Console performance just took a huge step forward

digitaltrends.com:

Choosing between PC and console just got a little trickier because a feature that was previously reserved for PCs is now available on the Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 5. The feature in question? Frame generation, courtesy of AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 3. The tech did a superb job in the first tests on Xbox Series X, resulting in an up to 72% performance uplift in Immortals of Aveum. While this is a big step for AMD, and for console gaming as a whole, there are some downsides that underscore how this tech is still in its early days on consoles.

Upon the announcement that FSR 3 was now supported on all platforms as of the latest patch in Immortals of Aveum, Digital Foundry took the game out for a spin on an Xbox Series X, sharing its experience. The game, which normally tends to run at around 30 frames per second (fps) to 60 fps on the Xbox, saw a significant increase in frame rates, moving up from an average of 46 fps to 80 fps — a 72% increase.

As Digital Foundry testers explained, this took Immortals of Aveum from a fairly inconsistent 40 fps to 60 fps game to something that runs at a stable higher refresh rate. Digital Foundry’s John Linneman noted that the title almost feels like a 120-fps game, which is quite an achievement for an Unreal Engine 5 title on the Xbox.

In Immortals of Aveum, gamers can choose to toggle frame generation on or off, and variable refresh rates (VRR) are also available. Unfortunately, the experience, while overall much smoother, was not without some visual artifacts and freezing issues. The video describes moments when the fps suddenly drops to 0, the camera cuts during cinematics (which, curiously, doesn’t seem to affect the PS5), and the frame stutters.

Perhaps the most annoying problems lie in the game’s HUD. Various 2D elements are not interpolated and not affected by frame generation, which means that there’s sometimes a visibly