Should I have DLSS on or off?

For most RTX owners, DLSS should be on. It renders the game at a lower resolution and uses AI upscaling to reconstruct a sharp image, which usually gives a large frame-rate boost with little visible loss. Leave it off if you already hit your target frame rate at native resolution, or if you notice artifacts you dislike.

When DLSS is worth turning on

• At 1440p and 4K. The upscaler has more pixels to work with, so Quality mode often looks close to native.
• With ray tracing. Ray tracing is expensive; DLSS is what makes it playable on most cards.
• When you're GPU-limited. If your GPU is at or near 100% and FPS is below your monitor's refresh rate, DLSS helps.

When to leave it off

• At 1080p on a strong card. The internal resolution gets low and the image can look softer.
• When you're CPU-limited. If the CPU is the bottleneck, lowering render resolution won't add much.
• If you see ghosting or shimmering in a particular game that bothers you.

Which mode to pick

• Quality: best image, smaller boost. A good default.
• Balanced: a middle ground.
• Performance / Ultra Performance: biggest boost, mainly for 4K and above.

Frame generation is different

DLSS Frame Generation, available on newer RTX cards, inserts AI-generated frames between real ones. It raises the displayed frame rate but doesn't reduce input lag, so it works best when the base frame rate is already reasonable, roughly 50–60 FPS or higher. Many players use it in single-player games and skip it in competitive shooters.

FAQ

Does DLSS increase or decrease FPS?

It increases FPS in GPU-limited situations, because the GPU renders fewer pixels.

Can you use DLSS and FSR at the same time?

Not as two upscalers at once. Some games let you mix DLSS upscaling with another vendor's frame generation, but you pick one upscaler.

Should I use FSR in games?

FSR is AMD's upscaler and works on most GPUs. If you have an RTX card, DLSS usually looks better; on AMD or older Nvidia cards, FSR is a good option.

Should I lower resolution when using FSR or DLSS?

No. Keep the output at your monitor's native resolution and let the upscaler handle the internal resolution.

Does DLSS cause crashes?

Not normally. Crashes are more often caused by drivers, overclocks or a specific game's bugs; updating the driver and the game is the first step.