Framerate
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Framerate represents how fast objects update their appearances. It is measured in Frames Per Second (FPS).
A framerate of 60FPS is considered "optimal", and 30FPS is the lowest acceptable figure, but the higher the better. A very low framerate (Around 25FPS and below) makes a game harder to play, because movement appears choppy and unrealistic.
The framerate is usually associated with the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), although 
Source games are generally more CPU bound. The more objects on screen and the higher graphics settings you have enabled, the lower the framerate might be. You can get more performance by lowering the graphics settings, or upgrading your computer.
Note that if your system runs at a higher framerate (especially when the framerate is uncapped), your CPU or GPU will work harder, which means that it will run much hotter and increase power draw.
Warning:If a Source game runs over 1000FPS (unless sv_cheats is enabled), it will run faster than normal, due to the tickrate being drifted.
On 
GoldSrc, running over 100FPS will cause the player movement to slow down significantly (most noticeable when jumping in Counter-Strike), and will cause moveable object (crates, boxes) to move faster than normal, and NPCs turn slower.
In GoldSrc, two (moveable objects, NPC turn rate) of these bug has been fixed in Half-Life, but mods using old HLSDK code or with .dll files built on older HLSDK code will still have this issue.
See also