Although it technically get in alongside theArc B580 , Intel quickly disabled its new XeSS 2 feature shortly after it was introduced . Now , it ’s back via a new number one wood update , and with a few fixes to major clangor issues . I take XeSS 2 out for a spin with the Arc B580 , which has quick climb up the ranking among thebest graphics carte , but does XeSS 2 hold up its side of the deal ?
XeSS 2 is Intel ’s play to fight back against Nvidia ’s wildly popular DLSS 3 . The upscaling component at the burden of XeSS is the same , but XeSS 2 include both a Reflex - like latency reduction feature and , critically , frame contemporaries . The response time step-down , call XeLL , is enabled by default with frame coevals .
Intel has promise shape generation in games likeMarvel Rivals , as well as coming releases likeAssassin ’s Creed Shadows , but properly now , it ’s only useable in one biz : F1 2024.It ’s an impressive feature overall , but after testing it myself , I can see that there are still some problems with Intel ’s Modern tech .
A big performance boost
Let ’s start with the positives . XeSS 2 still works really well for hike your execution . I ’ve seen the upscaling portion at work plenty of time before , and depending on the secret plan , it can sometimes match the quality of DLSS . Unsurprisingly , F1 2024is a perfect vitrine for the upscaling portion , but frame generation also works well .
To put that in view , the Arc B580 is capable 29 frames per second ( fps ) inF1 2024at 4 G with the Ultra High preset . That present includesray trace . The fact that the Arc B580 can even manage that level of public presentation is impressive enough , but with XeSS 2 enabled and set to Performance mode upscaling , you ’re getting more than triple the performance at 95 fps . It ’s a massive uplift in carrying out , sure enough , but more significantly , it ’s playable . Looking at shape generation or upscaling alone , you are n’t capable to get above 60 Federal Protective Service .
At modest firmness of purpose , you ’re pushing into triplex - digit frame rates , which is groovy considering this is a $ 250 artwork card running a recent game with maxed - out ray tracing place setting .
Moreover , the operation disk overhead is n’t immense . I tested frame generation and upscaling individually to see how much performance you ’re mislay when escape the frame generation algorithm , and the operating expense is surprisingly pocket-size . There ’s a middling easy way to figure it out . If you look at the aboriginal performance of , for example , 1440p , you get 49 fps . frame of reference contemporaries inserts a frame every other frame , so you ’d double your performance to 98 fps . That theoretic number minus the literal result — 86 fps — shows the overhead . In this slip , about 12 frames each second .
What ’s interesting is that the frame generation works better at low-spirited resolution . You ’re receive less succus out of upscaling at a scummy resolving due to theCPU bottleneckthat ’s impose by a low internal render firmness of purpose . Frame generation does n’t deal about a central processor bottleneck , though , so you ’re still able to get close to treble the frame rate at 1080p with upscaling and frame coevals flex on .
The image caliber is surprisingly good , too , at least compared to the first version of DLSS 3 . I notice some small issues , particularly with gens above each car stuttering across the concealment as if they were play at half the frame rate . I suspect Intel needs to tune up XeSS 2 ’s masking — the part of the aspect it sample to cut out of the frame contemporaries — to provide a smoother image . Still , there are n’t a ton of visual artifacts , at least inF1 2024 .
…when it works
But still , there are issues . First and firstly , turning on XeSS is buggy . That ’s not new . Virtually any plot I ’ve tested with the feature will shut away up for five to 10 endorsement when deform on XeSS . That does n’t fall out with DLSS or AMD ’s FSR . In the other day of XeSS , you ’d sometimes encounter a full - on game crash when turning on XeSS . I have n’t seen that happen in a while , but the bent - up when turning on XeSS bulk large .
It looks like XeSS - FG is carry some of those way out forward . Right now , turn off XeSS - FG will crashF1 2024,full stop . I tried half a dozen times , and the biz crashed each sentence . At the very least , the crash was warm — the plot just shut without account . Intel says there ’s a known upshot withF1 2024where sour on XeSS - FG during gameplay can cause a clang . However , I saw the crash even when changing preferences from the independent menu .
In addition , turningonXeSS - FG caused a monumental slowdown in the plot . In a couplet of instances during my testing , I had to in full restart the biz , as my inputs would take upwards of 30 seconds to excogitate in - biz . It ’s a right thing XeSS 2 is only available in one game decent now because if it was usable more widely , I conceive of there ’d be a mass of foiling with even turn the feature on .
Ironically , the other matter with XeSS 2 is a deficiency of plot funding . Although the feature is coming to a fistful of titles , I would ’ve liked to see a wide range of games at release . That ’s something I’vecriticized AMD aboutwith FSR 3 in the past — and something thatAMD has turned the street corner onnearly a twelvemonth after unfreeze the feature .
With XeSS 2 only usable in one game , and with an implementation that , although telling , is clearly haywire , it looks like Intel is examine the waters before a wider release of XeSS 2 . My hope is that the kinks are iron out before XeSS 2 shows up in another game because , based on my first look at the feature , it ’s mightily telling .
