I can't believe I'm saying this, but Nvidia, good on you - RTX 4000 series GPUs will receive DLSS Frame Generation enhancements this month

(Image credit: Nvidia)

Nvidia will bring Frame Generation enhancements to the RTX 4000 series
DLSS 4 will be accessible to all RTX GPUs
This may prove to be beneficial for the longevity of older GPUs

During Nvidia's RTX 4000 GPU series launch in 2022, we saw plenty of criticism from PC gamers (including myself) regarding both the sky-high pricing and DLSS 3 with Frame Generation being exclusive to the new generation. This time around, with the new RTX 5000 series reveal, it seems Nvidia is making amends.

As highlighted by Wccftech, starting 30 January (the RTX 5090 and 5080 launch date), RTX 4000 series GPU owners will receive enhancements to Frame Generation, promising to use less VRAM while boosting performance with higher frame rates. That’s not all, either: all RTX GPUs will have access to the improved upscaling of DLSS 4, which is a massive benefit for all RTX 2000 and 3000 owners who have had access to DLSS 3's super-resolution.

While the new Multi Frame Generation feature will be exclusive to the RTX 5000 series (likely due to hardware requirements), these enhancements for the RTX 4000 series owners (using DLSS 4), may prove highly beneficial in improving performance across multiple games. Despite the online controversy surrounding Team Green's Frame Generation and the potential disregard for optimization from game developers, it's a nice gesture to maintain support for older GPUs, especially considering previous circumstances.

Is there any need for an RTX 5000 series GPU now?

With DLSS 4 soon available for all RTX users and Frame Generation enhancements on the way for compatible GPUs, it begs the question - is there an urgent need to upgrade to the new RTX 5000 series? Honestly, I'm not sure, at least regarding the wallet-busting RTX 5080 or 5090 for now. While we’re still awaiting actual performance results, there's a strong chance that DLSS 4 will prove to be a massive benefit to the older GPUs.

I imagine that the leap from DLSS 3 to DLSS 4 for, say, an RTX 3060 GPU will work wonders at providing a performance boost - while it may not completely revolutionize performance, it could potentially net users a few more years of use from their current GPUs before they really need to start contemplating an upgrade.

Granted, when looking at the newly announced RTX 5070, its $549 / £539 / AU$1,109 price tag and Nvidia's claims of RTX 4090-level performance (while using DLSS 4 with frame-gen enabled, to be clear), I can say that upgrading to this GPU will likely end up being worth it for any PC gamers without sky-high budgets - but we'll have to wait and see once reviews are available.