FragPunk hits 500 FPS in 4K on the GeForce RTX 5090, but you wouldn't play it this way

FragPunk is a new free-to-play hero shooter launching this week, with the game's unique spin on the genre being the addition of powerup cards to collect and play that will transform your character on the battlefield. From giving everyone a big head (to make it easier to get headshots) through to turning your bullets into fire or chain lightning, it sounds fun, but time will tell if it finds an audience. Visually, it looks a lot like Arcane.

3

FragPunk's 4K DLSS 4 performance on the GeForce RTX 50 Series looks impressive, image credit: NVIDIA.

The game is launching with full DLSS 4 support, including the new transformer model for DLSS Super Resolution, Frame Generation, and the latest Multi Frame Generation (MFG) technology exclusive to the new GeForce RTX 50 Series. As with all new and notable DLSS titles, NVIDIA has presented internal benchmark results for FragPunk showcasing native rendering and DLSS performance.

However, as impressive as 500 FPS in 4K and 625 FPS in 1440p on the GeForce RTX 5090 sound, it's not a practical or realistic stat because displays with these refresh rates don't exist. If you've got a GeForce RTX 5090, you'll want to cap Frame Generation performance in 4K so it matches your display's refresh rate.

Now, benchmarks delivering performance beyond your display's refresh rate are not uncommon. However, when it comes to Frame Generation or Multi Frame Generation, even NVIDIA has stated that you don't want the performance to exceed your display's refresh rate. In its breakdown of FragPunk, NVIDIA notes that all GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs can "max out the capabilities of the most popular esports monitors" at 1440p, which means capping performance on all cards.

This disclaimer is nice, but NVIDIA also says that 500 FPS in 4K on the GeForce RTX 5090 is "the absolute best experience possible."

3

FragPunk's 1440p DLSS 4 performance on the GeForce RTX 50 Series, image credit: NVIDIA.

Regarding Frame Generation, NVIDIA and AMD are guilty of showing these super-high performance numbers. So it's worth remembering that it's all about smoothness and motion clarity, not insane FPS numbers. Perhaps a different approach should be taken, where NVIDIA shows the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5080, and RTX 5090 hitting a smooth and rock-solid 240 FPS or 240 Hz on a super-fast 4K QD-OLED display.

With an uncapped frame rate and MFG, you'll see more AI-generated frames. The latency will be higher than when using Multi Frame Generation 2X or 3X to hit 144 Hz or 240 Hz. In our review of the GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition, we loved seeing Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2's Path Tracing performance hit 250+ FPS. Multi Frame Generation in these instances is a game changer, like watching a magic trick - but we noted that we capped performance to the 240 Hz of the MSI MAG 321UPX QD-OLED 4K display in our test bench. We would have done the same if it were a 144 Hz display.

Maybe seeing these FragPunk results felt a little disingenuous because it's an online shooter where latency is king. Multi Frame Generation performance higher than what's possible on modern displays would look and feel worse than playing the game at a more reasonable 240 FPS - which the GeForce RTX 5090 would still be one of the only GPUs in the world capable of achieving.

Now, if there were a 500 Hz 4K QD-OLED display capable of rendering 500 FPS, we'd love to see FragPunk running on the RTX 5090 in action.