However, nowadays, even modest gaming PCs and laptops can play a fair number of recent titles.
AI upscaling tech from AMD, Nvidia, and Intel is a big reason for this.
Gaming on PC is too expensive.
A budget gaming laptop like an Acer Nitro V15 might only contain up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, but you can still boost performance in games well past its common limitations.Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
Thats the long and short of it.
A GPU considered mid-range by todays standards might run well above $300.
Soon enough, Microsoft may make Windows itself the glue to hold all the disparate super-scaling tech together.
Screenshot: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
With the recently announced toolset, developers can do one singular code path to invest in that AI upscaling.
But expect far more PC titles to support AI frames shortly.
So its only good news from here on out.
Screenshot: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
Still, perhaps with Microsofts upcoming API, we might see a lot more cross-pollination.
What are Nvidias DLSS, DLAA, and Altered Ray Tracing?
DLSS stands for deep learning supersampling.
Screenshot: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
In addition, Theres also DLSS Frame Generation, which creates artificial frames to increase framerates further.
You also wont see any support for non-Nvidia graphics cards.
If you want access to all the latest DLSS 3.5 offers, you must have an RTX 40-series card.
The best aspect of the recent updates to DLSS is the ability to choose different modes.
You might also spot options for DLAA or deep learning anti-aliasing in some games.
This feature is supposed to smooth the jagged edges of in-game objects.
However, compared to TAAor temporal anti-aliasingDLAA uses deep learning algorithms similar to DLSSs.
Theres also the companys altered ray tracing calledray reconstruction.
Nvidia is the most proactive of the three companies releasing support for DLSS in games.
The company is consistentlyunveilingnew titles that support DLSS, such as the PC release of Horizon: Forbidden West.
Other games are still working on DLSS 2, like Sons of the Forest or Mortal Kombat One.
Now, are there problems with DLSS?
Potentially, especially depending on the game.
Prior forms of Nvidias super sampling could blur text shown in the game during periods of action.
Later versions of the software have fixed this problem to some extent.
What is Intels XeSS?
Did you like all these technical acronyms?
Well, Intels version of AI sampling is an acronym sandwich.XeSSstands for Xe Super Sampling.
The Xe relates to Intels form of discrete graphics used on its CPUs.
However, the stated 2X framerates boost is no lie.
XeSS also includes a built-in AI anti-aliasing.
Thats practically the entire gamut of modern graphics processors in a PC thatsupports Shader Model 6.4.
The major limiting factor is the number of games that support XeSS.
Intel vastly expanded the library last year, but it still pales compared to DLSS.
Last August, Intel declared that more than 70 games supported Intels AI upscaler.
What is AMDs FSR?
FSR 3 also had new Native Anti-Aliasing that sharpens images without upscaling.
The FSR system is also an AI upscaler under the temporal upscaling umbrella.
In games running the latest version of FSR, youll often see several options to modify the super-resolution tech.
These include NAA and frame generation options and modifying in-game models detail and texture fidelity.
The more you push those options, the less increased performance you could expect.
There are well over 200 games currently or will support AMDs super-resolution tech, though varying levels.
Some support FSR 2 or 2.1, while a growing list supports FSR 3.
A few games supportAMDs scaling tech, though they are all across a wide range of visual quality tricks.
The AI upscaling Super Resolution is the most applicable for boosting framerates in-game without minimizing performance.
Which AI Upscaler Should I Use
Now, which one should you use?
Well, its probably the one your game or hardware currently supports.
But games supporting two or all three upscale might be a bit more complicated.
That leaves DLSS and FSR.
For now, DLSS has a slight edge regarding picture quality and performance optimization across supported titles.
These upscaling systems are constantly being updated, and we expect to see even more improvements later this year.
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