NVIDIA Quietly Extends Smooth Motion Frame Generation to RTX 40-Series GPUs

Nvidia just quietly gave RTX 40-series GPUs a big upgrade

* Smooth Motion can be used on RTX 40-series GPUs with developer driver 590.26. * Nvidia doesn't officially support it yet, but it can be enabled via the Nvidia Profile Inspector. * Nvidia is expected to add official support for Smooth Motion on RTX 40-series GPUs in the future. You can now use Nvidia's driver-based Smooth Motion frame generation on RTX 40-series GPUs, provided you're willing to jump through a few hoops. Earlier this year, Nvidia revealed Smooth Motion as a way to counter AMD's Fluid Motion Frames 2, providing driver-level frame generation for just about any game. The problem? It only works on RTX 50-series GPUs. A group of enthusiasts over at the Guru3D forums have uncovered a way to use Smooth Motion on RTX 40-series GPUs with the latest developer driver, however (spotted by Tom's Hardware). Here's why I don't miss Nvidia after upgrading to an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT I'm finally leaving team Green altogether in favor of AMD's new Radeon RX 9070 XT, and I'm not looking back. Posts 25 Smooth Motion works on RTX 40-series GPUs It's not "official" official yet, though Nvidia doesn't technically support Smooth Motion on RTX 40-series GPUs yet, but you can still turn the feature on. You'll need two things -- the latest Nvidia developer driver, version 590.26, and the Nvidia Profile Inspector. For the driver, you'll need to sign up for an Nvidia developer account if you don't already have one. Then, you'll need to install the new driver and load a profile in the Nvidia Profile Inspector. Under the Common section, you'll now find a Smooth Motion setting. Macer on the Guru3D forums discovered the setting and showed it doubling the frame rate in World of Warcraft despite using an RTX 4090. Inside the Nvidia Profile Inspector, the Smooth Motion option still says it's only supported on RTX 50-series GPUs, but as Macer's testing shows, you can enable it on RTX 40-series GPUs, as well. Nvidia has said that support for Smooth Motion will come to RTX 40-series GPUs eventually, and it seems this developer driver is laying the groundwork for that. Some Guru3D posters suggest that this driver is using a different version of Smooth Motion with worse quality; it's possible Nvidia is tweaking the exact model that RTX 40-series GPUs will use before a broad release. Although Smooth Motion is one of the most underrated features Nvidia offers, it still doesn't get a lot of attention, largely due to the fact that it's restricted to RTX 50-series GPUs. AMD's Fluid Motion Frames offers driver-level frame generation, as well, but it works on just about anything -- you can enable it on an RX 9070 XT down to a Ryzen AI 300 chip. You have to jump through some hoops, but it's good to see that Smooth Motion at least works on RTX 40-series cards. It should work in just about any modern game you throw at it, but Nvidia officially supports DirectX 11, 12, and more recently, Vulkan. If you plan on signing up for an Nvidia developer account and installing the driver, keep in mind that you'll technically be using pre-release software. Given Nvidia's recent troubles with driver bugs, you might run into a few issues, especially when turning on Smooth Motion.

RTX 40-series graphics cards can now enable Frame Generation in unsupported games via the drivers: up to a 44% fps improvement in my initial tests

A new feature called Smooth Motion makes it all possible, previously only available on the RTX 50-series. Though you will have to jump through some hoops for early access. Heads up, RTX 40-series GPU owners, you can now enable Frame Generation on almost any modern game. The latest Nvidia GeForce drivers enable a setting called Smooth Motion, which allows Frame Gen to be enabled even on games that don't natively support it. This setting was previously limited to RTX 50-series cards only, despite support for Frame Gen (2x mode) on the previous generation, but now RTX 40-series owners can make use of it, too. To do so requires the latest developer GeForce Game Ready drivers, 590.26. This driver package is not yet available through the normal channels, ie the Nvidia website or Nvidia App, but rather via the developer website using a developer account. You don't have to do anything special to make an account, but if you'd prefer to wait for the regular release, that's likely to happen pretty soon, providing there are no major issues with this driver package. As spotted by user Macer on the Guru3D forums (via Tom's Hardware), it's now possible to go into the drivers and enable the feature called Smooth Motion. If you have the Nvidia App installed, the best way to do this is to head into the Graphics tab, select the game you'd like to enable Frame Generation with, and scroll down to the Smooth Motion setting to turn it on. I would recommend doing this on a game-by-game basis, rather than mess with the global settings, as there are a few things to consider before applying it. You can also the third-party tool called Nvidia Profile Inspector, as the feature's discoverer has done, to avoid installing any extra Nvidia applications. To ensure the feature works, I've tested it on my RTX 4080 Super gaming PC on two games so far: Peak and Sons of the Forest. Here are the results: Smooth Motion wasn't able to double my frame rate, as Frame Generation X2 loosely claims, though in both games I did see a considerable improvement in frame rates -- 33.3% in Sons of the Forest and 44% in Peak. In my brief time with Sons of the Forest, I noticed a slight increase in stuttering with Smooth Motion enabled, though no such issues in Peak. Generally, both games looked reasonable good for the use of Frame Generation, though that might not always be the case. You should test this feature out on any game before applying it. Some games are sure to perform worse, or look considerably worse, for unsupported use of Frame Generation. Some simply might not work altogether. Smooth Motion is only noted as working with DX12 and DX11 games, so if you're hoping for a boost in performance on an older or Vulkan-only title, I'm afraid this isn't the answer. I had to head into Peak's launch options in Steam to switch over to DX12 mode to get Smooth Motion working, but I couldn't get it to work in Destiny 2. Just a reminder that Frame Generation uses AI to generate a new frame, or frames, inbetween rendered ones. It was introduced on RTX 40-series cards, with the ability to double frame rates by adding in one extra frame for every rendered one. Though on the RTX 50-series it can add in up to 3 more frames for seemingly greater performance, and often higher latency too. AMD has a competing tech in its FidelityFX package. There are other ways to enable Frame Gen in unsupported games, the main one being Lossless Scaling. This application gives you plenty of options regardless of the game you're playing. Anecdotal reports suggest Lossless Scaling and Smooth Motion are both worth a punt, depending on the game at hand, though the benefit of the latter is that it's free. Still, you might want to mix and match for the best results. If, for whatever reason, you're reading this as an owner of an AMD graphics card -- good news! You can enable a similar feature in AMD's Adrenalin Software, AMD Fluid Motion Frames, or AFMF, providing you're using an RX 7000/6000-series graphics card. Altogether, Smooth Motion is a pretty useful feature if you're playing a game without Frame Generation support baked in. More so now that it's available on the range of RTX 40-series cards. Though I do wonder when we'll see it land in the public release. It appears to work pretty well already, though I've only tested three games -- hardly a large sample.

Enable Smooth Motion on RTX 40 Series GPUs with GeForce 590.26 Preview Driver

Nvidia's latest preview driver has quietly unlocked Smooth Motion support for the RTX 40-series, giving owners of these cards a simple way to boost frame rates in almost any game. Smooth Motion was first introduced alongside the RTX 50 series back in January, but until now it was limited to the newer hardware. With the GeForce 590.26 Preview Driver, you can test out this AI-powered frame interpolation on your RTX 40 card -- and it's surprisingly easy to set up, even if it's not officially listed in the regular control panel. To get started, you'll need to sign up for a developer account on Nvidia's site and download the preview driver. After installing it, grab Nvidia Profile Inspector (it's a lightweight tool that doesn't take long to set up). Inside Profile Inspector, look for the Smooth Motion toggle -- you won't see it in the main Nvidia app, so this is the only way to switch it on for now. Remember: this is a beta‐level release, so you might notice occasional visual glitches or variable performance until Nvidia rolls out a more polished public update. So how does Smooth Motion actually work? Think of it like this: instead of just showing one new frame after another, the driver's AI engine generates an extra frame between each pair of real frames. That means if your card is pushing out 60 FPS natively, Smooth Motion can bump that up to around 120 FPS without adding perceptible latency. In our own quick test on an RTX 4090 running World of Warcraft, frame rates jumped from about 82 FPS to roughly 164 FPS, all while the performance overlay showed no extra lag. Since WoW doesn't support DLSS natively, this kind of gain was long overdue -- especially for gamers still running older titles or engines that never got official upscaling support. The driver-level approach is a key advantage here. Upscaling tools like DLSS or FSR need developers to integrate them into each game's graphics pipeline, which can take months or even years -- if it happens at all. Smooth Motion sidesteps that by operating entirely in the driver. Whenever your GPU sends a frame to the display, the driver inserts an AI-generated frame in between. This means your favourite classics and less-mainstream titles can benefit immediately, without waiting for patches. That said, Smooth Motion isn't a magic bullet. Because it doesn't perform resolution upscaling -- only frame interpolation -- you won't see any change in image resolution. You might also spot more artifacting around fast-moving objects, as the AI sometimes struggles with complex motion. Performance can fluctuate based on scene complexity and driver maturity. In short, don't expect the same level of image fidelity as mature, game-integrated upscalers, but do expect a meaningful bump in smoothness for your gameplay. Looking ahead, it's reasonable to assume Nvidia will refine Smooth Motion and roll it into a stable driver release within the next few months. Until then, enthusiasts and developers can experiment with the preview build and provide feedback. If you're curious about squeezing extra FPS out of your RTX 40 card -- without investing in third-party software or waiting for developers to add DLSS -- you now have that option. Just be ready to toggle it off if you encounter any major visual issues or instability. Source: Guru3D forums / Macer

GeForce RTX 40 Series owners are getting access to NVIDIA's new Smooth Motion tech

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you. NVIDIA's Smooth Motion technology was released earlier this year, a driver-based Frame Generation solution similar to AMD's Fluid Motion Frames in that it doesn't require game integration, like DLSS. Initially, this new feature was exclusive to the latest GeForce RTX 50 Series of graphics cards, but that's changing in an upcoming driver release. The feature was spotted in the latest GeForce 590.26 Preview Driver for developers, which includes support for enabling Smooth Motion on GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards. Although Smooth Motion doesn't require game integration like DLSS Frame Generation, it still utilizes the AI hardware in GeForce RTX GPUs for generating its additional frame. Smooth Motion, like Frame Generation, is all about improving the performance of a game by generating a new frame in between traditionally rendered frames. This improves the overall smoothness of the presentation, giving the impression and effect of doubling or substantially boosting performance. The ability to enable Smooth Motion on GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs was spotted while using the NVIDIA Profile Inspector for the GeForce 590.26 Preview Driver. Discovered by Macer at the Guru3D forums, they did note that the option wasn't in the NVIDIA App. Testing with World of Warcraft, they offer a great example of Smooth Motion in action. Running on a GeForce RTX 4090, it allowed the 83 FPS frame limit of the game to increase to a smoother 164 FPS. As DLSS Frame Generation or the new DLSS Multi Frame Generation offers better image quality, latency, and performance than Smooth Motion, you'd only use the technology in games like World of Warcraft or those without any form of integrated Frame Generation. Reviews of Smooth Motion have shown that it offers better image quality with fewer artifacts than AMD's Fluid Motion Frames or the popular Lossless Scaling app.