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Can ping affect FPS? Not exactly, but you can fix both
4 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Key notes
PingandFPSare two things we always tend to keep an eye on while playing online games. Well, a small portion of the corner of the eye, or a quick glimpse when things seem to get critical, at least.
You can’t afford to spend the whole match watching numbers, else you’d end up as a bottom feeder.
Anyway, many confuse these two critical components and believe them to be closely tied. While this is not completely wrong, confusingpingand FPS can slow down your progress if you’re trying to fix either one of them.
You’ll soon understand why.
What is ping?
To put it shortly,pingis a computer utility that many rely on to test whether certain hosts are reachable or not. Additionally, ping can also help you determine how fast a host’s response time is (considering the host is up and running, that is).
The way ping works is it sends a small packet of data to another device. The device in cause generates a reply and sends it back to the original device (your PC).
After the response arrives, ping calculates the time it took the data packet to complete the round-trip (from your PC to the remote server and back). The value generated by theping testis called latency, and is expressed in milliseconds.
Do you experience high ping after updating to a newer version of Windows 10? Check out our guide and learn how you can fix it.
Therefore, when you see apingvalue of 100ms, you’ll know that between you and the remote server, data packets travel with a latency of 100 milliseconds. It’s no rocket science.
That’s precisely why you experience more slowdowns as thepingnumber increases. The data takes more time to reach its destination, so you have to wait some more for it to arrive.
One way to improve your onlinepingis byusing a VPN. However, this fix only works in certain situations such as if yourbandwidthis throttled or your ISP routes your traffic improperly.
What is FPS?
FPS, short forFrames Per Second, also referred to asFrame Rate, is the frequency of consecutive frames being displayed.
Although this notion applies to most video-related branches, including but not limited to filmography, CGI, benchmark, and video cameras, this term has gained some considerable traction thanks to the video game industry.
So, to put it shortly, framerate, which is measured in Frames Per Second (FPS), is a unit of measure that describe the smoothness of a certaingamethat runs on your PC, at a given point.
We say at a given point because, as you may have noticed, complex textures may quickly shift the framerate from a whopping 60FPSto a frustrating 30FPSor lower.
Getting high FPS drops in Windows 10? Learn how to fix them quickly.
Long story short,FPSmeans how good your PC (GPU, to be more specific) can handle agame. The moreFPSyou score, the better.
Can ping affect FPS?
To put it shortly, no. Highpingis exclusively tied to networking issues, and is, in fact, a networking/connectivity issue. Sure, having highpingmay look somewhat like experiencing lowFPS, but the two issues couldn’t be different.
Experiencing high latency doesn’t mean that yourGPUstops rendering thegameproperly, or takes a hit from various connection issues.Jitter, orpacket loss(rubberbanding), may seem to be affecting your framerate, but in reality, it does not.
So it’s safe to say that experiencing highpingdoesn’t automatically mean yourFPSwill drop. If it does, it most likely has something to do with your PC’s hardware.
Final thoughts on ping affecting FPS
To wrap it up, canpingaffectFPS? No, each of them are caused by distinct factors. Highpingis more likely than not a result of poor networking/connectivity, whereas a lowFPSis caused by hardware compatibility issues, or your PC’s inability to perform at a higher framerate.
With that in mind, remember that there’s a good reason why the two are displayed in separate sections. Although they may have similar effects, they couldn’t be more different from a technical point of view.
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More about the topics:Fix network issues,gaming,lagging issue
Vlad Constantinescu
Vlad might have a degree in Animal Husbandry and Livestock Management, but he’s currently rocking anything software related, ranging from testing programs to writing in-depth reviews about them.
He spent 3-4 years as a software editor at Softpedia and another year as a VPN specialist before he landed his current job as an author at Windows Report.
In his free time, Vlad enjoys playing guitar, doing jigsaw puzzles, researching cybersecurity, and even having a good read on rainy days.
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