Last week, NVIDIA launched a new feature for RTX 50 series GPUs called Smooth Motion. This driver-based AI model works similarly to AMD’s AFMF, delivering smoother gameplay by generating an additional frame between two natively rendered frames. Additionally, Smooth Motion enables Frame Generation in games that do not support DLSS 3 FG.

Currently, Smooth Motion is exclusive to RTX 50 series GPUs and can be applied to games running at native resolution, with super-resolution technologies, or other scaling techniques, typically doubling the perceived frame rate. That said, NVIDIA does plan to add support for RTX 40 series GPUs in a future update. With that in mind, to see how NVIDIA's take on Lossless Scaling and AFMF compares, enthusiasts at DSOGaming tested Smooth Motion to evaluate its performance. Here's what they had to say.

Not as advanced as DLSS 3 FG but better than other alternatives

Right off the bat, things didn't go smoothly with Smooth Motion during testing, as to get this driver-based solution working, it seems you need a game profile in the NVIDIA app; otherwise, you can't enable it. Another issue was frequent crashes in most games when using MSI Afterburner and Rivatuner. However, this issue seems to have been addressed now, as Unwinder, the developer behind MSI Afterburner, released Beta 5 Build 16555, which adds support for NVIDIA Smooth Motion.

Moving on to the benchmarks, DSOGaming tested Smooth Motion in games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Black Myth: Wukong, and Silent Hill 2 Remake. They found that the results felt “laggier than DLSS 3 Frame Generation” but compared to Lossless Scaling or AMD's AFMF, Smooth Motion comes out as the best free frame generation solution. In Spider-Man 2, for example, Smooth Motion nearly doubled the frame rates at native 4K, jumping from an average of 65 FPS to a whopping 115 FPS with the feature enabled.

Even in games without DLSS support, like Resident Evil 4 Remake, Smooth Motion delivered a significant performance boost, increasing frame rates from 166 to 259 FPS. However, the game felt laggier, and during testing, they also encountered ghosting issues with the crosshair.

Support for older GPUs might come in the future

Apart from the obvious downside of relying on the NVIDIA app and its game profiles, Smooth Motion appears to be superior in every way to Lossless Scaling and AFMF. It has fewer visual artifacts, delivers solid frame generation, has a minimal impact on input latency, works with VRR, and doesn't deactivate itself during fast motion.

NVIDIA's DLSS frame generation technology has been a benchmark for years, with AMD's FSR struggling to keep up. This could change with FSR 4, which looks significantly better than the current FSR 3.1. However, at the driver level, NVIDIA previously had no direct answer to AMD's AFMF. That now seems to be changing with Smooth Motion, which is shaping up to be a much better alternative to AFMF and other free frame generation solutions. That said, frame generation is currently exclusive to RTX 50 series GPUs. But with support for the RTX 40 series on the way, NVIDIA may eventually extend it to older RTX GPUs, similar to how DLSS 4 provides benefits across all RTX cards.

About the Author

Hassam Nasir

Hassam boasts over seven years of professional experience as a dedicated PC hardware reviewer and writer.