Your Intel GPU could see a 4x frame rate boost soon, thanks to this new tech

Intel graphics card owners have just gained a significant boost, as the company has confirmed it intends to immediately support its new XeSS 3 tech in all existing XeSS 2-supported games. This means that those games will be able to take advantage of this new Intel GPU upscaling technology, which adds support for features like multi frame generation into the mix.

Multi frame gen has, up until now, been a feature that only those with the newest Nvidia graphics cards, like those featuring in our best graphics card guide, could take advantage of, thanks to Nvidia DLSS 4. This new Intel software, however, unlocks the functionality for a whole new lineup of Intel GPUs, which could prove revolutionary on lower-powered machines with integrated GPUs.

Confirmation of its inclusion was made by Intel fellow Tom Petersen, as reported by TechPowerUp. The feature will act as a drop-in replacement for existing XeSS 2 games that support it, so developers won't need to make any changes to their games for the feature to work.

Like DLSS 4, XeSS-MFG will add up to three additional AI-generated frames between each hardware-rendered frame. Gamers will also be able to use an override mode inside the Intel Graphics Software app to choose between 2x, 3x, and 4x frame gen modes, leading to up to four times smoother motion. You'll still need a good base framerate for this to work well - preferably over 60fps - as anything lower could result in artifacts and graphical glitches.

Intel has also confirmed that it intends to support XeSS-MFG across the entire Xe GPU range, with older Xe1 GPUs to gain support later. Intel Core Ultra 200 series CPUs featuring Xe2 cores, along with Intel Arc A and B-series GPUs, will gain the functionality first, however, followed by future Intel Panther Lake CPUs with Xe3 GPU cores.

While XeSS 3 details have yet to be shared in full, Hassan Mujtaba from Wccftech has shared some data about its performance in this X (formerly Twitter) post. According to Mujtaba, a test of XeSS-MFG with ultra quality upscaling resulted in a frame rate boost from a native 62.9fps to 245fps in Painkiller, while Dying Light The Beast boosted from a native 34.2fps to 133fps while using an undisclosed Panther Lake CPU with 12 Xe3 cores.

Those are significant boosts which could, if replicated more widely, have a serious impact on gaming performance for gamers using Intel's integrated GPUs. Multi frame generation could also give Intel GPU owners a serious advantage over AMD alternatives that lack the functionality, especially among the lower-end model lineup.

It'll be interesting to see how well Intel can build on this support, especially with fewer than 50 games supporting XeSS 2 at present, and if it can prove to be good enough to challenge both AMD and Nvidia as the GPU vendor of choice for budget gamers.

Make sure to check out our best gaming PC guide if you're looking for a new, pre-built machine you can pick up today to play your favorite games.

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