Just a few years ago in 2021, the idea that I'd want to use frame generation on my new gaming rig would have sent me into immediate rage. Why have a high-end gaming rig if you've got to resort to software shortcuts to make games playable? Of course, at the time I had just purchased a custom Falcon Northwest Talon gaming PC. Since I was already paying a premium for a custom pre-built system, I also opted for a custom build system, and I got it kitted out with the latest, most high-end hardware I could afford, including an Intel Core i9-11900K, Asus ROG motherboard, and an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU.

Building a new PC this year, I figured future-proofing when technology is changing so rapidly is a losing game. I went for more mid-range parts, from an Intel Core Ultra 265K CPU to an Asus TUF Gaming motherboard, to an Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti GPU. Because really, how often do I game in 4K anyway? And with my new mid-range hardware, I've come to accept that frame-generation software is the future.

Frame-Gen is better than ever

GPU AI upscaling software has come a long way

When Nvidia and AMD first released frame generation software on GPUs, it was rough. Often times, generated frames would come at an unstable ratio, making your performance seem worse than simply using the pure silicon power of your GPU, and this had to do with the frame generation AI pipeline on older GPUs.

Both Nvidia and AMD have smoothed out frame gen technology so generated frames hit at more regular intervals, which keeps your frame rate from drastically jumping and dropping, leading to a smoother gaming experience.

Regardless, frame generation means you can get powerful, smooth gaming performance on budget cards that is well above 100fps. And that's true of any new GPU this generation. When combined with 1080p or 1400p resolution, the frame rates you can get with frame-gen are impressive and smooth, with low latency.

It doesn't look better than native resolution, but increased frame rates is nothing to scoff at.

It's a hardware equalizer

Frame-gen is available on all new GPUs

There's always a time and place for pure silicon power. But most gamers don't need the full power of the hardware we buy. The top-end Nvidia and AMD GPUs are better for video editing and 3D modeling than pure gaming, though there are ways to leverage an RTX 5090 for gaming power. But the average gamer doesn't need that much graphics power. And most of us know this. There's a reason why the Nvidia 3060 and 4060 were the most popular GPUs of those generations on the Steam Hardware survey.

The RTX 5060 could be poised to take that position, though that card is in a bit of a rough place right now.

What frame-gen can do is bridge the GPU power gap between the lowest-end GPUs and the higher-end models, as all benefit from the same software. Of course, an RTX 5090 running games with frame generation will, on average, get better results. However, its one way to close the performance gap between high-end cards and more popular GPUs. As long as you're willing to accept the realities of AI-generated frames.

Some games are still a bad match

Competitive games are not frame-gen poster children

Despite Nvidia and AMD's best advertising efforts, frame-generation is still not ideal for competitive, live-service style games that require the lowest possible latency. While frame-gen is better than ever, and latency is down, no esports buff is going to be running DLSS 4 or FSR 4 frame generation in Counter-Strike 2 or even Marvel Rivals.

If you're not trying to rank competitively, you might be alright with taking on the increased latency or discrepancy between client-side gameplay and server ping location. As a longtime player of an MMORPG who ventures into raids that require smooth server connections and a high-degree of player coordination, I'd never be forcing DLSS 4 frame-gen on Final Fantasy XIV, but I do find it helpful for games like Dragon's Dogma 2 and Monster Hunter Wilds instead.

Bad game optimization brought us here

Titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong are to blame.

Not all of this can be laid at the feet of game developers, as game optimization is more difficult than ever now that we have three GPU makers, three home consoles, and Windows and SteamOS gaming handhelds to consider. That's not even accounting for macOS gaming or Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite chipsets.

However, games that perform poorly on your native hardware are a huge driver toward frame generation. Even on my RTX 3080 gaming rig, I've had to enable frame gen just to get Monster Hunter Wilds running smoothly. While that's not the best implementation of frame-generation, it is certainly the only way I can play the game without watching my hunter become a slideshow.

Frame gen is not the solution I wanted

But it is the solution I'll accept.

My new gaming rig is a mid-range machine. And I opted for Intel's divisive Arrow Lake chipset on top of the RTX 5060 Ti GPU, so I never had any delusions as to its performance. I wish we had a better solution to getting games to play well on all possible hardware that wasn't super sampling or AI-powered frame generation, but that's not the world we live in.

I've accepted the realities of my RTX 5060 Ti GPU. I won't be gaming in 4K. And I'll be using frame generation on most of my single-player titles and games with particularly poor optimization like Monster Hunter, but it isn't a one-size fits all solution. It just also isn't something I can keep avoiding. There's no real reason not to use it anymore.