Intel nearly doubles the gaming performance of its Arrow Lake H processors thanks to its XeSS technology. Though requiring frame generation to reach it, these chips should bring a welcome boost to image smoothness on laptops.
Intel has presented its next-gen mobile CPUs powered by XeSS 2 upscaling and frame generation. Using two MSI Prestige 16 laptops packing a Core Ultra 9 185H and a Core Ultra 9 285H, the brand showcased how its new chips nearly doubled the frame rate in F1 24. To be more specific, 285H delivered around 100fps, nearly doubling 185H’s 60fps even though both consumed around 50W. A nice performance considering neither notebook features a dedicated GPU.
It’s important to note that 185H only had access to first-generation XeSS, whereas 285H benefits from XeSS 2. XMX engines in the newer chip allow for frame generation, making it more of an apples-to-oranges comparison. That said, it still shows how technological improvements can benefit perceived smoothness with minimum compute and power costs.
Talking of which, 285H shines even brighter when limited to 15W, managing to push around 70fps, albeit again thanks to frame generation. Unfortunately, Intel doesn’t seem to have an equivalent to the RTX 50 Series‘ DLSS 4 x3 frame generation or Lossless Scaling’s ridiculous x20 frame generation option.
But regardless, above 60fps at 15W or even 20W is great for battery life. Getting a smooth experience on the go without thinking much about recharging is fantastic for long trips or commutes. Plus, you can always blast performance when power isn’t a concern. Another benefit is reduced noise as the heat output and thus fan speed gets lower. What not to like?
To be clear, this isn’t an excuse for rasterised performance stagnation. But, if you are given the choice between true 60fps and 100fps with frame generation at no additional cost, I bet many will choose the latter – assuming no big artifacts or visual degradation crop up.
I see this as it is: a feature to enable when you need a smoothness boost. It won’t replace traditionally rendered images, so better keep it to special occasions. Those who like it can enable it, and those who don’t are not forced to do so. Everyone wins.
