If your computer isn’t powerful enough to keep generating all these frames, the frame rate will fall. For competitive gameplay and a super-smooth experience, most gaming monitors and new gaming laptops operate at speeds of 144 to 360 Hz, which allow for extremely smooth gameplay and lower latency. At rates like these, things will look pretty smooth (though many gamers will swear that nothing short of a steady 60 FPS is acceptable). The number of frames shown on your monitor each second is known as your frame rate and is measured in FPS - frames per second. Like movies, games are displayed on your monitor in a rapid-fire series of frames.

Common causes of low FPS are a weak graphics card, old graphics drivers, an outdated CPU, or insufficient RAM.

Low FPS, or frames per second, is when your game slows down because your computer doesn’t have enough power or memory to run it properly. Now, let’s take a look at the best performance tweaks that can get your Windows desktop PC or laptop in top shape for the latest blockbuster releases. Be sure to check out our in-depth guides for the following games:

That’s why we’ve also looked at some of the biggest games and analyzed how to maximize their gameplay potential. But optimizing your computer is just part of the equation: most games have tons of hidden settings that can drastically improve the way they look and feel.

Freeware to optimize pc for gaming