Total FPS Capacity vs FPS Per Concurrent User
Compare total gaming frame-rate capacity with normalized FPS per concurrent user when evaluating A/B test variants.
Total FPS capacity describes overall throughput, while FPS per concurrent user shows how that capacity is distributed at a given level of concurrency. Both views can be useful, but they answer different performance questions.
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About Total FPS Capacity vs FPS Per Concurrent User
Total FPS capacity describes overall throughput, while FPS per concurrent user shows how that capacity is distributed at a given level of concurrency. Both views can be useful, but they answer different performance questions.
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Key Factors
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Comparing equal-size A/B test groups
Both variants have the same number of concurrent users.
| Factor | Option A: Total FPS Capacity | Option B: FPS Per Concurrent User | What It Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it measures | Combined capacity across the entire variant. | Normalized capacity available for each concurrent user. | With equal user counts, both measures move together but retain different meanings. |
| Effect of player count | Does not account for the number of users. | Directly adjusts for concurrent users. | Normalization makes per-player capacity explicit. |
| Usefulness for throughput | Shows total serving capability. | Does not show aggregate output by itself. | Total capacity is the direct throughput measure. |
| Usefulness for player-level comparison | Can be misleading without user context. | Shows capacity relative to player demand. | The per-user result is better suited to normalized variant comparisons. |
When groups are equal in size, total capacity and per-user capacity tell a consistent story, but per-user FPS communicates the player-normalized result more clearly.
Comparing variants with different concurrency
Variant B has a larger active player group than Variant A.
| Factor | Option A: Higher Total FPS | Option B: Higher FPS Per Concurrent User | What It Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effect of a larger test group | May increase simply because more players are served. | May decrease if capacity grows more slowly than users. | The two metrics can point in different directions when concurrency differs. |
| Fairness across allocations | Can favor the variant with more traffic. | Normalizes each variant by its own user count. | Normalization reduces distortion from unequal traffic allocation. |
| Infrastructure planning | Useful for estimating aggregate demand. | Useful for estimating per-user headroom. | Capacity planning generally benefits from reviewing both. |
| Player experience inference | Weak without concurrent-user context. | More relevant but still indirect. | Neither metric replaces observed player-device performance data. |
When concurrency differs, total FPS alone can mislead. Per-user FPS is generally the clearer comparison metric, while total FPS remains useful for throughput context.
Key Differences at a Glance
Total FPS capacity measures aggregate output; FPS per user measures normalized output per concurrent player.
Per-user FPS accounts for unequal variant sizes, while total FPS does not.
A variant can have higher total capacity but lower FPS per user.
Neither capacity metric directly measures individual device FPS or gameplay smoothness.
Frame-rate uplift uses Variant A's per-user FPS as the percentage baseline.
How to Decide
Assumptions
- Capacity values use the same FPS measurement method in both options.
- Concurrent user counts cover comparable periods.
- The comparison treats capacity as evenly allocated among active users.
- Results are descriptive estimates rather than statistical conclusions.
Related Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
Which metric is better for different A/B test group sizes?
FPS per concurrent user is usually more useful because it normalizes total capacity by each variant's active player count.
Can total FPS and FPS per user disagree?
Yes. A variant may have more total capacity but less capacity per player if it serves proportionally more concurrent users.
Should total FPS be ignored?
No. It remains useful for understanding total throughput and infrastructure demand.
What does the calculator use as the uplift baseline?
It uses Variant A FPS per user as the baseline for the percentage change.
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