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Game Frame Rate Requirement Calculator

Work out game frame rate requirement instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Game Frame Rate Requirement Calculator

Frame rate is 1000 divided by the longer of the CPU and GPU frame times, and the frame budget is 1000 divided by the refresh rate you are trying to hit. Because the pipeline runs at the pace of its slowest stage, upgrading the component that is not the bottleneck changes nothing at all.

Formulas

Frame rate

fps = 1000 / max(CPU frame time, GPU frame time) in milliseconds

Frame budget

budget ms = 1000 / target refresh rate

Worked example

With the default values below, Game Frame Rate Requirement Calculator returns Achievable frame rate of 108.70. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Monitor refresh rateminimum 1 Hz
144 Hz
GPU frame timeminimum 0.01 ms
9.2 ms
CPU frame timeminimum 0.01 ms
6.5 ms

Results

Achievable frame rate
108.70 fps
Frame budget for the refresh rate
6.944 ms
Headroom against the budget
-2.256 ms
Limiting component
GPU limited

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Frame rate
  3. 3Frame budget
  4. 4Achievable frame rate= 108.70 fps
  5. 5Frame budget for the refresh rate= 6.944 ms
  6. 6Headroom against the budget= -2.256 ms
  7. 7Limiting component= GPU limited

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Game Frame Rate Requirement figure worked out?

fps = 1000 / max(CPU frame time, GPU frame time) in milliseconds. Frame rate is 1000 divided by the longer of the CPU and GPU frame times, and the frame budget is 1000 divided by the refresh rate you are trying to hit.

Why does this matter?

Because the pipeline runs at the pace of its slowest stage, upgrading the component that is not the bottleneck changes nothing at all.

What do I need to enter?

Enter monitor refresh rate, gpu frame time, cpu frame time. The defaults shown are a realistic worked example — swap in your own figures to get a result you can use.

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