Microsoft Brings FPS Boost Support Up to 97 Games on Xbox Series X|S

[Raevenlord]

Remember that neat Microsoft engineering trick that boosted previous-gen's games' performance on their latest and greatest Xbox Series X|S consoles? Well, Microsoft has released a new update for FPS Boost which increases the number of titles from the previous 23. The update adds the FPS boosting capability to a mind-boggling 74 games in one go, increasing their performance up to 60 FPS at their respective rendering resolutions.

Of course, one might want some more changes to be made to the game. However, remember that this a wholly Microsoft endeavor - there's no developer work required or being done here. some developers have released "next-gen" updates to some of their releases from the Xbox One and PS4 era, but FPS Boost is developer agnostic, and works via the Direct 3D API on the Xbox consoles. Titles getting an FPS Boost include Assassin's Creed Unity (maybe now finally is the time to play that one Assassin's Creed game, uh?), Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Alien Isolation (get some scares at double the framerate, what's not to love?) Wasteland 3, and Far Cry 5 all moving to 60 FPS.





There's a difference between the Xbox Series X and Series S in some titles; for example, Mad Max and Metro 2033 Redux have both seen improvements up to 120 FPS on the Series X, while the Series S makes do with an update up to 60 FPS. These are all still extremely impressive achievements from Microsoft, considering how this has absolutely no work from developers to implement. Kudos must be given to the company for improving the experience in these forwards-compatible games. And of course, Microsoft's Xbox gets an added value that currently is unmatched on Sony's camp, especially at a time where current-gen games are still few and far between. Check the source for the full list of currently FPS Boost-enabled games.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[ZoneDymo]

good stuff

 

[Vayra86]

Funny how the simplest thing is marketed on a console.

On a PC, we have this thing called FPS sliders and capping. Or... any of a half dozen ways to sync. Since 1999 and before.

About those current-gen games... On a PC, every game is current gen
At least you can replay a limited library at moar fps now eh

 

[Raevenlord]

Funny how the simplest thing is marketed on a console.

On a PC, we have this thing called FPS sliders and capping. Or... any of a half dozen ways to sync. Since 1999 and before.

About those current-gen games... On a PC, every game is current gen
At least you can replay a limited library at moar fps now eh

I understand what you mean. And yes, PC Master Race. Obviously.

But that has nothing to do with the article, or the tech, which on consoles, due to the nature of the beast, is pretty revolutionary, wouldn't you say?

Why can't we all get along and be happy for improvements for all gamers, independent of platform?

 

[Space Lynx]

Always nice to see more frames for everyone... and with Acer coming out with that 390hz monitor soon, won't lie, I kind of want to experience rainbow six siege at 390 fps 390hz.... just to see what it's like... I won't do that of course... LOL way too pricey but would be neat to see if I can notice a difference over 165hz

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Funny how the simplest thing is marketed on a console.

On a PC, we have this thing called FPS sliders and capping. Or... any of a half dozen ways to sync. Since 1999 and before.

About those current-gen games... On a PC, every game is current gen
At least you can replay a limited library at moar fps now eh

Enough with your attitude, its embarrassing, really.

 

[Space Lynx]

Enough with your attitude, its embarrassing, really.

I understand what he is saying though. Even playing Dragon Age Origins at 27" 1440p high refresh the other day, the immersion was much better than it was when experiencing it on console. and that game is ancient...

that being said, consoles have their benefit too. Plug n Play being a nice feature imo. the older I get the more frustrated I get with having 50 different settings to tinker with for optimum frames for every single game I play. though having experience in this now usually the culprit is shadows and ambient occlusion... which I usually take from high or ultra down to low or medium. that seems to be the case across the board really. so it doesn't take me to long but eh

 

[qubit]

Sounds great and it kinda is, but it looks to me like Microsoft is just rooting out inefficiencies in the DX API which were preventing the console from reaching its full potential. Gives it a leg-up over the PlayStation 5 though and that's what matters for sales.

Oh and as an owner of a gaming PC, Xbox One S and PS4 Pro, I can see the benefit of each platform.

Clearly, the PC has far and away the best performance, but... issues. A console generally just works from the get go and that's worth something, as well as being a lot cheaper than a decent gaming PC. Heck, just my graphics card cost more than double that of my PS4 Pro. Not everyone has deep enough pockets.

 

[Space Lynx]

Sounds great and it kinda is, but it looks to me like Microsoft is just rooting out inefficiencies in the DX API which were preventing the console from reaching its full potential. Gives it a leg-up over the PlayStation 5 though and that's what matters for sales.

Oh and as an owner of a gaming PC, Xbox One S and PS4 Pro, I can see the benefit of each platform.

Clearly, the PC has far and away the best performance, but... issues. A console generally just works from the get go and that's worth something, as well as being a lot cheaper than a decent gaming PC. Heck, just my graphics card cost more than double that of my PS4 Pro. Not everyone has deep enough pockets.

If I did not get lucky on my PC build... I would have easily done the Xbox Series X 2 year subscription... $34.95 a month for 2 years and you get xbox series x console and ultimate game pass... you just can't beat it. Great a deal imo.

 

[qubit]

If I did not get lucky on my PC build... I would have easily done the Xbox Series X 2 year subscription... $34.95 a month for 2 years and you get xbox series x console and ultimate game pass... you just can't beat it. Great a deal imo.

Yes, it would be a great deal, especially with the 60fps gameplay.

 

[Post Nut Clairvoyance]

I understand what he is saying though. Even playing Dragon Age Origins at 27" 1440p high refresh the other day, the immersion was much better than it was when experiencing it on console. and that game is ancient...

that being said, consoles have their benefit too. Plug n Play being a nice feature imo. the older I get the more frustrated I get with having 50 different settings to tinker with for optimum frames for every single game I play. though having experience in this now usually the culprit is shadows and ambient occlusion... which I usually take from high or ultra down to low or medium. that seems to be the case across the board really. so it doesn't take me to long but eh

can't spell "ambient occlusion" "motion blur" "depth of field" and "lens flair" without "COCK AND BALLS"
am biased since I don't play much modern AAA, so these features are as good for me as plastic heatsink for microprocessors.

 

[Space Lynx]

can't spell "ambient occlusion" "motion blur" "depth of field" and "lens flair" without "COCK AND BALLS"
am biased since I don't play much modern AAA, so these features are as good for me as plastic heatsink for microprocessors.

You can tell an improvement honestly on some of it, but usually going from high to Ultra on anything is impercieavable... medium to high less so. I find it's best to just play games at high settings not ultra... depth of field can be nice sometimes, it depends on the game though. motion blur is always off for me. horrible invention that was imo. lens flair is usually done terrible too, I turn that off sometimes even though performance doesn't change it just annoys me.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Better chance of buying a console than a gpu now days lol

 

[80251]

I'd like to see the Xbox series x get a minimum FPS of 60 in the Deus Ex Mankind Divided benchmark @ 1440p with MSAAx2 and everything else maxed.

 

[Lionheart]

I understand what you mean. And yes, PC Master Race. Obviously.

But that has nothing to do with the article, or the tech, which on consoles, due to the nature of the beast, is pretty revolutionary, wouldn't you say?

Why can't we all get along and be happy for improvements for all gamers, independent of platform?

Stop talking facts & sense, TPUers like to ego feed.

 

[Mussels]

"Microsoft turns the resolution of 100 games down to 720p"

 

[Shihab]

Sounds great and it kinda is, but it looks to me like Microsoft is just rooting out inefficiencies in the DX API which were preventing the console from reaching its full potential. Gives it a leg-up over the PlayStation 5 though and that's what matters for sales.

Less rooting out inefficiencies, more hacking and overriding variables set in API calls, is what I'd personally bet on.

Yet to find anyone dissecting this "tech," but what I've read so far has yet to change my mind that this is more than a simple override, coupled with some QA process to figure out which devs still held to that archaic practice of syncing the entire engine to the framerate.

 

[BArms]

Meanwhile Sony still won't bring 60 FPS to Bloodborne :sadface:

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

I understand what you mean. And yes, PC Master Race. Obviously.

But that has nothing to do with the article, or the tech, which on consoles, due to the nature of the beast, is pretty revolutionary, wouldn't you say?

Why can't we all get along and be happy for improvements for all gamers, independent of platform?

What most people dont get is that the majority of game developers that want to be cross-platform, console vs PC, scale down graphics as well as UI integration. When it comes to input control, thats were the line is crossed, what used be everything on a quick bar is now on a radial dial which, to me, is a great break of immersion. Unless you've been a gamer since the dark ages, PC gaming has always offered the best offering within the game.

The way I see it, m$ is just now looking into long time issue with FPS for the console, they must be doing pretty good financially to finally hire someone that knows how to fix such an issue, revolutionary, nope just marketing hype for the PR department.

 

[Camm]

"Microsoft turns the resolution of 100 games down to 720p"

20 titles trade a lower resolution for higher FPS (out of the 97 available). Of those 20 titles, 12 titles run below 60 fps without FPS boost, with the other 8 running at 120 fps when enabled and thus with a lower resolution.

Whilst us PC Gamers may find this quaint, enabling this on console games which have fixed targets years after the fact with no source code changes is pretty gosh darn cool.

 

[watzupken]

"Microsoft turns the resolution of 100 games down to 720p"

I am not sure if that is required to achieve 60 or even 120 FPS though. Previous gen consoles are woefully CPU limited even though the likes of Xbox One X have a GPU that is fast enough for 60 FPS in most older games. With the current gen consoles, the Zen 2 CPUs will provide enough horse power to push for 60 FPS in older titles quite easily.

 

[Mussels]

I am not sure if that is required to achieve 60 or even 120 FPS though. Previous gen consoles are woefully CPU limited even though the likes of Xbox One X have a GPU that is fast enough for 60 FPS in most older games. With the current gen consoles, the Zen 2 CPUs will provide enough horse power to push for 60 FPS in older titles quite easily.

they've just over-rode their Vsync settings for most titles and let the faster hardware do its thing (after testing the game mechanics didnt spaz out from it)

Then they've also got control over the internal render resolution, AA settings and so on and custom tweaked those for a few titles as they saw fit

 

[Vayra86]

I understand what you mean. And yes, PC Master Race. Obviously.

But that has nothing to do with the article, or the tech, which on consoles, due to the nature of the beast, is pretty revolutionary, wouldn't you say?

Why can't we all get along and be happy for improvements for all gamers, independent of platform?

What "technology"?!
They literally have a driver team for their console that uses the API to remove specific caps and 'features'. Its a matter of interpretation. There is no magic sauce doing anything other than dudes rewriting bits of existing code or some script or whatever they need for a tweak to happen.

From your own link of the previous article:
"for its FPS Boost mode. This mode is an internal Microsoft solution that requires no work from developers, being a system-level optimization at the Direct3D level that lifts performance bottlenecks - be they system-related or artificial, in-engine caps). The titles which will first feature the FPS Boost technology and have been singled out by Microsoft for the initial release are Far Cry 4, New Super Lucky's Tale, Sniper Elite 4, UFC 4 and Watch Dogs 2."

They need to do this on a per game basis. System level or API based and still per title.. sorry what?!

Less rooting out inefficiencies, more hacking and overriding variables set in API calls, is what I'd personally bet on.

Yet to find anyone dissecting this "tech," but what I've read so far has yet to change my mind that this is more than a simple override, coupled with some QA process to figure out which devs still held to that archaic practice of syncing the entire engine to the framerate.

Exactly. Its an FPS slider that needs support a'la DLSS. At sone point the MS God Ray shines on your game and omg more fps.

The rest is marketing.

Stop talking facts & sense, TPUers like to ego feed.

A dose of reality is exactly what a screaming headline needs to set it right. This isnt about me, last I checked.

Enough with your attitude, its embarrassing, really.

Use the ignore button. Censoring isnt up to you. I like to call things what they are instead of swallowing nonsense whole. To each their own.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Use the ignore button. Censoring isnt up to you. I like to call things what they are instead of swallowing nonsense whole. To each their own.

I took that as him just poking fun at you.

it did make me giggle.

 

[Vayra86]

I took that as him just poking fun at you.

it did make me giggle.

Also a matter of interpretation then and if so, my apologies for strong words.