Your old Nvidia GeForce GPU can now run frame gen in non-DLSS games

A new feature has just appeared in a preview version of the latest Nvidia GeForce driver, which is the ability to enable frame gen even in games that don't support DLSS. Much like AMD Fluid Motion Frames, the new Smooth Motion feature basically enables frame gen at the driver level, rather than being implemented natively through DLSS. As such, the quality isn't going to be as good as full DLSS frame gen, and it's not supported by every game either, but it does open up the field.

What's more, you won't need to buy the best GPU you can afford on our buying guide to run it, as it works fine on older Nvidia GPUs as well. I've just given it a try on my RTX 4090 running Civilization VI, for example, which has no native support for DLSS frame gen, and it did indeed nearly double the frame rate.

Sadly, this new feature doesn't mean you can now double your frame rates in every game, as some are unsupported, and you can't download this driver through a usual Nvidia App update yet either. However, Smooth Motion is definitely there in the latest driver preview, and it works too.

As spotted by Guru3D forum user Macer, the latest Nvidia 590-series branch of drivers now includes support for Smooth Motion in the driver settings, and while Nvidia Profile Inspector states that it only works on RTX 50 series and above, Macer got it working on an RTX 4090, as did I.

I've just had a quick play with the new 590.26 driver preview, and it does indeed let you enable Smooth Motion on an RTX 4090. I ran Civilization VI, as an example of an old game that doesn't support DLSS, on my RTX 4090, and limited the frame rate to 60fps.

As you can see, without Smooth Motion enabled in the image above, the average frame rate is 59fps, but if you enable it, the tech takes the limited frame rate and uses AI to effectively double it to 118fps - as shown in the Steam Performance Monitor at the top.

I'll be really interested to try out this feature on other games when it gets an official release, too, but Macer has achieved similar results in World of Warcraft, and Videocardz has reported the same doubling in Company of Heroes 3 as well. Basically, if your game doesn't support DLSS frame gen, there's a good chance you'll be able to run it with Smooth Motion frame gen with this new driver.

If you want to try it for yourself, you'll need to download the driver from Nvidia's Developer site, and you can then use the Nvidia App to enable Smooth Motion in the settings for your game - it appears just below the DLSS Override settings. What's more, it works on RTX 4000-series GPUs as well.

If you're thinking of upgrading your rig, make sure you check out our guide to the best gaming motherboard, as well as our full guide to the best gaming CPU, so you can make sure your graphics card has the best foundation possible.

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