How to benchmark your gaming PC (and stress test it safely)
Short answer: the most useful gaming benchmark is a game's own built-in benchmark, run with a frame-time tool that shows average FPS and 1% lows. Synthetic tests like 3DMark or Unigine Superposition are good for comparing your score with identical PCs. A stress test is something else: it checks stability and temperatures, not speed.
Benchmark or stress test?
- A benchmark measures how fast your PC is, so you can compare it with reviews or with itself before and after a change.
- A stress test loads the CPU or GPU fully for a long time, to find crashes, errors and overheating.
1. Game benchmarks (closest to real play)
Many games ship a benchmark in their graphics menu, for example Cyberpunk 2077, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Red Dead Redemption 2, Forza Horizon 5 and the F1 series. They run the same scene every time, which makes before/after comparisons fair. Keep resolution, preset and upscaling identical between runs, and run each test two or three times.
2. Read the right numbers: average FPS and 1% lows
The average FPS says how fast a game runs overall. The 1% low is the frame rate of the slowest 1 % of frames, and it is what you feel as stutter. A PC with a high average and poor 1% lows feels worse than a slightly slower PC with smooth frame times. Free tools that record both:
- CapFrameX and Intel's PresentMon: record frame times and calculate averages and percentiles.
- MSI Afterburner with RivaTuner Statistics Server: an on-screen overlay for FPS, frame time, temperatures and clocks.
3. Synthetic benchmarks (good for comparing)
- 3DMark (Time Spy, Steel Nomad): the most widely used GPU benchmark, with a large online database of results.
- Unigine Superposition: a free GPU benchmark.
- Cinebench: a free CPU benchmark, single core and multi core.
A score far below others with the same parts usually points to a problem: old drivers, a slow power plan, RAM running below its rated speed, or heat.
4. Compare with reviews the fair way
Reviews from sites like TechPowerUp, ComputerBase or Hardware Unboxed use fast test systems and their own test scenes. Your numbers will differ, and that is normal. Compare the same game, the same scene, the same settings, and look at the gap between cards rather than at single numbers.
5. Stress test CPU and GPU safely
- Start a monitoring tool first, for example HWiNFO64 (free), and watch temperatures, clocks and power.
- CPU: OCCT, Prime95 or a Cinebench loop. Prime95 with small FFTs is an extreme load, far beyond what games do.
- GPU: OCCT, the 3DMark stress tests, or a demanding game in a loop. FurMark is an unrealistic heat load, useful for checking cooling but not for judging gaming stability.
- A common first pass is 15 to 30 minutes per test. Stop if the PC crashes, shows errors or clocks drop sharply while temperatures climb.
Modern CPUs and GPUs protect themselves by slowing down (throttling) before they get damaged. Their maximum temperature is listed on the manufacturer's spec page. Heat problems usually come from dust, a poorly mounted cooler, dried thermal paste or a case with too little airflow.
Want to know your FPS before buying or installing?
A benchmark needs the game and the hardware in front of you. doesitrun estimates the FPS from the parts instead, for any Steam game, without running anything. The estimates are checked against measured benchmarks, see how the FPS estimate works.