Fraps

Fraps is a Windows utility application used for real-time video capture and frame rate monitoring of DirectX and OpenGL 3D applications and games. It allows users to benchmark game performance, record gameplay footage, and capture screenshots. Developed by Beepa

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License: Freemium

Categories:

Utility Software Performance Monitoring Screen Recording Benchmarking Tool

Available for:

Windows Discontinued

About Fraps

Fraps stands as a well-known utility for PC gamers and multimedia enthusiasts, offering a suite of tools primarily focused on performance analysis and content creation from 3D applications, particularly video games. At its core, Fraps provides an invaluable FPS (Frames Per Second) counter, overlaying this critical performance metric directly onto your screen during gameplay. This feature is essential for understanding how smoothly a game is running on your hardware and for tweaking settings to achieve optimal performance.

Beyond performance monitoring, Fraps excels in its content creation capabilities. The software enables seamless game video recording, capturing your gameplay sessions in high fidelity. This is a fundamental feature for anyone looking to share their gaming experiences online, create walkthroughs, or simply keep a record of memorable moments. Fraps typically uses a demanding but high-quality video format, which can be later edited and compressed using other software.

For those interested in still images, Fraps also includes powerful screenshot tools. With a simple hotkey, you can capture perfect snapshots of your game or application at any given moment, ideal for sharing noteworthy scenes, bugs, or achievements.

Finally, Fraps incorporates a robust game benchmarking function. This allows users to record average, minimum, and maximum frame rates over a specified period, providing quantifiable data to compare performance under different settings or hardware configurations. While no longer actively developed, Fraps remains a functional tool for its core purposes on compatible systems, especially for users seeking reliable performance measurement and basic game recording capabilities.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Accurate and reliable FPS counter overlay.
Effective game benchmarking feature for performance analysis.
Simple and easy-to-use interface for recording and screenshots.
Captures high-quality video footage from DirectX and OpenGL applications.
Lightweight and has minimal impact on system performance.

Cons

Discontinued and no longer receiving updates.
Produces very large uncompressed video files.
Lacks advanced recording features common in modern software.
May have compatibility issues with newer games and operating systems.

What Makes Fraps Stand Out

DirectX and OpenGL Compatibility

Fraps is specifically built to work seamlessly with applications and games utilizing the DirectX and OpenGL graphics APIs, which are standard for most PC games.

Frame Rate Overlay

Provides a non-intrusive, real-time display of your frame rate directly within the game window.

What can Fraps do?

Capture Video

Functions as a tool to capture and download video content from various sources.

Capture Screen / Take Screenshots

Capture a full screen, specific window, or defined region with ease.

Support For 64 Bit

Full support for 64-bit operating systems.

Sync Audio & Video

Adjust audio and video synchronization to correct timing issues.

Fps Counter

Monitor your frames per second during gameplay and streaming to ensure optimal performance.

Optimized For Windows

Designed specifically for the Windows operating system to provide a robust and efficient console exp...

Review

Fraps Review

Fraps has long been a staple in the PC gaming community, primarily recognized for its ability to display frame rates and record gameplay. While its development has ceased, its core functionalities remain relevant for many users, particularly those on older systems or in need of a straightforward benchmarking and recording tool.

Performance Monitoring and Benchmarking

One of Fraps' most celebrated features is its real-time FPS counter. This simple overlay is surprisingly valuable, providing immediate feedback on how smoothly a game is running. For those who are constantly tweaking in-game settings or overclocking hardware, seeing the frame rate change in real-time is essential. The ability to toggle the position and color of the overlay adds a touch of customization, ensuring it doesn't obstruct crucial game elements.

Beyond the live display, Fraps offers a solid benchmarking tool. By pressing a hotkey, users can initiate a benchmark run that records minimum, maximum, and average frame rates over a specified period. This data is then saved to a text file, providing a clean and easy-to-analyze report of performance. This feature is particularly useful for comparing the impact of different graphical settings, driver versions, or hardware components on game performance. While more sophisticated benchmarking tools exist today, Fraps provides a simple and effective solution for quick comparisons.

Video Capture Capabilities

Fraps' video recording functionality is another key aspect. It captures gameplay directly from DirectX and OpenGL applications, producing high-quality video files. The recording process is initiated and stopped with a hotkey, making it convenient to capture spontaneous moments during gameplay. Fraps records in an uncompressed or lightly compressed format, which results in very large file sizes. While this preserves maximum video quality, it necessitates significant storage space and often requires post-processing with video editing software to compress and export the footage into more manageable formats for sharing online.

Users have basic control over the recording settings, including the ability to select the recording frame rate (up to the display refresh rate) and whether to record sound. The simplicity of the recording interface is a double-edged sword; it’s easy to use, but lacks advanced features like multiple audio track recording, webcam overlays, or scene switching found in more modern recording software.

Screenshot Functionality

The screenshot feature in Fraps is straightforward and reliable. With a single press of a hotkey, a high-quality image of the screen is captured. Users can select the image format (BMP, JPG, PNG, TGA) and specify the save location. This feature is particularly useful for capturing high-resolution in-game moments, whether for sharing with friends, documenting bugs, or creating content.

Limitations and The Discontinued Status

The most significant factor to consider with Fraps is its discontinued status. This means there are no further updates, bug fixes, or optimizations. As operating systems and graphics technologies evolve, Fraps may encounter compatibility issues with newer games or hardware. While it still works for many titles, users may find it unreliable or incompatible with the latest releases.

Another limitation is the aforementioned large file sizes produced by the video recording. This workflow requires additional steps and software to process the footage, which can be inconvenient. The lack of advanced features like live streaming capabilities, built-in editing tools, or support for modern encoding formats also puts it at a disadvantage compared to contemporary recording solutions.

Conclusion

Despite being discontinued, Fraps remains a functional tool for its intended purposes: monitoring frame rates, benchmarking performance, and recording gameplay and screenshots in DirectX and OpenGL applications. Its simplicity and effectiveness in these core areas made it a popular choice for many years. However, its limitations in features, large file output, and lack of ongoing support mean that users seeking a more comprehensive or modern recording and streaming solution will likely need to look elsewhere. For those needing a reliable FPS counter and basic recording on compatible systems, Fraps can still be a useful utility, but users should be aware of its limitations and the potential for compatibility issues with newer software and hardware.