Steam has introduced a new in-game performance monitor to help players identify the reasons behind poor PC gaming performance.
In a blog post, developer Valve detailed that the new performance overlay not only displays framerate values, similar to the previous FPS counter, but can also differentiate between frames generated by DLSS or FSR and the actual game framerate. This release is well-timed with the launch of the new Steam Summer Sale.
Valve added, "It displays minimum and maximum single-frame values alongside a framerate graph over time. Moreover, the overlay provides CPU and GPU performance metrics, as well as system memory usage. This data is invaluable for pinpointing the root causes of poor performance, whether it's due to a sluggish CPU, an underperforming GPU, or overly aggressive graphics settings that are exhausting your video or system RAM."
Below is a screenshot showcasing all four current overlay options. Please note that only one can be displayed at a time — the options are compiled here for easy comparison: FPS Single Value, FPS Details, CPU & GPU Utilization, and FPS, CPU & RAM Full Details.
To activate the new overlay or modify its size and position, navigate to Settings → In Game and locate the Performance Overlay section.
Valve described this as "a first step" in helping Steam users better understand their gaming and system performance, with plans to integrate additional data points into the overlay in future updates.
Steam, the leading digital game distributor for PC gamers, recently shattered its own concurrent user record, surpassing 40 million players for the first time in March 2025.
The platform later broke this record again, reaching 41,239,880 simultaneous players — exceeding the previous milestone of 40.2 million set the prior weekend.
While this figure includes idle users (those with Steam open but not actively using it), the number of players actively engaged in a game also reached a new high, climbing to 13.2 million.
Valve has since refuted claims that its Steam platform experienced a "major" data breach, confirming that there was "NOT a breach" of Steam systems. With the increasing frequency of data breaches and over 89 million Steam accounts worldwide, users had legitimate concerns about a potential security incident.
