NVIDIA Blackwell: Introducing DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation (MFG) - Hype or Game Changer?
With NVIDIA Blackwell introducing DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation (MFG), two camps have emerged. One shouts about thrilling 300 FPS 4K Ultra experiences. The other calls it “fake frames.” What's actually up with DLSS 4 MFG? Is it a breakthrough, or another touch-up? Let's go into the details and figure that out.
DLSS 2.5: Super Resolution, Frame Generation, Ray Reconstruction, and MFG
DLSS is a confusing world, with several technologies clustered under its umbrella. Let’s decompose the big players to see where DLSS 4 MFG could fit in:
DLSS Super Resolution (SR)
DLSS Super Resolution, NVIDIA's initial AI-assisted upscaling technology, was introduced in 2018. It employs AI algorithms to render games at lower resolutions and then achieve a desired resolution using the AI co-processors (Tensor Cores AI cores) in RTX cards. Gaming at what the game thinks is a 4K resolution may mean rendering at 1440p and using DLSS Quality to upscale. This lightens the load on the graphics card, increasing frame rates.
Early iterations of DLSS SR suffered from image quality issues, including ghosting and blurring. DLSS 2 emerged with greatly improved image quality. The newest version, DLSS 4 Super Resolution, adds the “Transformer Model,” a quantum jump in upscaling. The update supports all RTX cards, from the 2000 series onwards. Even those with an older RTX card can take advantage of the improved upscaling quality of the Transformer Model by updating the NVIDIA drivers and game support files.
DLSS Frame Generation (FG)
Frame Generation, introduced alongside the RTX 4000 series, aims to improve perceived frame rates. It uses existing rendered frames to predict the next frame, effectively creating a rendered "fake" frame between two rendered real frames. That means essentially doubling the displayed frame rate. Previously only applicable to RTX 4000 cards, it has now been applied to the RTX 5000 series as well.
DLSS 3.5 is not Frame Generation for every RTX card. DLSS 3.5 is Ray Reconstruction (RR). It uses AI to denoise ray-traced images, thereby improving ray tracing quality. Ray Reconstruction is available on all RTX cards, enhancing visual fidelity in ray-traced games.
DLSS Multi Frame Gen (MFG)
DLSS Multi Frame Generation takes things a step further from Frame Generation. Unlike generating a single frame, MFG generates up to three frames between two real rendered frames. That could quadruple the apparent frame rate. But right now, it’s limited to RTX 5000 series cards. To reiterate the DLSS family:
- DLSS Super Resolution (all variants): All RTX cards supported.
- DLSS Ray Reconstruction (all versions): All RTX cards supported
- DLSS Frame Generation: Supported on RTX 4000 & RTX 5000 series.
- DLSS Multi Frame Generation (MFG): Supported on RTX 5000 series only.
DLSS Naming Conventions Can Get Messy – NVIDIA Numbering is Confusing. Understanding these differences is crucial to understanding what each technology can do.
Analysis of performance based on frames, latency and image quality
Frame rates, latency (response time) and image quality — all three factors need to be properly considered in order to assess DLSS 4 MFG.
Frame rates and latency (response time)
The main issue with frame generation technologies is added latency. The worry is that when frame rates reach the heavens, input lag could become unbearable. Nevertheless, testing shows DLSS 4 MFG's latency is surprisingly well-controlled, largely due to NVIDIA Reflex. Reflex is a latency reduction technology which, when paired with frame generation, engages automatically.
With Cyberpunk 2077 and 4K RT Ultra, with DLSS Balance (Super Resolution), native rendering achieved 87 FPS with a response time of 52ms. The latency with MFG active does get a bit higher than native rendering with Reflex but is still within the range of playability. At Native 4K, native rendering resulted in 58 FPS and 70ms response time for the Stalker 2 title as well. MFG had a reasonable response time with it on, and importantly, better than native 4K with Reflex off.
Summary: Reflex is essential for keeping latency low with frame generation technologies such as MFG. In general gaming, Reflex should still be enabled wherever possible; it’s enabled by default in conjunction with frame-generation, which is enabled by default.
The Price of Base Frame Rates
The native frame rate at its lowest with MFG (and all frame generation techniques) is an important factor to consider. For a good experience with MFG, your native frame rate (before frame generation) needs to be ideally 60 FPS or above. Frame generation is no magic pill for low-performance situations. When your base FPS is counter-productive low MFG can create bad image quality artefacts and odd response.
For a struggling chip like the 4070 that can’t manage really high frame rates in the most recent PC games anyway, frame generation should be considered as a method to reach high refresh rates on extravagant hardware rather than a performance boost. These technologies benefit better from stronger hardware — they have a solid foundation of real frames to understand and exploit.
Image Quality: The Subjective Difficulty
Quality we assess for DLSS 4 MFG is inherently subjective and complex. A truly comprehensive review is technically difficult for a number of reasons:
Restrained Showcase: With 60 FPS being the upper limit for YouTube any video that pushed 120 FPS or higher would only display at half the rate negating the smoothness and potential for artifacts that might occur there.
Capture Technology: It is hard to directly capture the full experience as capture cards that support Adaptive Sync and extremely high frame rates (240 FPS+) are not common.
That means that every online review, including this one, is inherently limited in its ability to accurately represent the visual subtleties and differences afforded by DLSS 4's MFG. A slow-motion analysis can reveal possible artifacts, but it does not fully translate the experience from an actual game session.
While normal motion is always a challenge, in practical testing with Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K RT Ultra DLSS Balance with 4x MFG, we only hit any noticeable image quality problems. Small artifacts might appear in menus or with on-screen elements, but when it came to fast-paced gameplay, issues were less obvious. However, in simulating low native frame rates (e.g., 30 FPS base) and applying 4x MFG to achieve 120 FPS, the image quality issues become far more severe. And so this highlights the basic frame rate is important.
In comparison, Stalker 2, when DLSS 4 MFG is forced via NVIDIA control panel (there is no native support for that unfortunately at the moment) can show more obvious artifacts. Those can include odd shapes on roads, ghosting in foliage, or flickering across fences and trees. In many cases, frame generation technologies have difficulty predicting the movement of thin detail, such as grasses, hair, and foliage.
But many of these artifacts become less annoying at regular gameplay speed. The first question is not — “does MFG affect image problems? (it inevitably must, since it’s predictive technology), but rather “are these issues important and distracting during gameplay?
There is no simple answer, and it depends on many factors:
- Game Type — some games may be more vulnerable to MFG artifacts than others.
- Native Frame Rate: A higher base FPS typically results in less artifacts per frame, and thus less noticeable artifacts.
- Display Type and Refresh Rate: Higher refresh rate screens (especially those 240Hz+) can help to mask the visibility of artifacts as frames are only shown for a shorter duration.
- Playing Style: Quick-firing games with a lot of motion can hide artifacts better than slower, more visually prodding play.
Final Thoughts: DLSS 4 MFG — Decisively Good for High Refresh Rates, Borderline Exciting for Everything Else
DLSS 4 MFG is bloody exciting for gamers with high refresh rate displays (240Hz or above). That opens up possibilities for records-of-smooth, high-frame-rate experiences in demanding single-player titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Stalker 2, experiences that you simply wouldn’t be able to achieve natively under extreme graphical settings. With frame presentation so fast, many of the image quality concerns become quite moot on a 240Hz screen. Artifacts may appear here and there, but, for most of the time, in optimal conditions, they are likely to go unnoticed (estimated to be 95%).
On the other hand if you are on a 180Hz or lower refresh rate displays, the benefits of 3x or 4x MFG are hardly worth bragging about. The chief benefit comes out to be akin to the initial Frame Generation introduced to RTX 4000 cards — about a 2X framerate bump. Massive frame rates above the refresh rate of your screen is kind of diminishing returns in terms of increasing errors percentage and probably on any additional latency increase.
Where is DLSS 4 MFG practical? If your screen refresh rate is 200Hz or less, in practice it can only theoretically be useful in its 2x multiplication mode, which is already fully covered by RTX 4000 Frame Generation capabilities. The more extreme 3x and 4x modes are really oriented toward newer 4K 240Hz (and higher) displays that will ultimately take off, as they're when the tech can really strut its stuff, providing unattained in-game smoothness in the most graphics-hungry titles.
In the end, DLSS 4 MFG is a very effective technology, particularly when you're trying to push frame rates into the ultra-high refresh rate range on premium displays. Not perfect and dependent on a strong base performance, but a decent leap forward in gaming imagery and smoothness for anyone who is going to adopt the last in display technology.
We would continue publishing more articles of in-depth analysis on related graphics technologies.
