Engadget Guide Outlines Ways to Boost Older GPU Performance Without a New Card

The guide says it is a difficult time to buy a new GPU, with the tech industry focused on data centers and many PC gamers unable to pick up a new graphics card for years. It notes that not being able to afford a shiny NVIDIA RTX 50-Series GPU does not mean users cannot squeeze more performance from their current card.

According to the article, graphically demanding games now rely on supersampling technologies such as AMD FSR, NVIDIA DLSS and Intel XeSS, especially for stable performance at high resolutions. The guide says NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 and AMD FSR 4 can produce image quality on par with native resolution while drastically boosting performance, by rendering at a lower internal resolution and using deep learning to upscale the image.

The author writes that he has leaned on supersampling since DLSS 2.0 launched in 2020 and describes current iterations of the three major solutions as essentially free frames with little downside. It recommends supersampling without hesitation, while suggesting users experiment with frame generation to decide for themselves.

On NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 Multi Frame Generation, the guide says the technology is more complicated. In the author's experience, it can produce more than 200 fps in Hogwarts Legacy with the x6 modifier enabled, but it adds serious input latency in games that support it. Earlier x2 and x3 versions perform nicely on supported titles and produce fewer distracting visual artifacts than MFG, such as shimmering around in-game text, according to the article.

The guide also advises lowering graphical settings and turning off ray tracing. It says only the fastest graphics cards can handle a modern AAA title's Ultra preset, so most users should drop to Balanced, and those with GPUs a couple of generations old should consider Performance presets. Features like ambient occlusion or screen space reflections are unlikely to be missed by most players, and users should tinker with in-game sliders to see whether the performance cost is worthwhile.

In fast-paced first-person shooters or racing games, the guide says fancy rendering techniques are wasted on most gamers, so settings that do not enhance the experience should be disabled. It notes that an increasing number of PC titles, such as Resident Evil Requiem, have graphics menus that provide before-and-after shots of how effects alter a game. If players cannot appreciate the difference in those preview panes, they should shut the setting off to improve frame rates.

For budget GPU owners, the guide says ray tracing should never be enabled. The ultra-advanced lighting technique uses multi-bounce illumination to create realistic in-game shadows and reflections, but it is hugely punishing on performance. Unless a user owns a beastly graphics card, the article says ray tracing should almost always be disabled, as it can often lower frame rates by 20 to 40 percent.

The guide adds that there is a physical element to GPU performance. It says users must know how to clean and organize their PC properly, and keeping the inside of the system tidy can be a surprising way to improve effectiveness. The article flags thermal throttling as a potentially big issue and mentions overclocking as a consideration.

Editor's Summary Engadget's guide advises gamers to rely on supersampling and frame generation, lower settings, disable ray tracing on budget GPUs, and maintain their hardware to extend the life of older graphics cards. It highlights DLSS 4.5 and FSR 4 as delivering strong image quality and performance, while warning that Multi Frame Generation can add input latency. The recommendations come as new GPU purchases remain difficult for many PC gamers.