Is Gaming More Enjoyable with/without FPS Monitoring?

C

covertash

Gawd
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
991
As the title states, is gaming more enjoyable with or without FPS monitoring programs (ie. MSI Afterburner, FRAPS, Riva Tuner, etc.)? This also relates closely to those who actively monitor their VRAM usage, GPU usage, power targets, etc. as well.

To me, it seems like the more information we have, the more we, the PC gaming community, obsess over every last detail in order to derive enjoyment from our games - to the point where it seems like we are doing more benching than we are actually playing.

In the last year and a half, I have actively kept off most of the monitoring modules in the Afterburner OSD, except for GPU temp monitoring, and have found myself thoroughly enjoying gaming once again (time permitting, of course).

What about you? Do you play your games with one eye on the game, and one eye on the monitoring corner? Or do you just play your games, as they were meant to be played?
 
If I want to know what framerate the game is running at, ill run fraps.

If a PC can keep up with the refresh rate in a game at all times theres no real reason to worry about it.

I don't really see how enjoyment factors into any of this.
 
I don't run FRAPS all the time, I usually do that for games that I'm playing for the first time to ensure everything is fine.

I don't constantly monitor the rest either. Temps were check when I first got the card so I do know how hot it gets and thankfully heat is no longer an issue with my current 680 (it was for the GTX 295) so I no longer feel the need to monitor them all the time.

VRAM I only check if I'm experiencing stuttering with a game, or if its something new like BF4. Once I got the right setting, I no longer monitor them either.

I do agree that if we have to constantly shift our focus to see what these figures are during gaming, that ruins the immersion. Thats why I do my best to get better hardware so I won't have to worry about them.;)
 
Generally only care about my temps/fps when i first get new hardware and make sure everything is running like it supposed too and getting a stable oc/good temps.

I switch everything off and just enjoy the games after that really... unless my current hardware has a dangerous tendency to overheat, only then ill setup a osd for it. But really i would be able to tell if it was over heating from how loud my fans are getting anyways from my custom fan profiles.
 
Haven't used any OSD for years since getting my G19+G13 combo. One of the 2 LCDs usually runs aida64, afterburner and/or fraps to show any information I'm curious about.
 
I don't care i run fraps to monitor my fps if i am trying to be competitive, or if i am playing arma3 since every thing takes so long that its a bitch when fps lag gets you killed.
 
I'd imagine fraps could ruin the experience if its not what you expect or want. Temps on the other hand, are always nice to have.
 
I only use Fraps for screenshots...I can tell how the game runs without looking at the frame rates...
 
If a game doesn't run smoothly, I turn on the FPS counter to monitor it and tweak the settings.

If it runs smoothly... I don't ever turn on the FPS counter. Why would I?
 
I only run FPS monitoring when I'm troubleshooting or trying to improve performance. Knowing my FPS is a specific number does not increase or decrease my enjoyment. Why would it? The perception while playing the game is the only thing that matters to me.
 
Sometimes I will turn on FRAPS while streaming so the one guy in the chat that thinks my FX-8120 is as crippled as a 3 legged dog can STFU. Otherwise I only turn it on when I'm capturing video to upload to Youtube. I do have a guy I play with in my gaming clan that quotes his FRAPS every 30 minutes or so, but he is the only guy under 25 in there.
 
I always have my RadeonPro OSD on for every game. I ignore it most of the time unless I'm testing settings or am having performance issues. GPU temp is nice to see.
 
Absolutely. Immersion-breaking UI elements always make games more enjoyable.

Wait, what?
 
Lol, exactly, it ruins the immersive experience of gaming. No point in having it on for any reason.
 
I haven't been obsessive about checking FPS since I left flight simulator four years ago. I also look for "smooth gameplay", that's what matters. Wasted waaay too many hours with the FPS chase with flight simulator. When it comes to real games, I wanna play the game not chase it's performance unnecessarily.
 
It's good to know that everyone here seems to be using the tools properly, as they were intended. My gripe (and main point for creating this topic) stems from the multitude of threads across many different forums that talk about games using close to the maximum amount of VRAM for comfort, or games that don't fully utilize their GPU's, or games that blip under 60 fps for a second, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against troubleshooting problems, or gauging your initial performance to dial in the right settings in order to enjoy the rest of the game. To me, (aside from being FIrst World problems) it feels like many of these thread creators are spending way too much of their time monitoring the fine details of trying to run the game optimally, rather than immersing themselves within the game.

I apologize if associating gaming "enjoyment" with obsessive OSD monitoring was a bit misleading - I couldn't think of a better term to describe this behavior. Please don't hate me. ;)
 
I'm of the opinion that as long as it's enjoyable, then who cares what the FPS are, unless it's slow and laggy enough that it detracts from the experience.
 
I will only run fraps on the most demanding game I have after new hardware. Thats about it

Or if im recording video for youtube, lol.
 
If you're more concerned with patting yourself on the back about your FPS while you play, there is something wrong with you.

If you have the FPS counter up because it changes color while recording and you're trying to put videos together, more power to you.
 
I only monitor FPS when I first setup a game or new hardware. After that I start gaming and stop metric metering. gaming is about escaping not number crunching.
 
Is there supposed to be something exciting about seeing "60" in the corner of my screen all the time that I'm missing out on?
 
I am guilty of this lately... I want 60 fps pegged at all times.... It validates my hardware purchases.

I am trying to make myself stop doing that and just play, but it's hard for me for some reason
 
[L]imey;1040286722 said:
I am guilty of this lately... I want 60 fps pegged at all times.... It validates my hardware purchases.

I am trying to make myself stop doing that and just play, but it's hard for me for some reason
Click to expand...

Maybe this can turn into a support group to ween you off, one day at a time. :p

You can do it man! :)
 
pffffft, its always on.
If its not, i feel like something is missing.
If everything is fine, its just there, i don't notice it. If a game starts tanking in performance, thats when I look at it.
I use MSI Afterburner. Which is probably the main reason it is always on(startup)
 
I usually only run overlay diags when I'm testing something or tweaking settings. I used EVGA PrecisionX (I think that's right...) quite a bit on Tomb Raider. Got it tweaked to run decently in surround, then left it up for a while so I could check on vram usage occasionally. Overlays are a lot less annoying in surround. They end up in the top outside corner of one of the side screens, so I really don't notice them at all.
 
It was worse when I had a 120 hz monitor.... My qnix looks gorgeous at 60, so I just try to keep it there.... My main problem is that I like mmos and they are impossible to keep pegged at a minimum frame rate.
 
I never use it when playing a game. It is a distraction that is not supposed to be there adding worthless cluster. Last time I checked, an F-15C doesn't have a frame rate counter, nor do my eyes or rifle.

If I need to check frame rates (changed hardware, or noticing more drops than before) I will. But when I play normally I don't.
 
LeviathanZERO said:
If everything is fine, its just there, i don't notice it. If a game starts tanking in performance, thats when I look at it.
Click to expand...
But what value are you getting from it? If you notice performance degradation, why would you need to confirm that by looking at the frame counter?
 
wonderfield said:
But what value are you getting from it? If you notice performance degradation, why would you need to confirm that by looking at the frame counter?
Click to expand...

So I can then adjust my settings to the frame rate I want? Duh.
If I already know the frame rate, I don't need to exit the game and it just makes it easier to adjust accordingly. Why would you ever stop adjusting? You don't just tune up a car once and drive it forever. I'm always changing settings and adjusting my games performance. That's PC gaming. Probably why I don't play much consoles...
 
i personally keep the fps while i play new games/beta's to optimize settings, usually not more than a day or so
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top