TL;DR: Steam Consumer beta individuals can now view detailed efficiency metrics by way of the in-game overlay. Whereas it would not provide 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 era is enabled.
Within the present steady launch, the Steam shopper solely exhibits a primary FPS counter by way of 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 era
- 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 can even regulate the overlay’s element stage, display screen place, distinction, saturation, and background opacity. A Steam Assist web page outlines how Valve calculates every information level.
One of the vital notable options is the separation of body fee counts between AI-generated and conventional “actual” rendered frames. Whereas DLSS and FSR body era use machine studying to insert interpolated frames – making gameplay seem smoother – this course of would not cut back enter latency.
Conventional FPS counters, similar to these in MSI Afterburner, RivaTuner, or the Xbox overlay, do not distinguish between actual and generated frames. Because of this, enabling body era can obscure precise efficiency and make it tougher to establish bottlenecks.
Steam addresses this by calculating rendered and generated body charges individually, up to date in one-second intervals. AI-generated frames seem underneath “DLSS” or “FSR,” relying on which is energetic, whereas historically rendered frames are listed underneath “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 a substitute, Valve opted for a simplified method with minimal and most body fee values. The minimal body fee turns purple if it falls under half the typical, signaling noticeable stuttering.
Additionally see: Body Era Does 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 displaying per-core or per-thread utilization, Steam gives 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, displaying how demanding a recreation 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 primary insights, customers searching for extra superior diagnostics should 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 techniques deliberate sooner or later. The efficiency monitor will ultimately roll out to the primary department, however customers can attempt it now by opting into the Steam Consumer Beta by way of Steam > Settings > Interface > Consumer Beta Participation.
