Nvidia RTX 40 series gaming laptops have a secret weapon...

Nvidia RTX 40 series gaming laptops are just around the corner on Box.co.uk, but the latest mobile graphics cards are about more than just beefy hardware. Naturally, better GPUs can brute force better frame rates, but no matter which 40 series model you go for, they all pack a powerful AI-based secret weapon to help you in your crusade for a higher fps:Nvidia DLSS 3and Frame Generation.

Deep-Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) has been around for a while now, gracing green team’s graphics cards since early 2019. The ins and outs can get complicated since it relies on a supercomputer Nvidia constantly teaches, but its aims are simple. It lessens the demand on your device by rendering the game you’re playing at a lower resolution, and then uses artificial intelligence to upscale and rebuild the on-screen image in real-time to your chosen, higher pixel count.

We’re now on the third generation of the feature, DLSS 3, which adds Frame Generation into the mix. Alongside upsampling, Frame Generation works by seamlessly sandwiching every real frame with an AI-generated one, meaning it’s less taxing on your gaming laptop to produce more frames per second. To use this feature, however, you need a 40 series graphics card, whether it’s the budget Nvidia RTX 4050 in the MSI Thin GF63, or the top-end RTX 4090 in the MSI Titan GT77HX.

Frame Generation works best with a high refresh rate screen, so we recommend pairing it with a gaming laptop that has at least 120Hz.

Razer Blade 16

Our top pick is the Razer Blade 16, because it has the unique ability to swap between 4K at 120Hz to Full HD+ at 240Hz. This keeps it versatile enough to suit any situation, whether resolution is your priority, or you prefer something swifter when things get competitive. The panel is IPS, too, meaning it’s bright, colourful, and will look just as good whether you’re watching a movie or playing a game.

With Frame Generation at its side and a whopping 16GB of VRAM, the RTX 4090 should be able to handle just about anything you throw at it for years to come. It’s backed by the best of the best, packing an Intel Core i9-13950HX CPU with 24 cores, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB NVMe SSD to store all your games.

Asus TUF Gaming A15

The Asus TUF Gaming A15 is a great budget gaming laptop that grants you access to Frame Generation without taking a big chunk out of your bank account. Its 1080p screen still wows with a vibrant IPS panel, even at this price, and its 144Hz refresh rate leans into Nvidia’s new feature nicely.

It packs an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, an RTX 4060 GPU, and 16GB of RAM, which makes this technological recipe enough for any current game on the market. The 512GB SSD is enough to store the largest games out there, even with Windows 11 taking up some room. If you end up running out of space, you can easily pair an external SSD using its USB Type-C port.

How good is Frame Generation?

Switching it on has an instant effect, boosting frame rates considerably without the graphics suffering. Let’s give you an example. Cyberpunk 2077 has pushed past most of its performance hiccups since launch, but it’s still notoriously taxing to run. Cranking everything up to max on native 4K resolution with ray tracing enabled, the RTX 4090 handles CD Projekt Red’s RPG at an average of 40fps. Setting both DLSS Super Resolution to Quality and Frame Generation on instantly sees this jump into triple figures, with headroom to go even higher if you adjust the settings further.

Better yet, Frame Generation isn’t tied to DLSS 3. You can use it without the upsampler or pair it with rivals such as AMD FSR 2.1 and Intel XeSS. Just make sure you leave Nvidia Reflex switched on, as this keeps input latency low enough that you won’t notice lag in your mouse movements.

The feature is baked into Unity, Unreal Engine 4, and UE5, so you can expect plenty of new games to have the setting at release just like Hogwarts Legacy.Developers are also racing to add it to the most popular games of the past couple of years, including Hitman 3, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt remastered, and Microsoft Flight Simulator.