DLSS, FSR, and XeSS are the three technologies behind the biggest free performance upgrade in PC gaming: they render your game at a lower internal resolution, then use AI to reconstruct a sharp image at your monitor’s resolution. The result is a big FPS boost with image quality that often looks nearly as good as native. But each tech has different hardware requirements and trade-offs — here’s how to choose the right one.
What upscaling actually does
Traditional upscaling just stretches a smaller image to fill your screen, which looks blurry. Modern upscalers are smarter: they feed the low-resolution frame plus motion data (which direction every pixel moved since the last frame) into a neural network that reconstructs detail. Because the GPU renders fewer pixels, you get a large framerate increase — and the AI reconstruction means the image often looks cleaner than native rendering with older anti-aliasing.
All three use the same preset ladder, which sets the internal render resolution as a percentage of your output resolution:
| Preset | Render scale | At 4K output | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | ~67% | 1440p | Best balance of image quality and FPS at 1440p+ |
| Balanced | ~58% | ~2250×1260 | A compromise preset for demanding ray-traced games |
| Performance | 50% | 1080p | High FPS on mid-range cards, best at 4K output |
| Ultra Performance | ~33% | 720p | Only for 8K or very weak GPUs — visibly soft |
There’s also DLAA (NVIDIA), which runs the AI at 100% native resolution purely as anti-aliasing — zero performance gain, but the cleanest image. As a rule of thumb: use Quality mode at 1440p, Performance mode at 4K, and avoid the Performance presets at 1080p, where the low internal resolution makes the AI work too hard. To measure what each preset actually buys you, show your FPS in games with one of these free methods.
NVIDIA DLSS: the RTX-only stack
DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is NVIDIA’s technology and the most mature of the three. It runs on the dedicated Tensor cores inside every GeForce RTX GPU, which is why it’s RTX-only — GTX cards can’t use it at all.
- Super Resolution (the "upscaling" part) works on all RTX cards — 20, 30, 40, and 50 series.
- Frame Generation (DLSS 3) inserts an AI-generated frame between two real ones, roughly doubling perceived FPS — needs an RTX 40-series or newer.
- Multi Frame Generation (DLSS 4) inserts up to three generated frames for up to 4× the perceived framerate — needs an RTX 50-series.
- Ray Reconstruction replaces the denoisers in ray-traced games with an AI model for cleaner lighting — works on all RTX cards.
DLSS generally sets the bar for image quality, especially in motion — its Super Resolution models are transformer-based since 2024, reducing ghosting and shimmering — and it has the widest game support, currently several hundred titles.
AMD FSR: the open option that runs anywhere
FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) is AMD’s open answer: older versions run on virtually any GPU — NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, consoles, even handhelds like the Steam Deck. FSR 3.1 is the widely compatible version, including its own frame generation (Fluid Motion Frames) that works cross-vendor.
The newest version, FSR 4 (part of AMD’s "Redstone" stack), switched to machine-learning reconstruction for quality that finally rivals DLSS — but it needs the dedicated AI hardware of RDNA 4 GPUs (Radeon RX 9000 series). So on AMD: FSR 3.1 on older cards, FSR 4 on RX 9000 and newer; the rest of the Redstone stack follows the same split.
Intel XeSS: the newcomer that runs on anything
XeSS is Intel’s upscaler. It’s AI-based like DLSS, and it gets full hardware acceleration on Intel Arc GPUs — but unlike DLSS it has a fallback path that runs on any DirectX 12-capable GPU from NVIDIA or AMD, just a little slower. XeSS 2 added frame generation and a latency-reduction feature (XeLL) to match its rivals.
XeSS’s game support is the smallest of the three, but it’s a strong fallback when a game supports it and your older NVIDIA/AMD card lacks newer features. On Arc handhelds like the MSI Claw, XeSS is the native — and often best — choice.
Frame generation: more FPS, but there’s a catch
Frame generation is the flashiest feature of all three stacks: it makes 60 FPS look like 120 FPS (or more) on your monitor. But generated frames are interpolated — they contain no new game data. Inputs are still processed at the base rendered framerate, so frame generation doesn’t reduce input lag; it adds latency.
That leads to two rules:
- Single-player, cinematic games: frame generation is transformative. Turn it on — the smoothness is real, and the extra latency barely matters.
- Competitive multiplayer (shooters, fighting games): turn frame generation off and maximize your base framerate instead. Pair it with the latency-reduction layer — NVIDIA Reflex, AMD Anti-Lag 2, or XeLL — whenever a game offers one.
Frame generation also needs a solid base framerate (60+ FPS). At 30 FPS it will look smooth but still feel sluggish, because inputs only update 30 times per second. And for online games, render latency stacks on top of network latency — see our guide to lowering ping in online games.
Which one should you actually use?
Your hardware mostly makes the decision for you — and that’s fine:
| Your GPU | Use this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA RTX (20/30/40/50) | DLSS | Best image quality and game support on RTX hardware |
| AMD RX 9000 (RDNA 4) | FSR 4 | ML-based quality that finally matches DLSS-class output |
| AMD RX 5000/6000/7000 | FSR 3.1 | Full cross-vendor stack incl. frame generation, no hardware lock |
| Intel Arc | XeSS 2 | Hardware-accelerated on Arc; best native option |
| Anything older (GTX, etc.) | FSR 3.1 or XeSS | Both run without special AI hardware |
When a game offers more than one, prefer the one made by your GPU’s vendor, then the best-supported alternative. Never stack two upscalers, and don’t enable frame generation on a low base framerate — fix base performance first.
Get more from DLSS with the NVIDIA App’s overrides
On an RTX card, the NVIDIA App (the successor to GeForce Experience) can upgrade DLSS beyond what a game ships with. Under Graphics, select a game, scroll to Driver Settings, and open DLSS Override – Model Presets. The Recommended option automatically applies NVIDIA’s latest AI models to the game’s Super Resolution — newer models than the game shipped with, often with visibly cleaner motion.
Two more overrides worth knowing:
- DLSS Override – Frame Generation: on RTX 40-series and newer, this can enable or upgrade the frame generation model in supported games.
- DLAA & Ultra Performance modes: enable these DLSS modes in games that don’t natively offer them, when Super Resolution is already on.
Apply overrides per-game rather than globally until you’ve tested them — a newer model is almost always better, but a few older titles behave oddly with forced overrides. And whatever upscaler you pick, always enable the game’s latency-reduction option (Reflex, Anti-Lag 2) when you play anything competitive.
The bottom line: use the upscaler your GPU was built for, start at the Quality preset (Performance at 4K), turn frame generation on for cinematic games and off for competitive ones, and keep DLSS current with the NVIDIA App’s overrides. Free FPS is still free — you just have to configure it once.
