professional and true way. Keep in mind that an old thermal paste is going to make your central processing unit burn up considerably more, and if this problem extends to the GPU, neither of them will be able to achieve their maximum capacity peak due to the fact that will suffer from "thermal throttling".

How to interpret the results that were achieved when measuring performance in games

Now you have the five most essential keys that you have to take into consideration to measure the performance in games like a "pro", but do you know how to interpret the outcomes? I am convinced that many more than one will have said yes to me, so I will give you three tests: What does rendering latency mean? Does low CPU utilization always signal a bottleneck? And finally, what does it mean that memory consumption increases as we play?

It wasn't that simple, was it? But relax, I will not leave you in doubt. Now I am going to specify the much more essential points, how we should interpret them and what drawbacks they have the possibility of pointing out when they show abnormal outcomes. As always and at all times, if you have any questions you can leave them in the comments.

1-FPS and FPS 99%

They are 2 different values that are intensely united. The first exhibits the rate of frames per second that is being recorded at the same instant, and it is a value that is part of a traditional rule: the higher the better. In this way, if we have a value of 120 FPS, it means that at that moment 120 frames per second are being produced, a perfect number for a 120 Hz monitor. It is very normal for the rate to change depending on what we do in the game, albeit always within a reasonable margin.

The FPS value 99% is related to a recorded minimum, something like the much lower frame rate per second recorded by the performance measurement, and means that the 99% of the frames achieved are greater than that amount. For this reason, it is also known as “1%”. For example, if the FPS 99% is 62, it means that the 99% of the frames per second achieved in the performance test They are over that amount.

2.-Rendering latency

It is a more essential note than it seems, since it measures the time required to produce a frame. Now I have explained to you in previous products that to sustain a specific frame rate per second it is required that each frame is rendered at a precise time. Thus, to serve as an example, to find a rate of 60 FPS a rendering latency of 16.67 ms is required. The moment this last figure is much lower, the higher the frame rate per second will be.

Abnormal rendering latency that doesn't match the FPS rate will result in inconveniences of “stuttering” more or less serious. If this happens, we are going to have that annoying feeling generated by spontaneous micro-jerks that are not really associated with a performance problem, but with optimization problems and game progress.

3.-Use of the central processing unit

points us the percentage of total cores and also threads of the processor that are used. It is essential that you keep in mind that beyond low values such as 20% or 15%, and also eThis does not mean that there are only one or 2 active cores and that the rest are idle, if not the load has been distributed until it occupies a certain proportion of each nucleus, and that what we observe is the total average.

In this way, for example, when we use a game like Far Cry 6 on a Ryzen 7 5800X processor, this title tends to maximize the utilization of a core, uses between 2 and three cores in the 30%-40%, and leaves the rest of the cores with a practically zero utilization level. For this reason, the total average employment of the central processing unit is very low.

It is essential to keep in mind that a low CPU utilization rate achieved when measuring gaming performance does not indicate, by itself, that this ingredient is exercising a bottleneck. It simply points out that said game is not improved to parallelize the workload it represents in each and every one of the threads of our processor, and that therefore it cannot take advantage of it to the limit.

4.-Use of the GPU

As in the previous situation, it indicates the load to which our graphics card is bent. Ideally, we find ourselves with values of between a 97% and a hundred%, while this will indicate that there is no serious bottleneck. At the moment when we count a GPU employment rate under the 90%, it means that a bottleneck has occurred, and that it cannot develop its full potential.

If we are in that situation, we should put that note in relation to the employment rate of the central processing unit. In the event that this is also low, we are going to have a fairly clear bottleneck. In games like Battlefield 2042, this bottleneck is serious even when using processors as powerful as the Ryzen 7 5800X, and playing in 1440p resolution with active ray tracing. The primary culprit is, as always and at all times, optimization.

On the other hand, if we count a low GPU employment rate and note that the processor utilization rate is at a hundred% also we would have a bottleneck produced not by the bad optimization of the game, but rather by the fact that our central processing unit is not up to scratch.

5.-Working speeds

They indicate the continuity to which key elements such as the GPU, the central processing unit, the RAM and the graphics memory march. They are expressed in MHz, and the higher the values, the better the performance will be. Do not be intimidated if you see that the speeds are fluctuating between much higher values and others much lower, it is common, and you have to turbo dynamic mode that these elements use, and that allows the speeds to change depending on the state and the system's requirements.

In case you see that the speeds are very low at the moment when they shouldn't be, and you have ruled out a temperature problem, you should check the nutrition, since it can be a clear symptom that something is not right.

6.-RAM and VRAM consumption

When measuring performance in games, the two values are key to knowing your demands in a much truer way. For example, there are games that have a requirement of 8 GB of RAM, but if we have 16 GB of free RAM end up consuming between 9 and 12 GB of memory. In other words, it is something common, so we do not have anything to be worried about, since several games tend to occupy much more memory even if they do not need it because they work in the form of a "precautionary cache".

The same thing happens with graphics memory. little by little more games they fill up much more graphics memory than they really need, hence it is essential to distinguish between consumed memory and used memory. The first is the one that truly requires a game, and the second is the one that has been used in a "precautionary" way.

Excessive memory consumption that is not accompanied by performance issues has no reason to alarm us. However, if when carrying out performance tests in games we observe that the consumption of RAM memory is growing gradually and without control, it is very possible that this title has what is known as a memory leaking drawback.

7.-Consumption and temperature

They are 2 fundamental data that are commonly associated with the central processing unit and the GPU. They indicate the consumption, expressed in watts, and the temperature, expressed in degrees C, reached by the two elements. They matter when measuring performance in games because they let us see that there are no inconveniences of excess temperature, nor abnormally high or low consumption.

Keep in mind that the working temperatures that a processor will reach at 20% of use are not going to be exactly the same as it will have at 100% of use, so don't scare them if in the first case you see excellent temperatures and in the second you run into values that exceed 80 or 90 degrees. It is necessary to understand contextualize these 2 values, and in that sense the percentage of employment, or workload, is paramount.

Also read: How to build a Gaming PC.