Upscaling is the single biggest free performance lever most players never fully use. Instead of rendering every pixel at native resolution, DLSS, FSR, and XeSS render the frame at a lower internal resolution and reconstruct it up to your display resolution. Done right, you can gain 30-80% more frames with image quality that’s often hard to tell apart from native. Here’s how to turn it on and pick the right mode.
Know which tech your GPU supports
NVIDIA RTX cards get DLSS (plus FSR and XeSS). AMD Radeon and older/other GPUs use FSR, which is hardware-agnostic. Intel Arc cards get the best results from XeSS but can run all three. If a game only lists FSR, that’s fine on any modern card.
Where the toggle lives
Look under Graphics or Display settings in the game, usually near resolution scaling or anti-aliasing. It may be labeled “Upscaling,” “Super Resolution,” “DLSS,” “FSR,” or “Temporal Upscaling.”
Choosing a quality mode
Each upscaler offers presets that trade image quality for performance by changing the internal render resolution. The higher the output resolution, the more aggressive a mode you can use before artifacts appear.
| Mode | Internal render scale | Best for | Typical FPS gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | ~67% | 1440p and 4K, image-first | +25% to +40% |
| Balanced | ~58% | 1440p high-refresh | +35% to +55% |
| Performance | ~50% | 4K, chasing frames | +50% to +80% |
| Ultra Performance | ~33% | 4K/8K last resort | +80%+ |
Step-by-step setup
- Set your game to your monitor’s native resolution first. Upscaling works from that target downward.
- Enable the upscaler and start on Quality at 1440p/4K, or Balanced at 1080p.
- Turn off any separate anti-aliasing like MSAA; the upscaler includes its own temporal AA.
- If the image looks soft, add a touch of sharpening (many games expose a slider).
- Cap your frame rate a few FPS under your refresh ceiling to keep frame times steady.
At 1080p, be careful
Because the internal resolution is already low at 1080p, aggressive modes can look blurry or shimmer on fine detail. Stick to Quality or use DLAA/native-AA modes if your GPU has headroom.
Frame generation is separate
DLSS Frame Generation and FSR Frame Generation insert AI-interpolated frames between rendered ones. They boost the FPS counter dramatically but add a little latency, so pair them with a latency-reduction feature and a base frame rate above roughly 60 before generation. They’re best when you’re already smooth and want extra fluidity, not to rescue a 25 FPS game.
Reading the image in motion, not screenshots
Upscalers are temporal, meaning they gather detail across several frames. A paused screenshot can look soft while the moving image looks excellent, or vice versa. Always judge upscaling while actually playing: strafe past a fence, spin the camera near foliage, and watch thin wires or hair. Those are the stress cases where a too-aggressive mode reveals shimmer or ghosting. If they hold up, your setting is good.
Resolution scaling also frees GPU headroom you can spend elsewhere. Many players enable Quality-mode upscaling and then raise texture quality, shadow distance, or ray-traced effects with the frames they reclaimed, ending up with both higher FPS and a better-looking scene than native at medium settings. That trade is the real point of upscaling: it is not just a performance crutch but a way to rebalance the whole settings menu. Start at your native output resolution, pick Quality, and reinvest the savings into the effects you care about most.
FAQ
Does upscaling hurt image quality?
At Quality mode on 1440p or 4K, most players can’t spot the difference in motion, and edges often look cleaner than native thanks to temporal reconstruction. Aggressive modes at low resolutions are where softness and shimmer show up.
Can I use DLSS on an AMD card?
No. DLSS needs NVIDIA RTX hardware. Use FSR or XeSS instead, both of which run on virtually any modern GPU and deliver similar performance gains.
Bottom line
Turn upscaling on, start at Quality, disable redundant anti-aliasing, and add mild sharpening if needed. It’s the fastest way to unlock high-refresh 1440p or playable 4K without spending a cent, and modern presets look far better than the blurry early versions people remember.
