Introduction

Forza Horizon 5 recently received an update on PC with new enhancements to the game graphics, such as ray traced reflections in free roam and races, support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.2 (FSR 2.2), NVIDIA's Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing (DLAA) and NVIDIA's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS). The upgrade to ray traced reflections will apply to two new presets: Ultra (half resolution ray traced reflections) and Extreme (full resolution ray traced reflections). With the addition of ray traced reflections during races on PC, the game is now even more GPU demanding than before. In order to run this game at maximum graphics settings and reasonable framerates at native resolution, quite a powerful GPU is required, which is why upscaling solutions are so important. Depending on the game, there are subtle differences in the implementation of NVIDIA's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.2 (FSR 2.2), so we are keen to test both in Forza Horizon 5.



Below, you will find comparison screenshots at 4K, 1440p, 1080p, and in different DLSS and FSR 2.2 quality modes; the DLAA and TAA screenshots are also available in the dropdown menu. For those who want to see how DLSS and FSR 2.2 perform in motion, watch our side-by-side comparison video. The video can help uncover issues like shimmering or temporal instability, which are not visible in the screenshots.

All tests were made using a GeForce RTX 3080 GPU at Extreme graphics settings with ray tracing enabled; motion blur and depth of field were disabled for better image viewing. DLSS in this game shipped with version 2.4.12.

Screenshots

Side-by-Side Comparison Video

Conclusion

In Forza Horizon 5, the in-game TAA solution, DLAA, DLSS and FSR 2.2 implementations all use a sharpening filter in the render path, and the game has the ability to tweak the sharpening values through separate sliders. We used the default value of 5 for all sharpening filter values in our testing. The inclusion of a separate sharpening filter for each upscaling and temporal anti-aliasing solution is a great option to have, but there is one important issue of note. At lower internal resolutions, such as 1080p DLSS/FSR 2.2 Quality mode for example, the default value of 5 for sharpening filters can cause negative side effects in this game, such as excessive shimmering in motion, so we recommend to set the sharpening filter value to 0 for 1080p resolution, when using upscaling.

Speaking of overall image quality, there are also a few important issues of note. Forza Horizon 5 is a fast paced racing game, so when using any temporal upscaling solutions, the temporal stability of the image is key to enjoyable gameplay. When using DLSS, the image was stable in motion in Quality modes, the level of detail rendered in vegetation and tree leaves is improved in comparison to the in-game TAA solution, and small details in the distance, such as wires or thin steel objects, are rendered more correctly and completely. The FSR 2.2 implementation comes with noticeable compromises in image quality—in favor of performance in most sequences of the game. We spotted excessive shimmering and flickering on thin objects and especially steel objects; they are shimmering even when standing still. One of the most noticeable differences in image quality between DLSS and FSR 2.2 is the quality of the built-in anti-aliasing. In the FSR 2.2 image, most of the edges of the game geometry are smoothed well, where in the DLSS image they have a somewhat more pixelated look. The second-most-noticeable difference is how FSR 2.2 deals with ghosting. In comparison to DLSS, FSR 2.2 has more ghosting issues behind cars, and it also has very noticeable black smearing artifacts behind cars in front of the player at medium and far distances, which most people will find quite distracting—all of these issues you can spot even in 4K Quality mode. The DLSS implementation also isn't perfect in terms of how it handles the ghosting issues, but they start to be visible only at 4K Performance mode in very fast driving scenarios, for example.

Speaking of performance, compared to DLSS in this game, FSR 2.2 basically works identically to DLSS 2.4 in terms of performance gains across all resolutions. Overall, the DLSS and FSR 2.2 performance uplift at 4K is a great improvement to the game, even in Quality mode, but going down to 1440p resolution, the DLSS and FSR 2.2 performance increase is less impressive as it will boost performance by only around 10%, or even less at 1080p. The DLAA solution has a performance cost of around 6%, compared to the TAA solution.