MangoHud – Monitor FPS, CPU & GPU Load in Linux Games

MangoHud is a powerful and lightweight tool designed for gamers, developers, and anyone who wants to monitor their system’s performance in real-time.

It works as an overlay for Vulkan and OpenGL applications, displaying important information like FPS (frames per second), CPU and GPU usage, temperatures, and more.

In this article, we’ll explore what MangoHud is, how it works, and how you can use it to monitor your system’s performance. We’ll also provide step-by-step instructions for installing and configuring MangoHud on your system.

What is MangoHud?

MangoHud is an open-source project available on GitHub, which was created to provide a simple and customizable way to monitor system performance while running Vulkan and OpenGL applications. The overlay is designed to be lightweight, meaning it doesn’t use much of your system’s resources, so it won’t interfere with your gaming or other tasks.

Key Features of MangoHud:

• FPS Counter – Displays the current frames per second, which is useful for understanding how smoothly a game or application is running.
• CPU and GPU Usage – Shows how much of your processor and graphics card is being used.
• Temperature Monitoring – Tracks the temperature of your CPU and GPU to help you avoid overheating.
• Frame Timing – Provides information about the time it takes to render each frame.
• Customization – Allows you to change the position, size, and color of the overlay to suit your preferences.
• Support for Multiple APIs – Works with both Vulkan and OpenGL applications.

How to Install MangoHud on Linux

MangoHud is available in the official repositories of many Linux distributions and can be installed using the default package managers.

sudo apt install mangohud         [On Debian, Ubuntu and Mint]
sudo dnf install mangohud         [On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora and Rocky/AlmaLinux]
sudo pacman -S mangohud           [On Arch Linux]
sudo zypper install mangohud      [On OpenSUSE]    

After installation, you can verify that MangoHud is installed using:

mangohud --version

How to Use MangoHud in Linux

Once installed, MangoHud can be enabled for games and applications with simple commands.

Enable MangoHud for OpenGL Applications

To run an OpenGL game or application with MangoHud, use:

mangohud application_name

Enable MangoHud for Vulkan Applications

For Vulkan-based applications, simply prepend mangohud to the command:

mangohud vulkan_application

The overlay will appear in the top-left corner by default, showing FPS, CPU/GPU usage, and other metrics.

Enable MangoHud for Steam Games

To use MangoHud with Steam games, go to Library, right-click on a game, select Properties, and in the Launch Options, add.

MANGOHUD=1 %command%

Now, MangoHud will appear when launching the game.

Enable MangoHud for Proton Games

For Windows games running through Proton, use the following command in Steam’s launch options:

MANGOHUD=1 PROTON_ENABLE_NVAPI=1 PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1 %command%

Configuring MangoHud in Linux

MangoHud allows users to customize the overlay using a configuration file.

~/.config/MangoHud/MangoHud.conf

You can modify the config file to change the display settings.

fps_limit=60
no_display=0
position=top-left
background_alpha=0.4
font_size=24
cpu_temp=1
gpu_temp=1
ram=1

You can also change settings while running a game using the following keyboard shortcuts:

• Shift + F12 → Toggle MangoHud on/off.
• Shift + F11 → Toggle logging mode.

Conclusion

MangoHud is an excellent tool for Linux users who want to monitor system performance while running games or graphical applications. It provides real-time insights into FPS, CPU/GPU usage, temperatures, and memory consumption, helping users optimize their gaming experience.