For many of us, the framerate or FPS (frames per second) of a game is the only metric of a good gaming experience. If the FPS counter is showing over 60 or 100 FPS, you might be satisfied and go back to playing your game. On the other hand, if it suddenly drops below 60 FPS, and stays there, you might start panicking, worrying about how to remedy the situation. I was much the same, constantly monitoring the framerate instead of enjoying the game I was playing. Lately, however, I've started ignoring the numbers, disabled overlays, and begun focusing on the task at hand: playing the game instead of obsessing about the FPS.

It's natural to fixate on FPS on a new build

But it's only a source of anxiety afterwards

I get that it's almost impossible not to fire up the FPS overlay when launching the latest games on your newly built gaming PC. You're excited to see triple-digit framerates on your brand-new machine even if you already know what the numbers are going to look like. It's almost a tradition to do so, but once the novelty wears off, how many of you leave the FPS obsession behind? If you're stuck glancing at the FPS counter months after building your PC, all you're doing is nurturing your anxiety instead of using your PC for what you built it for: gaming.

Running benchmarking programs and comparing performance numbers with other users is expected during the first few days and weeks after building a PC. What threatens to ruin your experience is missing the forest for the trees. The point of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a gaming PC is to feed your passion for playing games, not to obsess over performance numbers. Once you're satisfied that your PC is performing in line with expectations, it's time to ditch the performance overlays for good. It's high time we started being more present while gaming instead of constantly getting distracted by the FPS counter.

I need it only when my game is visibly stuttering

Or when I'm experimenting with in-game settings

It's not like I never feel the need to turn on the FPS counter months or years after building a PC. However, it's necessary only when I'm genuinely unsatisfied by my gaming experience — visual stutters, frame drops, or a consistently poor framerate forces me to confirm my suspicions. If the FPS counter matches what my eyes could detect, I have my work cut out for me. The next steps are to pinpoint possible sources of performance loss, and check whether the blame lies on a resource-hogging program, a Windows update gone awry, or a faulty driver wreaking havoc.

Once I've completed my online fact-finding mission, optimized any Windows and in-game settings needed, and concluded that I've done my best, I immediately turn off the FPS overlay. It's a helpful tool that provides a concrete metric to judge your game's performance when you're in doubt, but once its work is done, it should disappear from your screen as well as your mind. The only other time I pull up the FPS overlay is when I'm curious about how the game would perform with different graphical settings. My eyes can sense the changes, but confirmation is necessary when the differences can be small.

FPS is only part of the story

Visual fidelity and frame time are more important

Finally, the framerate of a game isn't the be-all and end-all of your gaming experience. The visual fidelity is just as important as the FPS, since immersion doesn't come solely from how smooth a game is, but also how sharp and realistic it looks. If you mostly play single-player, story-driven games, you probably care more about ray tracing, texture resolution, and HDR than sky-high framerates. Seeing a high FPS number might give you some reassurance for a while, but what will truly stay with you is a rich game world enhanced by gorgeous visuals.

FPS doesn't even tell the whole technical story; 1% lows, 0.1% lows, and frame time are the other metrics that determine a smooth gaming experience. If your game deviates a lot from high to low framerates, the average FPS might still be over 60, but you sure as hell won't enjoy the game. The frame time tells you how long an individual frame is displayed on the screen — a lower frame time number is what powers a "smooth" gaming session. Too many frame time spikes will easily ruin your experience despite a high average FPS number. Similarly, if your worst framerates are dipping below 60, chances are you'll perceive a lot of stuttering.

A powerful CPU and memory kit will contribute to lower frame times, but the point you should take away from all this is that your perceived experience always trumps the numbers.

FPS is a useful metric, but not worth obsessing over

Your in-game FPS describes a lot of the performance and expected experience, but it's not the whole picture. Many gamers get anxious over temporary frame drops, and waste time fixing things instead of enjoying their gaming PC. Performance overlays need to be used sparingly to diagnose glaring issues, not worshiped as the sole determinant of a good gaming experience. Visual realism takes the cake in single-player games, and the frame time and 1% lows can be far more important metrics than the average FPS.