A browser cannot run your games, so no browser test gives you a game's frame rate. It can tell you whether the hardware holds its level and paces frames evenly.
- SystemCheck's Standard run tests CPU, memory and GPU in 3 minutes and reports each stage's sustained level with an interval.
- The frame pacing test times twenty seconds of frames and reports late frames, hitches, the 99th percentile interval and the 1% low.
- For a game's own figure, use its built-in benchmark or an overlay that records frame times. The browser results tell you whether the machine is the limit.
The short answer
Run a Standard run on systemcheck.live, plugged in, then the frame pacing test. Together they show whether the graphics chip and processor hold their levels for 3 minutes and whether frames reach the screen evenly. That is what you need to know before blaming a game, a driver or a setting.
What a browser test can say about gaming
Games are limited by whichever part runs out first. A GPU that falls after a few minutes, a processor that cannot keep up, or frames that arrive unevenly all show up in a game as drops and stutter. Each of those can be measured from a web page with WebGL2 and Web Workers, without installing anything.
What a browser cannot do is run a game's engine, its shaders or its streaming. A browser figure is not an FPS prediction, and no honest tool can turn one into a frame rate for a named game.
The three checks
Run them in this order, with other programs closed.
- GPU: the raster stage and path tracing in a Standard run. Look at whether the raster curve holds after its warm-up.
- CPU: the CPU stage in the same run. A processor that falls a long way after settling can hold back a CPU-heavy game.
- Frame pacing: twenty seconds of frames in the browser. Even means under 2% late and no hitches, by the test's published lines.
Reading the results together
If the GPU and CPU both hold and pacing is even, the hardware is unlikely to be what makes a game stutter; look at the game's settings, its drivers and background programs. If one stage falls after settling, that part is the one to look at first. If pacing is uneven while both stages hold, close overlays and recording tools and try again with the window on the main monitor.
Terms used here
Questions
- Can a browser benchmark tell me my FPS in a game?
- No. It runs different work from any game. It tells you whether the hardware holds its level and paces frames evenly, which is what decides whether the machine is the limit.
- Does a browser test use my graphics card?
- Yes, through WebGL2, provided hardware acceleration is on in the browser's settings. On a laptop with two graphics chips, the browser may use the integrated one unless the system is told otherwise.