DLSS, FSR and XeSS: upscaling and frame generation explained

The graphics menu offers DLSS, FSR or XeSS, a preset called Quality or Balanced and a frame generation switch, and the driver adds its own version of each. Underneath there are only two ideas, and once you can tell them apart the menu reads itself.

Two different things under similar names

Upscaling renders each frame below your output resolution and rebuilds the full-size image. NVIDIA describes DLSS Super Resolution as sampling "multiple lower-resolution images" and using "motion data and feedback from prior frames". FSR 2 and later and XeSS are temporal in the same sense. FSR 1 and NVIDIA Image Scaling are spatial: they see only the current frame.

Rendering fewer pixels shortens the GPU's part of each frame. A game whose frame time is set by the GPU can therefore deliver frames sooner; a game where the GPU was already waiting for the processor has little to shorten. GPU not at 100% shows how to tell which one you have.

Frame generation does not render more of the game. It shows extra frames between the ones the game renders, and it has a cost of its own. NVIDIA's frame generation programming guide spells it out: to show the generated frame 1.5 in the right order, "the presentation of frame 2 must be delayed", so "frame 2 is essentially held back". A generated frame is built from two frames the game has already finished, so nothing you did after the newer one was rendered can be in it.

What the preset names mean

Each preset is a ratio between output and render resolution on each axis, and one name does not mean one ratio across vendors:

Sources: NVIDIA's Super Resolution programming guide (version 310.6.0), AMD's FSR 3 developer page and Intel's XeSS developer guide. A ratio of 1.5x per axis renders 1/2.25 of the output's pixels, about 44 per cent; 2.0x renders a quarter. Intel raised its ratios in XeSS 1.3 (Quality was 1.5x before), so one XeSS preset can mean different things in an older and a newer game.

DLSS, as of October 2026

NVIDIA's DLSS page lists what each GeForce RTX generation runs:

• Super Resolution, and DLAA, which is the same technology at native resolution: RTX 20, 30, 40 and 50.
• Ray Reconstruction: RTX 20 to 50.
• Frame Generation: RTX 40 and 50.
• Multi Frame Generation, "up to five frames per rendered frame", and Dynamic Multi Frame Generation, which changes the multiplier during play toward a target frame rate: RTX 50 only. NVIDIA's app notes list the 5X and 6X modes under DLSS Override; its frame generation programming guide (June 2026) still describes up to three generated frames.

DLSS 5 (September 2026) is not another upscaler: NVIDIA calls it "an optional and independent feature" that adds AI-generated lighting and material detail, on RTX 50 cards.

FSR, as of October 2026

AMD has renamed things. Per AMD's FSR page:

• FSR 1 is spatial. AMD lists Radeon RX 400 series and newer.
• FSR 2 is temporal. RX 590 and newer.
• FSR 3 adds frame generation, which "inserts 1 frame between existing ones": RX 5000 and newer for frame generation, RX 590 and newer for upscaling only.
• FSR 4 has been renamed FSR Upscaling. It is machine-learning based and runs on RX 7000 and RX 9000 cards; AMD says RX 6000 support is "launching in 2027".
• FSR "Redstone" is the machine-learning set: FSR Upscaling, FSR Frame Generation, Ray Regeneration and Radiance Caching, on RX 9000 (RX 7000 for upscaling only).

In games that ship FSR 3.1 or newer, AMD Software can switch in the machine-learning upscaler: with the game closed, open Gaming > Graphics and turn on AMD FSR Upscaling, plus AMD FSR Frame Generation where the game has FSR 3.1.4 or newer with frame generation.

XeSS, as of October 2026

Intel's XeSS 3 SDK has three parts. XeSS Super Resolution runs on any GPU with Shader Model 6.4 (DP4a). XeSS Frame Generation runs on Intel Arc and on other GPUs with Shader Model 6.4, needs DirectX 12, and generates at most one frame on non-Intel GPUs. Xe Low Latency (XeLL) is required alongside it: Intel's guide says frame generation "will be disabled if XeLL is not initialized and enabled".

Driver switches that work without the game

• AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) 2.1 is frame generation from the driver, in DirectX 11, DirectX 12, Vulkan and OpenGL games. RX 7000 and newer also run it in borderless fullscreen, RX 6000 in exclusive fullscreen only, and V-Sync has to be off both in the driver and in the game.
• NVIDIA Smooth Motion infers "an additional frame between two rendered frames" on RTX 50 and, since NVIDIA app 11.0.5, RTX 40. It sits under Graphics > Program Settings > Driver Settings.
• The NVIDIA app's DLSS Override does not add DLSS to a game. It swaps the model or the mode in games that already ship DLSS and are on NVIDIA's list. As of October 2026 the NVIDIA app release notes put it under Graphics > Program Settings > Driver Settings, as DLSS Override - Model Presets and DLSS Override - Frame Generation mode, with a global version under Graphics > Global Setting > DLSS Override. The overlay shows what actually took effect under Alt+Z > Statistics > Statistics View > DLSS.

The latency side of frame generation

Because the newest rendered frame is held back, frame generation adds delay between your input and the screen. That is why every vendor pairs it with a latency reducer: NVIDIA's frame generation works with Reflex, which NVIDIA says is there "to minimize the impact of the added latency"; Intel requires XeLL; AMD recommends Anti-Lag 2 in games that support it. Minimising an impact is not removing it.

The vendors also say how fast the game should already run before frames are generated:

• AMD: FSR 3 frame generation "runs best when interpolating from a minimum of 60 fps", "going below 60 is not recommended", and below 30 "should be absolutely avoided". AMD's reason is visual: artifacts are "more prominent at lower frame rates".
• Intel: 40 FPS minimum and 60 FPS recommended for XeSS Frame Generation, the second figure for "the best latency experience".
• NVIDIA's frame generation guide and AMD's AFMF page give no figure.

Frame generation in competitive games

Count rendered frames, not displayed ones. A generated frame can only show what the two rendered frames around it contain, and the newer of the two waits for it. The counter can double while the time from your click to the frame that shows its result does not get shorter: NVIDIA's guide calls that wait added latency, and Intel's says frame generation "delays presentation of the application frames". In a game where you aim and react, that time is the number that matters. What acts on it is the rendered frame rate and the queue in front of the GPU: upscaling can help the first when the GPU sets the pace, and Reflex, Anti-Lag 2 or XeLL work on the second.

How to decide on your machine

Change one thing, play the same scene before and after, and read the 1% lows rather than the average; reading the benchmark explains why.

What does not help: two upscalers at once (AMD's advice is to keep its driver upscaler off when a game's FSR is on, as both together are "double the work"), and frame generation used to rescue a frame rate below the minimums AMD and Intel give.

Related

• GPU not at 100%: how to tell a CPU bottleneck from something else
• Why my aim feels delayed
• Should you cap your FPS? Frame limiters explained
• NVIDIA Control Panel settings for games: what each one does
• AMD Software settings for games: Anti-Lag, Chill, Boost and more