Rise of the tomb Raider: DSR 4k vs native 1440p with max settings?

[Switch87]

Hi,

I own a 1440p, 144hz monitor and a pretty good pc.

In your opinion is it worth going for native 1440p res while beeing able to go all max settings (for an average 60fps), or use DSR 4k but only be able to run settings like Texture Quality and quite a few other options on lower/medium settings to get the same fps?

Geforce experience optimize recommends me to go with DSR4k and the lower settings, but I'm still not convinced. Here is the recommendation of nvidia for my setup:

I know that DSR smothes out the picture in general but is it worth over using better textures settings, depth of view, pure hair on very high, beeing able to use AA etc. on native res?

 

[Frag Maniac]

I would go 1440p on max settings. For one thing, FXAA blurs textures, which degrades some of the clarity you gain with 4k.

The only time I recommend 4k is when you have plenty graphics power to run it without compromising FPS or settings.

 

[chimera201]

1440p with higher settings. That's really a weird suggestion by Geforce experience. Using VXAO is definitely better than DSR for better image quality if you have the horsepower.

 

[Switch87]

I would go 1440p on max settings. For one thing, FXAA blurs textures, which degrades some of the clarity you gain with 4k.

The only time I recommend 4k is when you have plenty graphics power to run it without compromising FPS or settings.

1440p with higher settings. That's really a weird suggestion by Geforce experience. Using VXAO is definitely better than DSR for better image quality if you have the horsepower.

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I also thought that... It's weird, nvidia did a very in-depth article about Rise of the Tomb Raider graphics and benchmark potential and they mention how DSR is great in it.

Here is a great nvidia picture with slider, to compare 1440p vs 4kdsr in the game:
http://images.nvidia.com/geforce-com/international/comparisons/rise-of-the-tomb-raider/alt/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-nvidia-dynamic-super-resolution-interactive-comparison-001-2560x1440-vs-3840x2160.html

You can see the differences in the the details in general and if you slide fast (in the are around the right tree, the rock on the left side, the bulding in the distance, and Lara's jacket and belt) you can see it does look much better, but I still don't know if it's worth over the other settings in general. Geforce experience is usually pretty good at optimization.

 

[chimera201]

Yeah but that comparison is 1440p at max setings vs DSR4k at max settings. It's not 1440p at max settings vs DSR4k at medium settings. If you saw that comparison you would prefer the 1440p one. You can test it yourself. Just set the settings and do the in game benchmark. Take screenshot at a fixed point and compare. Or you can just take the screenshot in game campaign by pausing and adjusting the settings if you want precisely the same image. But do note that don't take screenshot while in pause menu, the game needs to render at-least one frame for some settings to take effect.

P.S. Steam uses jpeg for screenshot which uses lossy compression. You might want to use PrintScreen.

 

[Switch87]

Yeah but that comparison is 1440p at max setings vs DSR4k at max settings. It's not 1440p at max settings vs DSR4k at medium settings. If you saw that comparison you would prefer the 1440p one. You can test it yourself. Just set the settings and do the in game benchmark. Take screenshot at a fixed point and compare. Or you can just take the screenshot in game campaign by pausing and adjusting the settings if you want precisely the same image. But do note that don't take screenshot while in pause menu, the game needs to render at-least one frame for some settings to take effect.

P.S. Steam uses jpeg for screenshot which uses lossy compression. You might want to use PrintScreen.

You are right, I have been playing it in 1440p with max settings. But it's very close.

Here is a comprasion betwen max 1440p and the recommended nvidia settings in 4k DSR. I do lose around 10 fps with DSK. Some details look... different. I can't really tell what picture looks better:

Either way the game does look amazing and is great fun, I recommend everyone to play it, especially if you got a good pc.
Here's a few screenshots on 1440p max settings:

 

[chimera201]

Should have posted uncompressed png images like i said.

1. Missing shadows in 4K. Overall scene has the 'right' shadows in 2k.
2. Well not exactly sure about this cause you need to see this part in 3D to be sure but the ice cones have more crystalline appearance in 2k. It's a difficult material to make.
3. AO shadows inside the crevices in the ice wall in 2k.
4. Texture and level of detail differences.
5. Not sure what this is but looks like the mesh in not rendered in 4k due to low level of detail.

 

[Switch87]

Should have posted uncompressed png images like i said.

1. Missing shadows in 4K. Overall scene has the 'right' shadows in 2k.
2. Well not exactly sure about this cause you need to see this part in 3D to be sure but the ice cones have more crystalline appearance in 2k. It's a difficult material to make.
3. AO shadows inside the crevices in the ice wall in 2k.
4. Texture and level of detail differences.
5. Not sure what this is but looks like the mesh in not rendered in 4k due to low level of detail.

Yea, I think 1440p with the higher settings is better in general, and when you add the fact that I lose a few fps with the 4k, 1440p is clearly the winner here. 4k still does look fantastic though, even with the high/medium settings:

 

[chimera201]

Try using VXAO for ambient occlusion. It's only available in DX11.