TL;DR: Steam Consumer beta members can now view detailed efficiency metrics via the in-game overlay. Whereas it would not supply as a lot information as superior instruments like Afterburner, Valve’s new body fee counter can show each actual and AI-generated frames when DLSS or FSR body technology is enabled.
Within the present steady launch, the Steam shopper solely exhibits a fundamental FPS counter through Steam > Settings > In-Sport > In-Sport FPS Counter. The brand new efficiency monitor introduces a broader set of metrics, together with:
- Common body charges with and with out body technology
- Minimal and most body charges
- A body fee graph
- Common and most CPU utilization
- Common and most clock frequency
- GPU utilization
- GPU temperature
- VRAM
- System RAM
Customers also can alter the overlay’s element degree, display screen place, distinction, saturation, and background opacity. A Steam Help web page outlines how Valve calculates every information level.
One of the notable options is the separation of body fee counts between AI-generated and conventional “actual” rendered frames. Whereas DLSS and FSR body technology use machine studying to insert interpolated frames – making gameplay seem smoother – this course of would not scale back enter latency.
Conventional FPS counters, corresponding to these in MSI Afterburner, RivaTuner, or the Xbox overlay, do not distinguish between actual and generated frames. In consequence, enabling body technology can obscure precise efficiency and make it tougher to determine bottlenecks.
Steam addresses this by calculating rendered and generated body charges individually, up to date in one-second intervals. AI-generated frames seem below “DLSS” or “FSR,” relying on which is lively, whereas historically rendered frames are listed below “FPS.”
Though Steam’s new monitor features a body fee graph, it doesn’t show body occasions in milliseconds – a key metric for figuring out micro stutters and body pacing inconsistencies. As an alternative, Valve opted for a simplified method with minimal and most body fee values. The minimal body fee turns pink if it falls beneath half the typical, signaling noticeable stuttering.
Additionally see: Body Technology Would not Enhance Efficiency – So What Does It Do?
CPU efficiency is one other space the place Steam’s new monitor takes an easier method than RivaTuner. Slightly than exhibiting per-core or per-thread utilization, Steam supplies two numbers: common utilization throughout all cores, and most utilization of the busiest core.
The utmost worth might exceed 100% when the CPU boosts past its base clock. GPU and reminiscence stats are simple, exhibiting how demanding a sport is or whether or not system assets like RAM have gotten constrained.
Whereas the brand new monitor eliminates the necessity to set up third-party instruments for fundamental insights, customers in search of extra superior diagnostics should still discover it missing. Notably absent are metrics like CPU temperature, GPU clock frequency, and energy consumption.
The replace primarily focuses on Home windows for now, with help for different working methods deliberate sooner or later. The efficiency monitor will finally roll out to the primary department, however customers can strive it now by opting into the Steam Consumer Beta through Steam > Settings > Interface > Consumer Beta Participation.
