When building a gaming PC, the main goal is to get the most bang for your buck. This performance is reflected in games by being able to play in high resolution and with beautiful graphics. And in the best case with as many FPS as possible, that is, frames per second.
The FPS, in German frames per second, says exactly what the name suggests: how many frames per second your system can calculate. Value is largely responsible for a smooth gaming experience and is also of great importance in competitive games. So more FPS is always better, right? no. Because there are scenarios where it makes sense to limit FPS. This can be done in the graphics settings of almost all current game titles with just a few clicks. Here you can find out what advantages this brings and what situations you should think about if 60 FPS might not be enough.
FPS and refresh rate: when extra FPS won’t do you any good
Even if you have a top-of-the-line gaming PC that can theoretically hit hundreds of FPS in the games of your choice, you won’t get anywhere if your monitor doesn’t support a correspondingly high refresh rate. As a reminder, FPS tells you how many frames per second your system can achieve in the game in question. The refresh rate of the monitor, in turn, determines how often the image on the screen is updated.
If you hit 200 FPS in a game but your monitor only supports a 60 Hertz refresh rate, you’ll experience much the same gaming experience as capping your FPS at 60. While a higher refresh rate can help absorb drops occasional framerates, the overall experience remains the same.
Therefore, when playing competitive games, you should aim for a frame rate that is slightly higher than your monitor’s refresh rate. Most gaming monitors now offer a refresh rate of 144 to 165 Hertz, with more expensive models even offering 240 to 360 Hertz.
Test: The best gaming monitors with WQHD resolution (1440p) in comparison
Max FPS: Makes sense for these games
In fact, there are some game genres where you want to have as many FPS as possible. Basically, this includes all games that are played online and offer fast, action-packed gameplay. For example, first-person shooters like Call of Duty or Counter Strike, but also Battle Royale games like Fortnite, MOBAS like League of Legends, online action games like Mordhau or real-time strategy games like Age of Empires. There are many more game genres, but as a general rule, if it’s fast and you play against other human players, you’ll benefit from the additional FPS.
For these games, 60 FPS is perfectly enough.
For all other types of games, 60 FPS is usually perfectly adequate. This applies to all types of single-player games, whether they are role-playing games, strategy games, building games, adventure games, or shooting games, as long as the latter do not also contain multiplayer elements. With these games you will have a completely smooth and enjoyable gaming experience with 60 FPS. But there are also games in the online area where high FPS basically does not provide any significant advantage. For example, in turn-based strategy games or card games like Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links.
Limiting the FPS brings these advantages
Regardless of whether high FPS is an advantage in the respective games, it could be assumed that more never hurts. But at the latest, your electricity bill can prove otherwise.
Playing a game at the highest possible FPS means that your graphics card, which is almost always the main driver of your gaming performance, is being used at 100 percent for the entire period. This also means that the graphics card is constantly using its maximum power consumption. If you instead limit the FPS, your graphics card may relax a bit and consequently require less power. This also applies to cooling your system. If the hardware is fully utilized, the cooling system has to constantly fight against the resulting heat and not only consumes more power, but also makes a lot more noise. By limiting the FPS, you save energy, ensure less waste heat and therefore less noise.
PC games are really that expensive: we measure the power consumption
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