Frames per Second (FPS) Now what you need to observe is simple, the numbers versus the screen resolution. The higher the better. The numbers represent what we call FPS, this means Frames per second. A game's Frames per second is a measured average of a series of test. That test often is a timedemo, a recorded part of the game which is a 1:1 representation of the actual game(play). After forcing the same image quality settings this timedemo is then used for all graphics cards so that the actual measuring is as objective as can be for all graphics cards. If a card reaches >30 FPS then the card is barely able to play the game. With 30 FPS up-to roughly 40 FPS you'll be very able to play the game with perhaps a tiny stutter at certain, intensive on the graphics card, parts. When a graphics card is doing 60 FPS at average or higher then you can rest assured that the game will likely play extremely smooth at every point in the game. You are always aiming for the highest possible FPS versus the highest resolution versus the highest image quality.   Frames per second Gameplay  <30 FPS very limited gameplay 30-40 FPS average yet playable 40-60  FPS good gameplay >60 FPS best possible gameplay