Frame Rate Test

What this measures, and what it does not

This tool times how often your browser actually paints a new frame to the screen, using the same animation timing system every web page relies on for smooth motion. That is a genuinely accurate measurement of your browser's real rendering performance on this page, in this tab, right now. It is not the same number a dedicated game would report in its own frame rate counter, since a full 3D game is pushing far more graphics work through your GPU than a simple web page ever will, and browser tabs are also subject to operating system level throttling in ways native applications are not.

Treat the numbers here as a genuine read on your display and browser's baseline rendering capability and consistency, useful for comparing two browsers, two devices, or checking whether your monitor's refresh rate is actually being reached, rather than as a prediction of what frame rate you will see in a specific game.

Run the test

How to read your results

Live frame rate and the graph

The big number updates roughly once a second and reflects your most recent frame rate. The scrolling graph beneath it shows the last minute of history, so you can see at a glance whether your rate has been flat and steady or jumping around. A flat line near the top of the graph is the result you want. A jagged, irregular line, even if the average still looks fine, means something is intermittently interrupting smooth rendering.

Average and lowest 1%

Average is exactly what it sounds like, the mean frame rate across the whole test. Lowest 1% is a more revealing number for actually judging smoothness, since it captures your worst moments rather than smoothing them out into a comfortable looking average. A page that averages 58 frames per second but has a lowest 1% sitting at 20 has real stutter happening, even though the average alone would suggest everything is fine.

Frame time

This is the average time each frame took to render, in milliseconds, which is simply frame rate expressed the other way around. It matters because frame time differences feel more intuitive at the high end, the difference between 60 and 120 frames per second is a bigger jump in smoothness than the same numeric gap would suggest, and frame time makes that more obvious since it is the gap that has actually shrunk in half.

Dropped frames

A dropped frame is counted whenever the gap between two consecutive frames is significantly longer than your typical frame time, the kind of brief stutter that a smooth average can otherwise hide entirely. A small number of dropped frames over a long test is normal and usually not worth worrying about. A count that climbs quickly, especially right when the motion load is switched on, points to your browser or hardware struggling under real rendering work rather than just sitting idle.

The refresh rate estimate

Once enough stable frames have been collected, this estimates your monitor's actual refresh rate based on the most common frame interval seen during the test. It is a genuine estimate drawn from real timing data rather than something read directly from your display's settings, so treat a result like roughly 60 hertz or roughly 144 hertz as a strong indicator rather than a certified spec, particularly on a system where the browser is not running completely unrestricted.

Why frame rate consistency matters more than the peak number

A higher peak frame rate is rarely the actual problem people are chasing when something feels off. Far more often, the real complaint is inconsistency, a frame rate that holds fine most of the time and then stutters at exactly the wrong moment. This is why the lowest 1% and dropped frame counts matter more for diagnosing a felt problem than the average or peak number alone, since a high average can completely hide a pattern of regular small stutters that are exactly what someone is noticing and trying to describe when they say something feels laggy without being able to point to a specific number that proves it.

Running the motion load toggle partway through a test is a useful way to see this directly, since a system that holds a perfectly flat line while the page sits idle and then becomes visibly jagged the moment real rendering work begins is showing you precisely the kind of inconsistency that matters far more in practice than any single peak number would.

Improving frame rate consistency

Close other tabs and background applications before testing, particularly anything doing its own rendering work like video calls, other browser tabs with animations, or software with a live preview, since browsers share a single rendering budget across everything currently open. Check whether your browser or operating system has a battery saving or low power mode active, since several of these explicitly cap frame rate or rendering priority to save power, which will show up here as an artificially low and sometimes suspiciously round number like a flat 30.

If you are on a laptop, confirm it is actually plugged in and not running on battery for the test, since many laptops automatically reduce maximum performance on battery regardless of any visible power mode setting. On desktop, check that your monitor's actual refresh rate in your operating system's display settings matches what you expect, since a monitor capable of a higher refresh rate that has been left at a lower default setting will cap what this test, or anything else running in the browser, is able to show.

Troubleshooting

My frame rate seems capped at exactly 30 or 60 no matter what

This is very often deliberate rather than a fault, caused by a battery saving mode, a browser setting that throttles background or unfocused tabs, or an operating system level frame rate limit. Check power settings first, then confirm the tab is in focus and not minimised, since some browsers slow down rendering significantly for tabs that are not currently visible.

The number jumps around wildly and never settles

Let the test run for a full thirty seconds or more before judging the result, since the first few seconds of any test can be noisy while your browser's rendering pipeline settles into a steady rhythm. If it is still jumping around significantly after that, try closing other tabs and background applications, which is the most common real cause of ongoing instability.

Dropped frames climb the moment I turn on the motion load

This usually points to your system genuinely struggling with the added rendering work rather than a fault with the test itself. It is a useful real signal if you are trying to understand why a visually busy website or application feels less smooth than a simple static page does on the same device.

The refresh rate estimate does not match what I expect

Confirm your actual configured refresh rate in your operating system's display settings, since it is common for a monitor capable of a higher rate to be left running at a lower default after a cable change, a driver update, or simply never having been changed from its out of the box setting.