Cyberpunk 2077: FSR 2.1 vs. DLSS Comparison

[maxus24]

Cyberpunk 2077 has recently been updated with official support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.1 (FSR 2.1). In this mini-review, we take a look, comparing the image quality and performance gains offered by upscaling technologies in this game.

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[Xeanoa]

DLSS was manually updated to version 2.4.12 by swapping the DLL file.

Why was FSR not updated as well?

 

[MrDweezil]

It sounds like FSR 2 was patched into the console versions, without a toggle. Which sounds like they're pretty confident that it generally works better than the TAA implementation without any serious downsides.

 

[Battler624]

Just comparing the first image, FSR seems better to me with textures (Sharpening?) very visible on the tree right infront.

DLSS seems better in some lines (like the pole/cell tower at the top right). I'm only comparing the 4K images btw.

 

[Shazamy]

Thanks for a great comparison article Maxus

 

[maxus24]

Why was FSR not updated as well?

The developers did not packed its implementation into .dlls

 

[Chrispy_]

I can't detect any major issues with either implementation in the video (probably blame Youtube compression for that) but in the stills, especially 4K, I think FSR looks way better than DLSS, which is too blurred and loses a lot of detail unnecessarily.

There's a great example where there are two identical advert boards either side of a streetlight pole, and you can put the DLSS/FSR divider bar between them. Any of the text and detail at this kind of distance looks like total ass on DLSS, there's way too much blurring going on:

Text at this same sort of zoom level is useless on DLSS (left) and completely legible on FSR (right):

NFACTX WAXM\VIG and HEALTH WARNING....

 

[MarsM4N]

Can't judge how FSR looks in motion, but the still images are kinda impressive.

If you zoom (scoll) in on the car, with DLSS it's pretty washed out. With FSR the carbon is much sharper, side lights more detailed, stickers on the back way sharper. Billboards are also less sharp on DLSS incl. washed out filter. Other than that I find you can see the biggest difference in the reflections of the windows. Some I like more with FSR, and some more with DLSS. Some reflections are pretty edgy, some look a bit wrong. But I think window reflections on DLSS are more spot on.

 

[Punkenjoy]

I tested it in game and if your your FPS is high enough, it's very good. But when you go bellow 35 ips, it start having difficulties.

I would recommend to people using it to ensure they aim for 60+ fps. A lower settings of FSR like Performance will look better than quality if Quality is 30 fps or less and let say performance is 60+ fps in my opinion. The low FPS just make all the upscaling artefact pop out. The Performance mode will be slightly less detailed or sharpen, but the overall visual stability and quality will be higher.

After that it's very good. I game at 4K on a 48 inch TV, the pixel density isn't that high but still, i can play without noticing the usual upscaling issue. I recommend it.

I recall not really liking FSR 1.0 in that game or the in game scaling. FSR 2.1 is really useable if you dial in a good base FPS.

 

[Sithaer]

Also did a test run just now with the updated GoG version, no manual DLL file switches. 'I belive most ppl who just play the game, won't bother with such'
Tweaked settings with Ultra RT but with RT shadows disabled.
Did not change any settings other than playing around with DLSS and FSR settings, 2560x1080 Ultrawide resolution.

+ to my eyes at this res 0.45 sharpening does look better than 0 so I was using that with both DLSS and FSR options at their highest Quality mode.
All of the pics are thumbs but you can click for full image.

DLSS:

FSR:


Another example at a more visible light spot.
DLSS:

FSR:


There is another issue with FSR that can't be seen on still images, that barbed wire and small palm trees were flickering with FSR but did not happen with native or DLSS. 'This happens with no sharpening in place so its not that'
I can't see too big overall image differences while standing still/not moving the camera around but DLSS has better image stability and thats more important to me.

 

[Chrispy_]

I tested it in game and if your your FPS is high enough, it's very good. But when you go bellow 35 ips, it start having difficulties.

Absolutely. A large part of FSR's image reconstruction is offset camera jitter with temporal smoothing.

If your FPS is too low there simply aren't enough samples for the temporal smoothing.

 

[Hofnaerrchen]

I am quite happy with the image quality of FSR 2.1 in CP2077 v1.61. When I started playing computer games graphics were much worse: C64. Not back then but quite some time later I did find out that I am quite susceptible to motion sickness from low FPS. So I always prefer higher (best stable) FPS to higher image quality. And honestly, at the resolution I am playing at (3440x1440) it's hard for me to spot major differences between native and even balanced FSR 2.1. I did recognize the flickering of street lamps, but only when I was actually looking for them. In the heat of the action this will become even less noticeable to me. But I did just do a short driving around, maybe it's more noticeable when playing for a longer time - something I consider only doing with a DLC for now.

The most noticeable difference when turning on RT - did only activate refelctions - is the impact on lighting (apart from the massive performance hit on RDNA2). The reflections themselves are nice but the screen space reflections in CP2077 are quite good. So again I'd rather take the much higher FPS than the improved visuals.

 

[Gica]

When I started playing computer games graphics were much worse: C64.

In those days, food was poorly packaged, but healthier. Damn, how similar to games!

 

[rrrrex]

Photo mode is great for fsr/dlss/xess/taa testing. Just turn on/off the character.

 

[Hofnaerrchen]

In those days, food was poorly packaged, but healthier. Damn, how similar to games!

The biggest difference was price... the computer/food-price-ratio was much higher. I still buy quite a lot food unpacked at my local grocery, bakery and butcher or on the farmer's market. Today you just get much less food for the amount of hardware you could get.

 

[wolf]

This is getting closer to call than ever, trying them both myself I'd say stills are exceptionally comparable, but I think DLSS has the edge in motion especially thin detail like power lines, and in other titles even 2.1 doesn't quite fix disocclusion issues. Importantly, as long as this caliber or better FSR is what keeps being added to games (and lots of them), it's starting to finally deliver on being a DLSS killer imo.

I do remember major DLSS criticisms stemming from people gushing over still images, so I shouldn't need to remind everyone here that it's a best case scenario for any temporally underpinned solution. And while these comparisons serve a valuable purpose, there is unquestionably no substitute for seeing it with your own eyes - given image quality is immensely dependent on personal preference.

Well done FSR 2.1

 

[Sithaer]

And while these comparisons serve a valuable purpose, there is unquestionably no substitute for seeing it with your own eyes - given image quality is immensely dependent on personal preference.

Well done FSR 2.1

100% agreed, I checked this comparison review before starting up the game and checking it myself in the game and apparently I do have different preferences than whats written here.
Can't argue with anyone and wont cause its simply what my eyes are telling me. 'I do wear glasses too so its not that '

But yes its good to see more games supporting these options and that FSR is catching up, never hurts to have more options right.
Once the in motion/flickering issue is fixed with FSR I probably wont be able to tell the difference.

 

[lepudruk]

I've benchmarked my system with both DLSS and FSR and there is only ~1 fps in favour of Nvidia (quality mode) but (and this is a BIG "but") the game looks IMO much better with FSR (overall visual impresions). So, for now - FSR FTW!

 

[potsdaman]

Hello , who faced with pixel smoke, fog? Does not matter FSR on or off.
Also another thing - when I turn on "RT lightning - using ultra" picture start looks blurry , when this option is off - everything is fine.

I am using last driver 22.11.