Upscaling helps most at 1440p and 4K and when your graphics card is the limit; at 1080p, or when the processor holds you back, it adds little.
Try it with your own PC: the FPS calculator has an Upscaling option (Off, Quality, Balanced, Performance) and a Frame generation switch, and shows the result for each game.
How upscaling works
An upscaler renders each frame at a lower resolution and then rebuilds it to your screen's resolution, using the frames before it to restore detail. Fewer pixels per frame means more frames per second. The modes set how low the game renders:
| Mode | Render resolution (per side) | Pixels drawn | At 1440p it renders | At 4K it renders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | 67% | about 45% | 1715 × 965 | 2573 × 1447 |
| Balanced | 58% | about 34% | 1485 × 835 | 2227 × 1253 |
| Performance | 50% | 25% | 1280 × 720 | 1920 × 1080 |
Quality looks closest to native resolution; Performance gives the most FPS. At 1080p the render resolution gets low (720p in Quality), so the image softens sooner.
DLSS, FSR and XeSS: what's the difference?
| DLSS (NVIDIA) | FSR (AMD) | XeSS (Intel) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on | GeForce RTX cards only (RTX 20 and newer) | Any modern card | Any modern card; fastest on Intel Arc |
| How | AI model on the card's Tensor cores | FSR 2 and 3: hand-tuned algorithm; FSR 4: AI model on Radeon RX 9000 cards | AI model; Arc uses its XMX units, other cards a slower general path |
| Frame generation | DLSS Frame Generation: RTX 40 and 50 | FSR Frame Generation: most modern cards | Varies by game; not in our model |
| Games on FPSVibe with confirmed support | 109 | 82 (FSR 2 or later) | 53 |
The game counts come from NVIDIA's, AMD's and Intel's own supported-games lists (checked 17 October 2026): 119 of our 210 games are on at least one list, and 42 are on all three. A game missing from a list isn't proof it lacks the feature, so we mark those as "unknown". Older games and lighter games often have no upscaler at all.
How many FPS does upscaling add?
Our upscaling model, checked against 221 published upscaled results it was never fitted on (median error 16%), gives these gains. Typical game: the median of 5 demanding games (Cyberpunk 2077, Alan Wake 2, Black Myth: Wukong, Hogwarts Legacy, Red Dead Redemption 2) at High, with a Ryzen 5 7600:
| Card | Resolution | Off | Quality | Balanced | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 4060 (DLSS) | 1080p | 79 FPS | 88 (+11%) | 91 (+15%) | 93 (+18%) |
| RTX 4060 (DLSS) | 1440p | 53 FPS | 67 (+26%) | 71 (+34%) | 75 (+42%) |
| RTX 4060 (DLSS) | 4K | 19 FPS | 27 (+42%) | 30 (+59%) | 33 (+73%) |
| RX 9060 XT 16GB (FSR) | 1440p | 77 FPS | 96 (+25%) | 102 (+32%) | 108 (+40%) |
| Arc B580 (XeSS) | 1440p | 57 FPS | 71 (+25%) | 76 (+33%) | 80 (+41%) |
| RTX 5070 (DLSS) | 1080p | 111 FPS | 111 (+0%) | 111 (+0%) | 111 (+0%) |
| RTX 5070 (DLSS) | 4K | 43 FPS | 59 (+37%) | 65 (+52%) | 71 (+65%) |
Three things stand out:
- Gains grow with resolution. Upscaling only speeds up the part of each frame that depends on the pixel count, and that part is bigger at 4K than at 1080p. That's why measured gains are smaller than "25% of the pixels = 4x the FPS".
- It can't beat your processor. With the RTX 5070 at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 7600 is already the limit in 4 of these 5 games, so upscaling adds nothing. Check your pair in the bottleneck calculator.
- DLSS, FSR and XeSS cost about the same. Each takes a little time per frame; XeSS on cards other than Intel Arc takes about 50% more, so it gives a few FPS less there.
Frame generation and latency
Frame generation (DLSS Frame Generation, FSR Frame Generation) inserts a generated frame between every two real frames. The FPS counter nearly doubles, but the game only reads your input on the real frames.
With the RTX 4060 at 1440p High, Quality mode plus frame generation in the same 5 games:
| Real FPS | Frames shown | |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | 67 | 67 |
| Quality + frame generation | 60 | 120 |
So motion looks like 120 FPS while the game responds like 60 FPS, a little slower than Quality alone, because generating frames has a cost. In our tools, "runs at 60 FPS" always means real frames.
When it's worth it:
- Turn it on when a game already runs at about 60 real FPS and you have a 120 Hz or faster screen: it looks smoother and still feels responsive.
- Leave it off in competitive shooters, and when the real frame rate is low (around 30): it would look smoother but still feel like 30 FPS, with more delay.
- Turn on NVIDIA Reflex or AMD Anti-Lag where the game offers it; they reduce the delay.
Which upscaler should you use?
- GeForce RTX 20, 30, 40 or 50: DLSS. Frame generation needs an RTX 40 or 50.
- Radeon RX 9000: FSR 4 where the game has it, otherwise FSR 3.
- Older Radeon, GeForce GTX: FSR or XeSS. Try both in the game: FPS will be close.
- Intel Arc: XeSS. It runs on the card's own AI units.
- Integrated graphics and handhelds: FSR, which runs on every chip. At 1080p expect a modest gain (about 10–20% in our model).
If a game offers only one upscaler, use that one: the FPS gain is similar. Image quality is not something our estimates measure; switch between modes in the game and keep the lowest one that still looks sharp to you.
Which mode to pick
- 1080p: Quality, or leave upscaling off if you already reach your target FPS.
- 1440p: Quality or Balanced.
- 4K: Balanced or Performance. At 4K, Performance still renders at 1080p, more pixels than Quality at 1440p.
