Steam has learned to show how many frames in the game are real and how many are — generated

Steam has received an updated performance panel — it now shows not just the frame rate, but also how many of them were generated by third-party technologies.

We’re talking about visual FPS generated by technologies like DLSS from Nvidia or FSR from AMD. Valve has already made the feature available in the regular version of Steam, but so far it is focused only on Windows and the most common graphics hardware.

The new performance analysis tool has four levels of detail: from a simple FPS counter to a full data set — with a breakdown by CPU, GPU, RAM, and frame type. Valve warns that the more information you select, the more space the panel will take up on your screen.

The key innovation is the count «fake frames». That is, frames that are not rendered by the graphics engine but are generated after processing to create the illusion of a smoother video sequence. However, such frames do not reduce the delay between when the player presses a button (for example, shoots or moves) and when this action is displayed on the screen. For shooters or eSports games, this can be a key indicator.

That is, if the game really delivers 30 frames per second, but the generated DLSS adds another 30 — you will see 60 FPS, but the feeling of control may remain at 30. Similar tools are already available in Steam Deck (via MangoHud), but now they are built directly into the PC version of Steam, which will make diagnostics much easier for most players.

In addition, Valve promises to add more features over time — for example, tips on common performance issues and more detailed graphs when you press Shift+Tab in the game. Previously, the company updated the tools for searching for games based on specific requests.

Source: Valve