The $2,000 NVIDIA RTX 5090 is so powerful that it made me wonder if there’s such a thing as too many frames when it comes to PC gaming. The thought didn’t occur to me until I played Dragon Age: The Veilguard With Nvidia’s multi-frame generation as part of the DLSS 4 update. During a frenetic enemy encounter, it exceeded 360 fps on the highest graphical settings and even higher when the action faded. It’s partly a factor of the new Blackwell architecture, but the graphics card is anything but a car. The rest is AI and “fake frames”.
More than that, it is a process called multi-frame generation. With the launch of the latest update to NVIDIA’s AI UPSCALER DLSS 4, NVIDIA’s new cards can essentially generate up to three frames between two rendered frames. If the card is already strong, Gen Multi-Frame is like putting the cherry on top of a more expensive gold leaf sundae. What’s the difference between playing a single-player role-playing game at 120 fps versus 360 fps? After playing multiple big-name titles with the new DLSS 4 capabilities, I can’t see if there’s any reason these framerates would be needed other than for the primal joy of watching a number.
This is not a complete review of NVIDIA’s new GPU. I can’t compare the RTX 5090 Founders Edition to the $1,600 RTX 4090 because I don’t have access to one. I can compare it to the RTX 4080 Super and RTX 4070 TI Super, solid cards with much lower asking prices than the 5090. With any high-end card, you always need to rely on software. This is true for the 5090 as well. If you want to play Cyberpunk 2077 At 4K with MAX settings and ray tracing enabled without DLSS, you won’t reach 60 fps. With DLSS on balanced settings, you’ll see over 100 frames per second. When you implement Gen Gen, you’ll get a kick out of the high count, but as with anything created with the help of AI, there will inevitably be some unintended side effects.
The Nvidia Geforce RTX 5090 Founders Edition was launched on January 30.
How do games work with all the bells and whistles of the RTX 5090?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBK_NPEM5RM
the Nvidia Geforce RTX 5090 The specifications are only slightly lower than its price. The card is based on the new Blackwell architecture, and the Config Edition F-FAN packs 32GB of VRAM, 21,760 CUDA cores with a 2.01GHz base clock, and a 2.41GHz boost clock. The card comes with ray tracing IV cores with a claimed performance of 318 TFLOPS. That’s all well and good, but Nvidia has focused most of its attention on the 5th generation cores and 3,352 of performance from the AI.
Artificial intelligence is the name of the game here. It would be difficult to justify the price increase without Blackwell’s architecture and Gen Multi Frame capabilities. Like previous versions of Frame Gen first released with DLSS 3, this inserts a created frame between two rendered frames. Gen Multi Frame is better than before, according to Nvidia. It should be 40% more efficient and faster. What helps it is that it uses the AI management processor on the GPU itself to assign these different AI tasks.
Blackwell cards use what’s called “Flip Metering” when creating frames. This separates them in a way to reduce latency. Even then, Nvidia wants to lean on RTX Reflex 2 to further reduce latency. If all of this is starting to sound like a lot to add on top of the traditional horsepower of a new graphics processor, that’s because it is.
Some games won’t be quick to pull to update their UI for Gen Multi Frame features or any new DLSS 4 features. NVIDIA’s app includes a DLSS override feature that lets you force them to upgrade to the new Gen Multi Frame and frame. Either way, you can choose 4x, 3x, or 2x Frame Gen.
Older RTX cards will receive some upgrades to DLSS 4. However, while the RTX 40 series will have access to the DLSS Model and some upgrades to 2x frame generation, Nvidia said the Blackwell architecture is necessary for multiple frame generation.
How do you play games when most of your frames are generated?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eauctp508f4
I tested NVIDIA’s new flagship on the PRIBLE PC NEURON 3500X, which included a 285K Ultra-Thin CPU and 32GB of LDDR5X RAM. The computer packs a 1000W 80 and 80 plus gold PSU. The power supply is the minimum NVIDIA recommends 5090. This is a $3400 desktop tower. A 1000 W PSU is nominal for most high-end computers, although before, it was for headroom and for future isolation. Considering that the RTX 5090 is $2,000, every other component you need to make the most of the GPU’s capabilities makes the over-the-top PC feel even more over-the-top.
There’s an interesting feeling when you jump into a game and watch that frame counter rise. There is a feeling that this cannot be real, and that you are immediately looking for problems. The thing is, I couldn’t detect much or practically no visual contrasts. I analyzed the foliage as much as possible in Dragon Age: The Veilguard but was unable to find any noticeable issues with sharpness or texture.
I took it to other challenging games, such as Hogwarts legacy and Cyberpunk 2077. I never thought I’d ever see a Cyberpunk pushing 200 FPS, but life tends to throw curve balls. Multi Frame Gen also means I can push track tracking to Ultra and still maintain such a high FPS that looking for it will assume I’m bothering it (and to some extent, me).
While cruising the streets of Night City on a bike, I didn’t encounter any hints of obstacles. However, I noticed some of the lights on Jackie’s bike fading strangely while driving at high speed. Flickering occurred on 2x, 3x, and 4x Frame Gen, though it was worse when relying on more generated frames. You can see the problem for yourself in the video above.
I won’t say I wasn’t distracted by the odd UI flash, though the game was perfectly playable anyway. I also didn’t notice any floats in the controls or artifacts in the visuals, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any other issues I couldn’t make out myself. With the Reflex 2, I didn’t notice any responsiveness issues either.
Without Gen Prame turned on, Cyberpunk ran at around 100fps with high DLSS on Balanced mode. Without DLSS, it will run at Sub-60 FPS. The game is fully playable on the RTX 5090 without a GEN frame. Extra frames don’t necessarily add to the experience. These “fake frames” may distract some players more than they help.
I was amazed at how casual games looked while running all these generated framerates. in Dragon Age: The VeilguardI noticed that Cutscene seemed to go by very quickly, but the problem did not reoccur after that. Playing Alan Wake III can’t get past 60 fps with track tracking on Ultra and every other setting turned to 11, even with the 5090 and DLSS balanced. When 4x multi-frame gen is enabled, it jumps to 190fps. There were weird issues with the pop, but this is a Known case For the game running at maximum settings on the computer. I tried it and found that the difference between 70 FPS without Gen frame and 250 FPS with 4x framerate did not disrupt gameplay.
Is the Gen RTX 5090 even necessary?
But does it enhance gameplay? I typically test games at 4K on the AOC U27G3X monitor, which only goes up to a 120Hz refresh rate. This is perfectly fine for most GPUs, and would be fine for the 5090 if it weren’t for multi-frame generation. Without 2x, 3x, or 4x frame generation, I could only hope to hit around 100fps with medium-high DLSS and no track tracking for more demanding titles.
If I want to get the most out of 360fps, I’m going to need a really expensive monitor like the LG Ultragear that can hit 480Hz refresh rates, but you can sacrifice the hallowed 4K resolution. This latest CES was stuffed with 240Hz 4K OLED displays from every OEM under the sun. You can get a beautiful, high-end curved monitor that runs at 4K and 240Hz for well over $1,000, but you’ll struggle to find one to understand all those frames. LG’s bendable 5K2K display will only stick to 165Hz if you want a higher resolution.
So, a lot of monitors can do 240Hz, but less than that. That’s because there comes a point when Framerate doesn’t make a material difference. Even a professional FPS Esports competitor will compete on a 240Hz display. You won’t notice much difference between 120fps and 240fps if you’re playing casually. I took the 5090 for a spin with Marvel competitors. It’s the kind of game that doesn’t require much from your PC. It will have more than 300 FPS with Gen Multi Frame. I’m not a player able to tell if generated frames are helping or hindering me. It wouldn’t make my goal any better, either way.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang explained in a recent Q&A with press and analysts that the company priced the RTX 5090 at $2,000, knowing that your average gamer wouldn’t carry it. In the words of the CEO, this is a GPU for people who want “the best,” and don’t care what they spend to get “the best.” Getting the best also means you’ll need the best CPU, the highest power supply, and one of the most expensive displays you can buy. It is a card made for people where money is no object. At that point, what is the point of the review? You already know that the 5090 is a step above the 4090. It had better be because it costs $400 more than Nvidia’s previous flagship.
You still need a game to run at 60fps to make frame generation useful, which is why I’m most curious about the RTX 5070 and 5070 TI for gamers who can’t spend the equivalent of their monthly rent or mortgage payment on a single graphics card. Gen Multi Frame would be a better deal for cheaper cards. That’s why I’m most excited for the still-unannounced RTX 5060. This depends on how good the base card is with a standard frame rate with fully rendered frames. However, budget players are accustomed to making concessions. Those who pay $2,000 for a graphics card aren’t asking for anything.