A graphics server and method for streaming rendered content via a remote graphics rendering service is provided. In one embodiment, the server includes a memory, a graphics renderer, a frame capturer, an encoder, and a processor. The memory is configured to store a pre-computed skip-frame message indicative to a client to re-use a previously transmitted frame of the video stream. The graphics renderer is configured to identify when rendered content has not changed. When the graphics renderer identifies that the rendered content has not changed, the processor is configured to cause: (1) the frame capturer to not capture the frames of the rendered content; (2) the encoder to not encode the frames of the rendered content; and (3) the pre-encoded skip-frame message to be transmitted without requiring any pixel processing.