A reliable frame-rate check after an update or major change is a controlled comparison, not a quick glance at one FPS number. Hold the workload and settings constant, record several equivalent passes, and compare average displayed FPS together with frame-time or percentile results. NVIDIA describes FrameView as measuring frame rates and frame times and writing detailed metrics to a log, which makes it suitable for a documented comparison rather than an impression-based check.
Freeze the test conditions
Write down the game or application build, graphics-driver version, operating-system update state, resolution, quality preset, upscaling mode, frame cap, V-Sync setting, and display refresh rate. Use the same save point, replay, built-in benchmark, or repeatable path before and after the change. Close unrelated background workloads, allow the system to reach a stable temperature, and use the same warm-up period and capture duration for every pass. Monitoring itself consumes resources, so keep the capture tool and its configuration unchanged between runs.
Capture more than one number
Run the same sequence several times and keep each raw log. Record average displayed FPS, but also inspect frame times and percentile results because two runs with similar averages can differ in consistency. NVIDIA's FrameView documentation distinguishes rendered measurements near the beginning of the graphics pipeline from displayed measurements at the end, and its guide notes that percentile data is sensitive to stutter. Exclude menus, loading screens, and transitions unless they are deliberately part of the test. The official FrameView overview explains that the tool records frame-rate and frame-time metrics, while NVIDIA's benchmarking article describes displayed FPS, rendered FPS, percentile metrics, latency, and log capture.
Compare and verify the result
Use the median or a representative cluster of repeated passes instead of treating a single best run as definitive. Compare the updated result with the saved baseline under the same conditions. Also note GPU utilization, CPU utilization, temperature, clocks, and power if the capture tool exposes them; these observations help explain whether a change is workload-, thermal-, or power-related without turning correlation into proof. If the updated runs are consistently different, repeat once after a clean restart and confirm that no settings were silently reset.
Keep the benchmark definition, logs, and a short change note together. A conclusion is verified when the same procedure produces the same direction of change across repeated passes. If the results overlap or vary widely, report the outcome as inconclusive and investigate the test conditions before blaming or rolling back the update.
Sources
- FrameView Performance and Power Benchmarking App — NVIDIA
- FrameView App — NVIDIA