We have witnessed significant advancements in gaming graphics fidelity over the last few years. The strain on hardware is greater than it has ever been, with more intricate textures, reflections, and sceneries than ever before. This rise in game-related hardware requirements has sparked a number of performance-enhancing improvements. Among these significant developments is Nvidia DLSS.
Early in 2019, with the introduction of the Nvidia RTX 2000 series, the first RTX lineup of GPUs, DLSS was initially introduced. The goal is to double down on the hardware-based speed improvement by using the greater AI capabilities of the RTX GPUs to supercharge frame rate through software optimizations. Support was initially only available for the most recent Battlefield game, but happily, in the three years afterward, the list of compatible games has expanded quickly. The majority of the newest games available today, such as Fortnite, COD Vanguard, Forza Horizon 5, and Battlefield 2042, support DLSS.
DLSS: What Does It Mean?
Deep Learning Super Sampling is referred to as DLSS. The technology makes use of deep learning AI to upscale games from their native resolution, which is lower, to the resolution of your display. In essence, this provides you the visual quality of the greater display resolution while maintaining frame rates that you would see at a lesser resolution. The highest visual quality is then achieved and the process’s noticeability is minimized by using AI-accelerated super sampling, a sort of anti-aliasing used to smooth jagged edges in video games.
Now, the free frame rate might seem too wonderful to be true. What’s the catch? The quality of DLSS 1.0 was the catch; there were unmistakably ragged edges and a softer picture. But Nvidia has actually succeeded with DLSS 2.0, developing a revolutionary piece of gaming technology. The findings speak for themselves and help AMD fall behind Nvidia despite having GPUs with the same amount of raw power. It’s all about optimizing the software and the games.
The load generated by conventional anti-aliasing techniques can be fairly considerable. A picture is rendered out higher than native using a technique called Super Sample Anti-Aliasing, or SSAA, and then scaled down. The problem with implementing it this way is that performance will suffer significantly. To produce finer colors and depth, each pixel is basically scaled up by two or four times its original resolution.
Is DLSS Nvidia exclusive?
Yes. In an effort to compete with DLSS, AMD announced their Fidelity FX Super Resolution technology, however, there is still work to be done. The major factor for Nvidia’s DLSS performance gain is the company’s “deep learning” secret ingredient. Nvidia has used machine learning to teach AI models to recognize and analyze information from high-resolution scans. This will enable your game’s anti-aliasing to fill in the data using the AI model. This offers excellent super-sampling without the associated overhead. Additionally, DLSS performs this offline, reducing performance loss and boosting frame production.
Alternative Solutions
DLSS now offers amazing metrics and gives lower-end GPUs access to greater resolution. There are DLSS substitutes available, including the previously mentioned AMD Fidelity FX. When compared to Nvidia’s offering, Super Resolution offers stiff competition. Games often function at a similar level, and Nvidia’s 10 series GPUs have this option as well. As a future feature for Intel Arc Alchemist GPUs, XeSS, an alternate method of super sampling, is also being developed by Intel. It’s encouraging to see manufacturers offering software ways to boost performance given how often new graphics cards are launched.
What Games and Cards Can It Be Used In?
Although DLSS is fantastic for higher resolutions, there is a catch. DLSS is not accessible for those of you still running GTX 10 series graphics cards. The RTX 2000 and 3000 series GPUs’ Tensor cores are used by DLSS, making them an absolute must for using the technology. Though the new Tensor cores offer higher per-core performance, DLSS will run better on the 30 series GPUs, which still outperform the RTX 2000 series. Who, after all, would refuse a frame rate that is free? Even while the Steam Hardware Survey indicates that GTX 1060 cards are the most popular on the market, it is regrettable that DLSS is not supported on earlier-generation cards. However, the 10-series’ absence of Tensor Cores makes this situation even worse.
DLSS is extensively embraced in video game titles. The list has only expanded since Nvidia released DLSS, and the majority of well-known games now support the technology, although there are still some gaps. You may look at a table of the titles that Nvidia supports to get a sense of what else is available. Don’t give up if your favorite game isn’t available; Nvidia may support it in the future.
Measures of performance
Three DLSS-compatible titles are listed below, along with the frame rates you may anticipate from each game when utilizing the midrange card, the 3060Ti. To truly demonstrate the potential of DLSS, the resolution and graphics settings are adjusted to 1440p.
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Alan Wake Remastered
- Amid Evil
- Anatomy of Fear
- Anthem
- Apocalypse: 2.0 Edition
- Aron’s Adventure
- Back 4 Blood
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Battlefield 2042
- Battlefield V
- Beyond Enemy Lines 2
- Bodies of Water VR
- Broken Pieces
- Bright Memory
- Bright Memory: Infinite
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Call Of Duty: Warzone
- Chernobylite
- Chivalry 2
- Chorus
- ChronoTecture: The Eprologue
- Cions of Vega
- Control
- Crossout: Supercharged
- Crsed: F.O.A.D
- Crysis Remastered
- Crysis Remastered Trilogy
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Dakar Desert Rally
- Deathloop
- Death Realm
- Death Stranding
- Deep Rock Galactic
- DeepStates
- Deliver Us The Moon
- Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed
- Doom Eternal
- Dying Light 2
- Edge Of Eternity
- Enlisted
- Escape from Tarkov
- Everspace 2
- Evil Dead: The Game
- Exit From
- F1 2020
- F1 2021
- F1 22
- Farming Simulator 22
- Fall Balance Ball
- Faraday Protocol
- Final Fantasy XV
- FIST: Forged In Shadow Torch
- Five Nights At Freddy’s Security Breach
- Fortnite
- Frozenheim
- Ghost
- Ghostrunner
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Gotham Knights
- God of War
- Helios
- Hell Pie
- Hitman 3
- Höll Space 5D6
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Hydroneer
- Icarus
- Iron Conflict
- Industria
- Into The Radius
- Iron Conflict
- Jurassic World Evolution 2
- Justice
- JX Online 3
- Last Hope On Earth
- Lego: Builder’s Journey
- Lemnis Gate
- Loopmancer
- Loverowind
- Martha is Dead
- Marvel’s Avengers
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
- Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
- Mechwarrior V: Mercenaries
- Metro Exodus / Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Minecraft
- Monster Hunter: Rise
- Monster Hunter: World
- Moonlight Blade
- Mortal Online 2
- Mortal Shell
- Mount & Blade II Bannerlord
- Myst
- Naraka: Bladepoint
- Necromunda: Hired Gun
- Nine to Five
- Nioh 2: The Complete Edition
- No Man’s Sky
- Outriders
- Paradise Killer
- PGA Tour 2K23
- Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis
- Powerslide Legends
- Propnight
- Pumpkin Jack
- Qu Gian Qi Tan Online
- Rainbow Six Extraction
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Raji: An Ancient Epic
- Raze 2070
- Ready Or Not
- Recall
- Red Dead Online
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Redout: Space Assault
- Reficul 666
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Rust
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- Severed Steel
- Scathe
- Scavengers
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Shadow Warrior 3
- Sifu
- Soul Dossier
- Steelrising
- Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
- Super People
- Supraland
- Supraland: Six Feet Under
- Sword and Fairy 7
- The Ascent
- The Cycle: Frontier
- The Fabled Woods
- The Medium
- The Orville Interactive Fan Experience
- The Persistence
- The Riftbreaker
- The Riftbreaker: Prologue
- To Hell With It
- Twin Stones: The Journey of Bukka
- Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection
- Uncrashed: FPV Drone Simulator
- Unknown Woods
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong
- Wakamarina Valley, New Zealand
- War Thunder
- Warstride Challenges
- Watch Dogs Legion
- Wolfenstein Youngblood
- Wrench
- Xuan-Yuan Sword VII
- Yag
Conclusion
The outstanding integration of Nvidia’s DLSS greatly enhances fidelity and performance. Additionally, it gives people who don’t necessarily have the gear for higher settings or better resolutions access to an experience. Additionally, it has been wonderful to see Nvidia integrate the Tensor cores required for DLSS in their most recent low-cost model, the RTX 3050. Giving DLSS support to gamers on a tight budget is a significant advancement and a promising harbinger of things to come!
