NOTE: Quake4 does not ship with a singleplayer benchmark demo, until a demo is recorded use your own in place of the ??DemoName?? in step 3 of the singleplayer instructions. If you do not have access to a demo use the Built in Benchmark instructions.

If you are having framerate (FPS) problems than visit our Framerate and Visual Tweaks page which details how to get the best out of Quake 4. 

You should always ignore the first benchmark result if you are not appending 'usecache' to the timedemo command. Quake 4 often pauses while loading models and textures for the first time.


Singleplayer Demo Recording Benchmark
1) Load Quake 4 using the shortcut that enables the console
2) Open the console using the ' key below ESC or press CTRL+ALT+~ (US Keyboards) or CTRL+ALT+' (UK Keyboards)
3) Enter the command timedemo ??DemoName??  usecache
4) Wait until demo has finished and note your FPS


Multiplayer Demo Recording Benchmark
1) Load Quake 4 using the shortcut that enables the console
2) Open the console using the ' key below ESC or press CTRL+ALT+~ (US Keyboards) or CTRL+ALT+' (UK Keyboards)
3) Enter the command playnettimedemo id_demo001
4) Wait until demo has finished and note your FPS

Built in Benchmark
Load up a map and move to the area that is causing you FPS problems. Open the console and type benchmark

NOTE: If you are testing a multiplayer map you must type
net_allowCheats "1" at the console.

After a delay of a few seconds you will be presented with a breakdown of FPS with various game options enabled / disabled. Use this information to help you tweak FPS.

kpix shows the benefit of reducing screen size / resolution
no Diffuse shows the benefit of disabling diffuse lighting
no Bump shows the benefit of disabling bump mapping
no Specular shows the benefit of disabling specular lighting
Driver overhead, if this is high it may point to a driver issue


Testing while in game or online
To test your FPS while online or in game type "com_showfps 1" at the console

See the FAQ How do I access the console? for details on how to enable the console.