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AI upscaling killed native graphics gaming. We’re better off for it
Even for me, an avid graphics card hardware enthusiast, it took some time to warm to the idea of an AI solution upgrade.
But in the past few years, this new technology has been embraced by almost all major GPU manufacturers, with Nvidia’s DLSS leading the way and others following, including AMD’s FSR, Intel’s XeSS, and even Sony’s PSSR 5 Pro on PlayStation.
I’m ready to say it now: real-time AI upscaling technology has made native resolution graphics obsolete in gaming. Read on to learn what AI upgrades are, why it’s revolutionary, and what it means for all the new games you’ll play in the future.
What is AI resolution enhancement?
AI resolution upscaling (also known as AI upscaling) is when the game renders frames at a resolution lower than the monitor’s native resolution, and then uses AI image processing technology to scale the rendered frames back to the original resolution. Through modern machine learning, these enlarged images look very close.
Of course, not all AI upgrades are created equal. For example, Nvidia’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) performs best on RTX GPUs, while AMD’s FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) and Intel’s XeSS (Xe Super Sampling) prioritize broader compatibility at the expense of performance . In some cases, The difference can be huge.
NVIDIA
Nvidia’s DLSS is often considered the cream of the crop, especially when paired with its frame generation technology. Running on the tensor cores of an RTX GPU, frame generation analyzes two frames and then Using artificial intelligence to create another framework between the tworesulting in higher frame rates and smoother graphics in CPU-bottlenecked games. Nvidia Reflex then comes into play to help minimize the input lag that might otherwise be felt when generating frames from scratch like this.
For example, let’s say you’re playing Cyberpunk 2077 Use path tracing on Ultra settings at 4K resolution. Even the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 struggled to achieve playable frame rates. But with Nvidia DLSS 3.5 and frame generation, performance is greatly improved without much loss in visual fidelity. This is the best in the world.
Meanwhile, AMD has not yet completely has yet to incorporate artificial intelligence into its FSR 3 technology (but plans to do so in the near future), and has its Your own style of frame generation called Fluid Motion Frames. Intel is upgrading artificial intelligence through XeSS 2, and we recently implemented it in our Intel Arc B580 Review. Intel’s technology also includes Xe Low Latency (XeLL), which is similar to Nvidia Reflex.
Why artificial intelligence upgrades are revolutionary
No matter how powerful a GPU is, it will eventually hit a wall. It can only do so much without increasing cost and power consumption. This is why artificial intelligence upgrades bring such huge changes.
There was a time when Nvidia introduced Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology, which allowed you to connect multiple GPUs together for parallel processing capabilities, resulting in higher frame rates. Of course, this was expensive, bulky, and took up a lot of space… which is why SLI was discontinued.
On the other hand, a single powerful GPU like the GeForce RTX 4090 can only do so much on its own. This is where artificial intelligence upgrades come in. For example, the Intel Arc B580 mentioned earlier is a Budget GPU that delivers great performance Thanks to features such as artificial intelligence upgrades.
Thiago Trevisan/IDG
However, this isn’t necessarily revolutionary. Making weaker GPUs more powerful is great, and making powerful GPUs even more powerful is fun, but the real progress will come from manufacturers being able to make lower-power devices with more features.
Consider a gaming handheld device like Valve’s Steam Deck. It comes in a gorgeous package, but its smaller form factor means it can only house limited hardware, which means it has a lot of hurdles to overcome, like thermal issues, engineering, and more. More powerful GPUs, so they need help elsewhere. (Through Steam Deck, Valve relies on AMD’s FSR to upgrade the game.)
Thiago Trevisan/IDG
We can extrapolate this to any similar device, including gaming consoles. Gaming consoles are often built to specific specifications to control cost, heat, and size. That’s why PlayStation 5 Pro now comes with PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution), its own machine learning-based upgrade solution that makes it punch well above its weight.
With PSSR, it has the ability to learn and adapt over time – which is pretty revolutionary in itself. Not only does this mean the device performs well; promote over time. If Sony collaborates with AMD to develop future solutions around artificial intelligence upgrades to further improve console performance, The future of gaming is indeed going to be very interesting.
Why native graphics are almost obsolete
If there’s a downside to AI upgrades, it’s that some developers have begun to use them as a crutch for poor optimization. As AI upgrades become more widespread, and as more developers become familiar with adding them to games, we may see games perform worse without support for these features.
In addition, hardware companies such as Nvidia and AMD will continue to improve their AI upgrade technology as they hope that their solutions will be favored by developers. Given all the gains from AI upgrades, native-resolution gamers face a double dilemma: Not only will they suffer worse performance, but the performance gap will continue to grow. Some might say it’s just the life cycle of the GPU.
Thiago Trevisan/IDG
However, despite how good Nvidia’s solution is, AMD is still a significant player for one reason: its market share for standalone desktop GPUs may be lower than Nvidia’s GPUs, but AMD still excels in the console space. AMD remains at the heart of PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam Deck, and AMD’s success with AI upgrades will only further push these devices beyond native graphics gaming.
Of course, artificial intelligence upgrades are not perfect. Artifacts and strange performance issues can still occur, and AI upgrade performance does vary from developer to developer. But as adoption grows and more users rely on it, native graphics will go the way of the dodo.
How to start using artificial intelligence upgrades today
As of this writing, the best way to experience AI upgrades is with a high-end GPU, such as those in Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 40 series. If you’re on a tight budget, you can also start benefiting from AI upgrades without spending a lot of money with Intel’s newly released Arc B580 GPU.
There are already many games that support AI upscaling, and you can see Nvidia DLSS, AMD FSR, or Intel XeSS in the display/graphics settings of these games. You’ll be able to choose the quality level you’re happy with, which will determine performance.
Brad Chakos/IDG
In most cases, AI upscaling will allow you to run your game at higher frame rates than your hardware GPU would typically allow at native resolutions. For example, microsoft flight simulator 4K itself has a frame rate of around 65 FPS, but with DLSS 3 and frame generation it can hit 122 FPS – a significant improvement, but with some minor drawbacks that you might not notice.
With next-generation GPUs, AI upgrades will get even better. this Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPU rumored Has more advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, including a more advanced version of DLSS.
AMD
Ray tracing and path tracing have burst onto the gaming scene in the past few years, e.g. Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2 It is known that these features are highlighted. They look impressive and beautiful, but without artificial intelligence upgrades, even the best GPUs will succumb.
Even so, Nvidia will likely continue to push the boundaries of ray tracing in its next generation, improving RT cores in its GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs. This will make artificial intelligence upgrades more attractive to developers and gamers that graphics technology is currently unable to achieve.
For all of the above reasons, I expect the next generation of GPUs from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel to mark the full adoption of AI upgrades and the permanent elimination of pure native graphics.
Further reading: No need to pay extra for factory overclocked GPU!
2024-12-27 14:00:00