Nvidia DSR On or Off?

[Duz7]

I currently have an EVGA GTX 980 SC paired with an i7 4790k so I have my nvidia control panel settings primarily set for quality over performance. I currently don't use DSR though. By the description it seems like it could really improve the quality of a game but it seems like it might cost a little too much performance? Would my FPS significantly drop if I had it on the 4 times setting? I am currently gaming in 1080p.

 

[anoori9000]

It really doesnt look that good and in most cases it looks worse because the resolution doesn't scale right for a certain monitor.

Yes you will see FPS drops, but it depends on the game.

For games like Borderlands or MOBAS like Dota and LOL its great if it scales correctly. New titles shouldn't be used with DSR.

 

[Reaper_7799]

You'll probably get mixed opinions. Personally I use it more than I don't. I think it looks great but I have 980 ti so it can keep up.

 

[photonboy]

Not recommended in general. Can be useful though...

By 4X the setting, I assume you mean 4K which has 4X the number of pixels as 1080p (3840x2160).

Frame rate:
It's roughly a 300% drop to go from 1080p to 2160p, such as 20FPS instead of 60FPS. You also have control over the "smoothing" factor in DSR but I've never calculated what affect that has on performance.

*You can try bumping the resolution up by a LESSER amount if you can produce higher frame rates than needed. For example, if you get about 90FPS with VSYNC OFF but use VSYNC ON (with a 60Hz monitor), try going with 2560x1440 which would have about a 30% performance hit.

To be clear:
1. The frame rate hit is based on how many pixels are being processed, thus if you choose 4K scaling it's almost identical to running on a 4K monitor at full resolution. (It's actually slightly MORE demanding since you have to process the game then apply SCALING after that to get back to 1080p).

2. Smoothness must be adjusted. I've never tried that.

3. VIDEO MEMORY usage is based on the resolution scaled at thus it increased by resolution (and anti-aliasing). Most games would be okay with a 4GB frame buffer though. GTA 5 can go up to about 6GB with max settings at 4K.

4) Apply per game. Not globally.

Summary:
Go ahead and experiment. I recommend no more than 2560x1440 and a suitable smoothness level. Don't do it if your frame rate drop is impacting your game experience.

I can't qualify the advantage myself since I have a 2560x1440 monitor and frankly I see no difference using "4K" in fact I can't see the difference between 4K resolution and 1440p on an actual 4K monitor.


Other:
a) Learn how to use Adaptive VSYNC as well, and
b) Investigate GSYNC monitors in the future

Adaptive VSYNC is not related to DSR just useful. It automatically disables VSYNC if you can't meet the desired refresh update. For example, if you had VSYNC ON with a 60Hz monitor (to avoid screen tear) and drop to 59FPS or below you normally get stutter because the monitor ends up hitting and missing its update resulting in 1/60th second and 2/60th second frame times. Mixing different frame times causes a quick stuttering.

So with VSYNC OFF you get screen tear (since the monitor and GPU aren't synchronized) however that's preferable to stutter.

*When i tweak some games, I force Adaptive VSYNC on for the game then tweak until I rarely drop below 60FPS. So I occasionally get a bit of screen tear; if this gets too often I drop a few settings (like 8xMSAA to 4xMSAA) to further minimize time below 60FPS.

(I debated forcing Adaptive VSYNC on globally as i never use VSYNC OFF, however it does have one drawback and that is any video cut scene below the refresh rate such as 30FPS which most are will then have screen tearing. I will eventually buy a GSYNC monitor though similar to the Acer Predator IPS/144Hz model but that's a way in the future unless my current monitor dies.)

 

[Reaper_7799]

Like I said, you'll get mixed opinions. I can notice the difference from straight 1080P and 1440P and 4K. The 980 doesn't have quite enough power to be running games at 4k anyways, unless you have a good overclock but then it's not even great. At 1440P the 980 is decent but you wont be getting 60FPS plus on games with ultra settings, give it a try. It's not like it will hurt anything. If you don't notice anything, then go back to 1080P.

It renders in whatever resolution you choose and then downscales it to what your native resolution is, so you can turn off or at least way down AA and those and wont get any jagged edges. I haven't noticed any scaling issues yet, except on project cars, when you are in the menu looking at your car but not while playing. Witcher3 looks great in 4k and 1440P, Battlefield 4 looks fine in 4k and 1440p. Metro looks fine. Crysis looks fine. Arma 3 looks fine.

You will take a good hit on fps but that's the price for going up in resolution. Best way to decide is just to try it out.

EDIT : You may have to adjust other settings to get a playable framerate for certain games. I just went back into Arma 3 and looked at the differences again and they are certainly there. It is most noticeable in trees and terrain and such but it's a difference for sure.