Quick answer
Upscaling (DLSS, FSR, XeSS) renders each frame at a lower resolution and rebuilds it at your screen’s resolution, so the graphics card does less work and FPS rises, typically by about 25-85% depending on the mode and resolution. Frame generation goes further and inserts generated frames between rendered ones, which makes motion smoother but does not make the game respond faster. DLSS needs an NVIDIA RTX card, FSR 4 needs an AMD Radeon RX 9000 card, and FSR 3 and XeSS work on most modern cards.
What Upscaling Does
Drawing every pixel at 1440p or 4K is the most expensive part of a modern game. An upscaler renders fewer pixels, then uses motion data from the game (and, in DLSS, FSR 4 and XeSS, a trained neural network) to rebuild a sharp full-resolution image. The quality modes set how low the render resolution goes:
| Mode | Render scale (per axis) | At 1440p output | At 4K output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | ~67% | ~960p | ~1440p |
| Balanced | ~58% | ~835p | ~1253p |
| Performance | 50% | 720p | 1080p |
| Ultra Performance | ~33% | ~480p | 720p |
The higher your output resolution, the better upscaling looks and the more it gains, because there are more real pixels to rebuild from. At 4K, Quality and even Performance mode are often hard to tell from native; at 1080p, upscaling starts from very few pixels, so stay on Quality. DLAA (NVIDIA) and FSR Native AA use the same technology at full resolution purely to improve anti-aliasing, with no FPS gain.
DLSS vs FSR vs XeSS
| Technology | Works on | Frame generation |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA DLSS 4 | Upscaling on every GeForce RTX card (RTX 20 and newer); not on GTX cards | Frame Generation (2x) on RTX 40 and 50; Multi Frame Generation (up to 4x) on RTX 50 only |
| AMD FSR 4 | Machine-learning upscaling on Radeon RX 9000 (RDNA 4) cards | Yes (2x) |
| AMD FSR 3 / 3.1 | Almost any modern graphics card, including NVIDIA and Intel | Yes (2x), also on non-AMD cards in games that offer it |
| AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) | Radeon RX 6000 and newer, switched on in the AMD driver | Driver-level 2x for games without built-in frame generation; lower quality than in-game FSR |
| Intel XeSS 2 | Best on Intel Arc; a fallback version runs on other modern cards | Frame generation (2x) on Intel Arc |
Which one you can use depends on your card and on the game: each game ships its own list of supported upscalers. Every part page in our hardware section lists the upscaling and frame generation that card supports.
How Much FPS Does Upscaling Add?
These are the typical gains our FPS Calculator applies when you switch upscaling on. They lift only the graphics card’s side: if your CPU is already the limit, upscaling adds little, which is a quick way to spot a CPU bottleneck.
| Mode | 1080p | 1440p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | +25% | +35% | +40% |
| Balanced | +35% | +50% | +60% |
| Performance | +50% | +70% | +85% |
Real gains vary by game and card: the upscaler itself costs a little time per frame, and parts of the frame (shadows, physics, the CPU’s work) don’t shrink with resolution.
What Frame Generation Does
Frame generation renders frames as usual, then creates extra frames in between from the motion of the real ones. With 2x, every rendered frame is followed by one generated frame; with 4x (RTX 50 only), by three. The FPS counter and the smoothness of motion go up close to 2x or 4x, minus the cost of generating them (about 10% of the base frame rate in our calculator).
What doesn’t go up is responsiveness. The game still reads your mouse and keyboard at the rendered frame rate, and holding back a frame to generate the in-between one adds a little input lag. NVIDIA Reflex, AMD Anti-Lag and Intel XeLL are switched on with frame generation to offset that. The makers suggest a base of about 60 FPS before you turn it on: from 30 FPS, 2x looks like 60 but still feels like 30, with more visual artifacts.
- Good for: single-player games, high-refresh monitors, and getting a 60-80 FPS game up to 120+ for smoother motion.
- Not for: competitive shooters, where input lag matters most, or rescuing a game that runs at 30 FPS.
- Memory: frame generation needs some extra VRAM, which can push an 8GB card over the edge at high settings.
Should You Turn Them On?
- GPU-limited at 1440p or 4K: yes, start with upscaling on Quality. It is the cheapest FPS you will get.
- Already at your monitor’s refresh rate: use DLAA or native resolution for the sharpest image instead.
- CPU-limited (low GPU usage): upscaling won’t help much; see low GPU usage in games.
- Frame generation: when the base frame rate is already about 60 and you want smoother motion in a single-player game.
Try it with your own parts in the FPS Calculator, which now has upscaling and frame generation options, compare cards in the GPU tier list, or check which games your PC runs with Can I Run It.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is DLSS better than FSR?
DLSS and FSR 4 both use machine learning and look close to each other; both usually look better than FSR 3, which works on almost any card. Which you can use depends on your graphics card and on what the game supports.
Does frame generation increase input lag?
A little. The game still responds at the rendered frame rate, and holding a frame back to generate the in-between one adds some delay, which Reflex, Anti-Lag or XeLL offset. It feels best from a base of about 60 FPS.
Can my GTX card use DLSS?
No. DLSS needs the Tensor cores in GeForce RTX cards. GTX cards can use FSR 3 or XeSS in games that offer them.
Is RTX 50 Multi Frame Generation worth it?
On a high-refresh monitor in single-player games, it can turn about 60 rendered FPS into 200+ shown. It doesn’t make the game respond faster, so it matters less in competitive games.