DLSS and FSR are upscaling technologies. They render a game at a lower internal resolution, then reconstruct the image back up to your monitor’s resolution so you gain performance without dropping resolution manually.
This applies to PC gaming with NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel graphics cards in games that offer DLSS, FSR, or XeSS in the graphics menu.
Does this affect you?
Use this if a game offers DLSS, FSR, XeSS, Quality, Balanced, or Performance modes and you are not sure which one your GPU supports or which setting to choose.
What DLSS and FSR do
- DLSS, or Deep Learning Super Sampling, is NVIDIA’s upscaling technology for RTX graphics cards.
- DLSS uses Tensor Cores and a trained neural network to reconstruct the lower-resolution frame.
- FSR, or FidelityFX Super Resolution, is AMD’s upscaling technology.
- FSR works across a much wider range of GPUs, including many AMD, NVIDIA, Intel, and integrated graphics options.
- Intel XeSS is another upscaler that works across brands, with its best AI-accelerated path on Intel Arc graphics.
The goal is the same: more frame rate with less image-quality loss than simply lowering the game’s resolution.
Which one should you use?
- If you have an NVIDIA RTX card and the game offers DLSS, start with DLSS.
- If you have an AMD card, older NVIDIA GTX card, Intel graphics, or a game without DLSS, use FSR.
- If a game only offers one upscaler, use the one available instead of skipping upscaling entirely.
- Start with Quality mode for the best image.
- Use Balanced or Performance only if you still need more FPS.
DLSS often looks sharper and more stable in motion at the same quality tier, but FSR is more widely compatible and still gives a real performance boost.
Quality modes and artifacts
Quality mode renders closer to native resolution, so it usually gives the cleanest result. Performance and Ultra Performance render at much lower internal resolution and can look softer or show shimmering, smearing, or edge artifacts during motion.
If an upscaled image looks blurry, raise the tier from Performance to Balanced or Quality before turning up other graphics settings.
Frame generation is separate
DLSS 3 Frame Generation and FSR 3 Frame Generation create extra displayed frames between rendered frames. That can increase visible smoothness, but it is a separate option from base upscaling and may add latency depending on the game and settings.
Sources
- NVIDIA – DLSS: Your Questions, Answered (2025)
- AMD – FidelityFX Super Resolution FSR Overview (2025)
- Digital Foundry – DLSS vs FSR Image Quality Comparison (2025)