Best Free Tools to Monitor FPS and Temperatures
To diagnose performance problems — or just to see how your PC is doing — you need to monitor FPS, temperatures and component usage. Here are the best free tools and how to use them.
Why monitor your PC?
An on-screen overlay showing FPS, CPU/GPU usage and temperatures instantly tells you what's happening: whether you're GPU-limited, CPU-limited, thermal throttling, or running out of VRAM.
The best free tools
- MSI Afterburner + RivaTuner: the classic combo for a customizable on-screen overlay, plus fan control and undervolting.
- HWiNFO: extremely detailed sensor data for every component — great for deep diagnostics.
- Built-in game overlays: the Xbox Game Bar and your GPU driver's overlay (NVIDIA app / AMD Adrenalin) show FPS and basic stats without extra software.
What to watch
- FPS & frame times: smoothness matters as much as the average number.
- GPU & CPU usage: whichever is near 100% is your limiter.
- Temperatures: to catch thermal throttling.
- VRAM usage: to spot a memory bottleneck.
Put it to use
Run an overlay during a demanding game, then use what you learn to tune settings or plan an upgrade.
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