Is DLSS/FSR broken?

Printable View

06-20-2025, 04:31 AM
KarstenS

Is DLSS/FSR broken?

Right after the release of this feature, as far as I remember, I could turn quality to maximum preset and DLSS with always on turned the GPU load down a lot, so that the fans kept pretty silent.

But now (meaning since a while I can't say for how long exactly) it seems to be broken.

It makes no difference at all in GPU load or FPS, when I set it to always on or "when FPS are below 30" (which means in my case: always off, as my FPS not even gets close to such a low number).

So what’s going on?

Specs:

CPU AMD Ryzen 5800X
GPU NVIDIA RTX 3070
Resolution 5120x2160
Win11
06-20-2025, 07:20 AM
Uncle_Jafar

I have the same problem with an RTX 3090. My guess is whatever it is it supports the 4 and 5 RTX series and not mine.
06-20-2025, 03:21 PM
Jeeqbit

I have a 3060 and do all this as well so that it only applies the RTX's AA but not the scaling. I don't need the scaling though because I have a 1080p resolution, the exact resolation the game is aimed at now.

Now, if the game changed something about how this works, then I have not noticed it. I probably wouldn't notice it, since graphic settings changes are usually extremely subtle and only show up when looking at stats like FPS.
06-20-2025, 03:36 PM
Lorika

In fact some people did a comparison between DLSS and FSR... And FSR works far better than DLSS.
Probably because the actual gen of console are on AMD GPU....

But you know, console version have also quite a bit of problems and aren't optimized at all (Mostly Anti-aliasing problems and strange FPS drop in some ARR cutscene and "outpost")
06-20-2025, 05:28 PM
aiqa

The 30/60 fps settings for DLSS is only for automatically lowering render resolution. That doesn't mean DLSS is only active when that happens.
You can think of it like this. As long as your fps is higher than 30/60 fps, you get "DLSS Quality". When fps drops lower, you get "DLSS Balanced".

The "tests" people did to show FSR looks better were just misinformed.
What they did, is set resolution scaling to 99% and then make screenshots to show how good it looks.
The FSR version in FF is FSR1. FSR1 is a basic upscaler combined with a sharpening filter. When you set resolution to 99% you don't really use that upscaling, but the sharpening filter is still activated.
That doesn't mean "FSR is better than DLSS". That just means you prefer a sharpening filter. If you want a sharpening filter, there are other ways to apply sharpening filters that also work while DLSS is active. Like the Nvidia overlay from NvApp. Or some reshade option.

For optimal DLSS visuals my advice would be to set overrides in NvApp.
Set "DLSS Override - Models Preset" to "Latest". That gets you the latest transformer based DLSS, which removes almost all "TAA blur". And lets you lower quality setting at least one tier, without negatively affecting visuals.
And if you have performance to spare, set "DLSS Override - Superresolution" to "DLAA". Or to some other setting, is you want to higher performance with slightly softer visuals.
06-20-2025, 10:13 PM
Larirawiel

DLSS is only active if the framerate falls below the fps threshold. If the framerate is above of it then DLAA is active instead of DLSS.

Cheers
06-22-2025, 11:55 PM
red_fang

DLSS has been broken for me since the patch that added the moon stuff, I get double the GPU usage than before and it doesn't matter what game settings are used. Have to use FSR for now.
06-23-2025, 01:12 AM
Molex

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarstenS

Right after the release of this feature, as far as I remember, I could turn quality to maximum preset and DLSS with always on turned the GPU load down a lot, so that the fans kept pretty silent.

But now (meaning since a while I can't say for how long exactly) it seems to be broken.

It makes no difference at all in GPU load or FPS, when I set it to always on or "when FPS are below 30" (which means in my case: always off, as my FPS not even gets close to such a low number).

So what’s going on?

Specs:

CPU AMD Ryzen 5800X
GPU NVIDIA RTX 3070
Resolution 5120x2160
Win11

The game's engine won't allow FSR/DLSS to do its thing like it is supposed to do. It is a glorified anti-aliasing so to speak. And yes, if you try to force *actual* DLSS/FSR, nothing happens (except maybe a crash). It will never work properly on FF14 unless they decide to remake the game from scratch.
06-23-2025, 01:38 AM
aiqa

Quote:

Originally Posted by Molex

if you try to force *actual* DLSS/FSR, nothing happens (except maybe a crash)

What is "actual DLSS" and what part of that doesn't work in FF?
06-23-2025, 01:43 AM
Larirawiel

Quote:

Originally Posted by aiqa

What is "actual DLSS" and what part of that doesn't work in FF?

You can do it via Nvidia App or Nvidia Profile Inspector. I have written a small howto here:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6691832

Cheers
06-23-2025, 01:54 AM
aiqa

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larirawiel

You can do it via Nvidia App or Nvidia Profile Inspector. I have written a small howto here:
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6691832

Cheers

That wasn't the question, I know how to overwrite DLSS models and settings. There was a claim FF isn't using "actual DLSS". And forcing that "actual DLSS" will cause problems. I have no idea what "actual DLSS" means, and some write up on DLSS overrides doesn't really explain that either.
06-23-2025, 02:01 AM
Larirawiel

Quote:

Originally Posted by aiqa

That wasn't the question, I know how to overwrite DLSS models and settings. There was a claim FF isn't using "actual DLSS". And forcing that "actual DLSS" will cause problems. I have no idea what "actual DLSS" means, and some write up on DLSS overrides doesn't really explain that either.

With my howto you will use the "actual DLSS". It is so, since DLSS 3.1 the DLSS DLLs support a passthrough mode and the Nvidia App enables it. The DLSS DLLs, which come with FF14 will just redirect all API calls to the driver DLLs. And if you have the newest driver installed then the DLSS version will also be the newest.

Cheers
06-23-2025, 02:13 AM
aiqa

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larirawiel

With my howto you will use the "actual DLSS". It is so, since DLSS 3.1 the DLSS DLLs support a passthrough mode and the Nvidia App enables it. The DLSS DLLs, which come with FF14 will just redirect all API calls to the driver DLLs. And if you have the newest driver installed then the DLSS version will also be the newest.

Where did you get the idea that setting a driver level override for DLSS settings/models is referred to as "actual DLSS"? That it is highly misleading. Calling some driver settings "actual DLSS" implies that the alternative is "not really DLSS".

This is so weird I am suspecting you don't really read what you respond to. Again, the question is specifically "what does actual DLSS mean, and how is FF DLSS not actual DLSS" the question was not "how do I override DLSS settings".
06-23-2025, 02:27 AM
Larirawiel

Quote:

Originally Posted by aiqa

Where did you get the idea that setting a driver level override for DLSS settings/models is referred to as "actual DLSS"? That it is highly misleading. Calling some driver settings "actual DLSS" implies that the alternative is "not really DLSS".

This is so weird I am suspecting you don't really read what you respond to. Again, the question is specifically "what does actual DLSS mean, and how is FF DLSS not actual DLSS" the question was not "how do I override DLSS settings".

DLSS has made many development iterations. So yes, there is "actual DLSS" and older DLSS versions. FF14 comes with an older version. And the older version is not as good as the newest one.

Cheers
06-23-2025, 02:40 AM
aiqa

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larirawiel

DLSS has made many development iterations. So yes, there is "actual DLSS" and older DLSS versions. FF14 comes with an older version. And the older version is not as good as the newest one.

Oh wait a minute... are you using the word "actual" to mean "current" or "newest"?
06-23-2025, 02:49 AM
Larirawiel

Quote:

Originally Posted by aiqa

Oh wait a minute... are you using the word "actual" to mean "current" or "newest"?

Ummm, yes. :)

Cheers
06-23-2025, 03:03 AM
aiqa

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larirawiel

yes

Understood.

But for future reference, please don't use that word that way. The word "actual" doesn't mean "current" or "recent". You can only use it that way in very specific situations to contrast with predictions or hypotheticals and such. But if something is an actual car it means it's not a toy or a fake car (or fake DLSS), not that it is the most recent model.

And I don't think the original claim about "actual DLSS" meant "the most recent version of DLSS". Since it claimed actual DLSS would cause crashes. And implementing it would require a full rewrite of the game.
06-23-2025, 08:30 PM
Molex

Quote:

Originally Posted by aiqa

What is "actual DLSS" and what part of that doesn't work in FF?

Pretty much letting DLSS do its own thing, which is downscaling then upscaling your game. Problem : FF14's engine is so bad DLSS cannot work on it, so nothing happens. At best it can be used as a glorified FXAA, which barely does anything still because the game engine is refusing any post-processing.
06-23-2025, 08:41 PM
Larirawiel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Molex

Pretty much letting DLSS do its own thing, which is downscaling then upscaling your game. Problem : FF14's engine is so bad DLSS cannot work on it, so nothing happens. At best it can be used as a glorified FXAA, which barely does anything still because the game engine is refusing any post-processing.

With DLSS/DLAA Preset K the game looks really good. With other TAA implementations (yes, DLSS/DLAA/FSR >1/Xess are all TAA based) it looks way worse. It seems, that the engine does not generate proper velocity buffers and relies on optical flow engines. Optical flow engines also generate velocity buffers but these are very subpar. Preset K seems to fix it in some way.

Cheers
11-13-2025, 09:59 AM
uDen1s

Quote:

Originally Posted by aiqa

The 30/60 fps settings for DLSS is only for automatically lowering render resolution. That doesn't mean DLSS is only active when that happens.
You can think of it like this. As long as your fps is higher than 30/60 fps, you get "DLSS Quality". When fps drops lower, you get "DLSS Balanced".

The "tests" people did to show FSR looks better were just misinformed.
What they did, is set resolution scaling to 99% and then make screenshots to show how good it looks.
The FSR version in FF is FSR1. FSR1 is a basic upscaler combined with a sharpening filter. When you set resolution to 99% you don't really use that upscaling, but the sharpening filter is still activated.
That doesn't mean "FSR is better than DLSS". That just means you prefer a sharpening filter. If you want a sharpening filter, there are other ways to apply sharpening filters that also work while DLSS is active. Like the Nvidia overlay from NvApp. Or some reshade option.

For optimal DLSS visuals my advice would be to set overrides in NvApp.
Set "DLSS Override - Models Preset" to "Latest". That gets you the latest transformer based DLSS, which removes almost all "TAA blur". And lets you lower quality setting at least one tier, without negatively affecting visuals.
And if you have performance to spare, set "DLSS Override - Superresolution" to "DLAA". Or to some other setting, is you want to higher performance with slightly softer visuals.

Thank you for this post!
I had the issue where moving would add blur. Overriding these settings worked. There is no more blur and the DLAA looks great.