What is Nvidia Performance Overlay? How to Enable it?

Nvidia introduced the Nvidia Performance Overlay in patch 3.20.5. Before this users only had an FPS counter which you were able to choose where to put on the screen. You were able to put it on the top right, top left, bottom right, bottom left.

This was not informative at all as it only showed FPS. Now, in this patch, Nvidia introduces the Performance Overlay. This showed all the necessary details, such as GPU Temperature, GPU clock speed, fan speed, etc. This was a huge step up from before as its rival, AMD had this for a long time.

This option lets you do all sorts of things to your GPU. Although you can monitor everything on all Nvidia GPUs but the Performance tuning is limited to only the 16 series and the RTX 20 series or above.

How to Enable Nvidia Performance Overlay

This patch also came with an overlay update. You can monitor all of your important GPU details while playing games. This can help you if you’re trying to check the temps of your GPU while you game.

If you want to observe how your GPU performs under stress you can do that with the help of this overlay.

If you want to benchmark your GPU or compare it with another GPU you can easily do this with the Performance overlay

To turn on the Performance overlay:

Open GeForce Experience

1. Click on Settings on the top right of the screen

   

2. Then turn on the Overlay, then click on Settings
   

   

    

3. Then click on HUD Layout

   

4. Now, click on Performance
   

   

   From here you can choose between 5 options:
   1. Latency 2. FPS 3. Basic 3. Advanced 3. Reflex Analyzer

5. Click on advanced for the most Detailed Overlay
   

   

   Now you can monitor your GPU performance while gaming to benchmark your GPU or to check your temps of its heating up or not.

To turn it on you don’t have to do these steps every time. You can press Alt + R and it will turn on.

Can I Overclock my GPU Through This?

Overclocking was also introduced with this patch along with the overlay. People can now overclock their GPU by using this feature and get better performance out of it.

Overclocking is one of the most known topics in the GPU world. After buying a GPU first thing people talk about is Overclocking. AMD provided their users with the overclocking feature but Nvidia users used third-party applications.

This changed when Nvidia introduced this patch. You can now overclock your graphic cards (16 series and 20 series or above) to your heart’s extent. Make sure you take all the precautions. Ensure you have a good and rated motherboard, as it can permanently damage your GPU.

To Safely Overclock your GPU you need to know certain things that can protect you from damaging your GPU.

Note: Do not overclock your GPU if you have a lower-end Motherboard and PSU and overclocking a GPU consumes more power.

Will this Overlay Effect my FPS?

Nvidia has always had an upper hand in this department. Even when Nvidia did not have this Performance Overlay, even turning on the Instant Replay did not have any effect on FPS and Input Delay whatsoever.

On the other hand, AMD did not do a good job at this people complained about feeling input dealy and FPS drops when they turned on Instant Replay

If you are using all of your VRam and you are stressing your GPU then your graphics of the overlay popping up might be a little jittery (eg. recording started animation)

Can I turn the Performance Overlay off and keep Shadow play on?

This Performance Overlay was not meant to interfere with your Shadow Play. This Performance Overlay can be turned off while Shadow Play is on. These are two completely different features and can be turned on and off at any given time.

To turn the Performance Overlay off:

1. Press Alt + Z
2. Then, click on the Settings Wheel
   

   

3. Click on HUD Layout

   

4. Then click on performance and then turn it off

   

5. To keep your Shadow play on, make sure Instant Replay is on

Now, you have turned off your Performance Overlay and Shadow Play is still on.

Performance Overlay not Showing

In some areas, this feature is still not released. This was first released as a beta version and for some people in different regions of the world, this feature is not available officially.

To get this feature you have to enable the Experimental Features option. This will get you the performance feature in your GeForce Experience

1. Open GeForce Experience
2. Click on the settings logo

   

3. Check the Box and Enable Experimental Features

You might need to update or restart your GeForce Experience. You should be able to turn this feature on by using the above steps