How do you benchmark your PC? On this information, we present you the right way to measure your gaming body charges and gauge your PC efficiency in apps. Understanding the right way to run a PC benchmark take a look at will allow you to see the place your gaming PC or laptop computer {hardware} is falling brief, and whether or not you really want a CPU or GPU improve to run the newest video games and software program purposes.
There are a lot of methods to check the efficiency of your PC, however in relation to gaming, one helpful first cease is PCGameBenchmark’s benchmark take a look at software program. This useful set of instruments makes it simple to see in case your rig meets the system necessities of hundreds of the very best PC video games, and it could possibly additionally measure the body charges in your video games to see which elements of your gaming {hardware} you might must improve.
What’s PC benchmarking?
Put merely, PC benchmarking is the method of working checks in your PC to gauge its efficiency – the velocity at which it performs particular duties. This lets you see how your rig compares to the newest gear, and to test if it’s nonetheless as much as the job of enjoying the brand new PC video games you’ve been eyeing up.
There are a lot of methods to check the efficiency of your PC, however in relation to gaming, the killer metric is your body charge, which is measured in frames per second (fps). Whereas you may get away with body charges of 30fps in some video games, comparable to turn-based technique video games, we ideally advocate a mean of a minimum of 60fps, with a minimal of 45fps. If you happen to play aggressive first-person shooters, you’ll need to intention even larger, the place a mean of 120fps will allow you to reply faster.
In a really perfect world, in these fast-paced shooters, you need your body charge to sync with the quickest refresh charge of your monitor, so your display can show the motion as rapidly because it occurs. When you have a 240Hz monitor, which means you need to intention for 240fps, which can imply placing up sufficient cash to purchase the very best graphics card you may afford.
Different checks, comparable to Cinebench and 3DMark, offer you a remaining rating to your {hardware}, which you should utilize to check your machine to others. In the meantime, some benchmarks measure how lengthy it takes to your PC to carry out a job in seconds, or the speed at which your PC transfers a certain quantity of knowledge, comparable to megabytes per second (MB/s).
How do I benchmark my PC?
Benchmarking your PC could be so simple as working an in-game benchmark that measures your body charge. Most of the newest video games embody this function, together with Cyberpunk 2077 and Name of Obligation Black Ops 6, which is able to report the minimal, common, and most outcomes on the finish of the take a look at – you may normally discover them within the graphics settings menu.
In different video games, although, you may nonetheless measure your fame charge whilst you play the sport your self, and this could typically offer you a extra real-world evaluation in the event you play over a protracted interval that encompasses a number of totally different areas of the sport.
All it’s worthwhile to do is obtain the PCGameBenchmark FPS Calculator, set up the software program, run it, after which open your recreation. Press Ctrl-F to convey up the overlay in your recreation, as proven in Murderer’s Creed Shadows above, and you’ll see the way it drops in additional demanding scenes with wide-open areas and plenty of characters whereas rising in much less demanding indoor scenes the place you’re alone.
Once you exit your recreation, the device will then offer you a post-match evaluation, which particulars body charge drops, and exhibits you the steadiness of your PC’s gaming efficiency. If it’s recurrently dropping beneath 45fps, then a GPU improve could be so as.
No matter space of your PC you’re attempting to benchmark, you all the time need it to be measured precisely, and which means not timing it your self with a stopwatch. Search for {hardware} opinions to see what instruments professionals are utilizing to reliably benchmark their {hardware} – a lot of them are freely obtainable.
Finest PC benchmark instruments
PCGameBenchmark
If you wish to understand how nicely your PC can deal with the newest video games, PCGameBenchmark provides you all of the instruments it’s worthwhile to benchmark your PC or laptop computer and reply the query… “Can I run it?”
PCGameBenchmark is trusted by hundreds of thousands of customers. The benchmark take a look at obtain is simply 104KB, so set up is simple and speedy. As soon as downloaded, the device will scan your PC to your GPU, CPU, RAM, and working system. None of your private knowledge is recorded or transmitted, and also you’ll be redirected to the PCGameBenchmark take a look at along with your outcomes inside seconds.
It then compares your elements with the system necessities of hundreds of PC video games, merely displaying you whether or not your PC spec meets the wants of the video games you need to play. In case your rig can play each recreation in the marketplace, your PC will get a rating of 100%. If not, you’ll be capable of see precisely which piece of {hardware} is holding you again. For instance, you might want a CPU improve, or to purchase the very best gaming RAM you may afford.
If that sounds good to you, you may get much more detailed efficiency knowledge by way of the PCGameBenchmark fps monitor app free of charge by way of Overwolf for second-to-second fps monitoring and monitoring, together with a “post-match” suggestions report.
3DMark
The granddaddy of 3D benchmarking, UL’s 3DMark incorporates a lot of artificial checks to measure the gaming efficiency of your PC in a number of areas, with some checks, comparable to Time Spy and Hearth Strike, changing into business requirements. You get a rating on the finish, which makes it simple to check your efficiency to different methods on-line, and also you additionally get body charge knowledge.
What makes this benchmark enjoyable, although, is with the ability to see how among the new tech works when it’s pushed laborious. The Port Royal and Pace Manner checks are nice for seeing ray tracing in motion, for instance, and there are particular FSR and DLSS checks as nicely. One different helpful take a look at on this suite is the Storage benchmark, which makes use of actual recreation traces to measure recreation loading occasions, in addition to different metrics, to see if it’s worthwhile to improve to the very best gaming SSD you may afford.
Cinebench
If you wish to see how nicely your CPU performs in software program purposes, then Cinebench is a broadly used device that checks each single-core and multi-core efficiency, utilizing the identical engine as Maxon’s Cinema 4D software program. It renders a 3D scene purely on the CPU, and you’ll examine your outcomes with these of many different CPUs which were examined. The multi-core take a look at exhibits the good thing about having a CPU with many cores, which gained’t be proven up by most recreation checks, as they hardly ever use greater than eight.
As soon as you understand how nicely your PC runs, you may check out the very best free Steam video games, and see which upcoming PC video games you may run in 2025. Elsewhere, we have now guides to the finest PC video games of all time, and a bunch of different nice free PC video games to play proper now, in the event you can meet the system necessities.