Is 1080p Upscaling Usable Now? - FSR 4 vs DLSS 4 vs DLSS 3 vs FSR 3

Summary

Highlights

• DLSS4 is the star performer at 1080p resolution, outshining FSR4 and DLSS3. ✨
• FSR4 marks a huge leap from FSR 3.1, being much more usable. 💪
• While both technologies improve upscaling, DLSS4 remains superior in stability and detail retention. 🔍
• 1080p upscaling performance mode has noticeable downsides, making quality mode more practical. 🎯
• Game support remains a crucial factor, with DLSS having broader compatibility. 📊

Key Takeaways

• 1080p upscaling has improved significantly in 2025, thanks to DLSS4 and FSR4. 🎮
• DLSS4 offers better clarity and stability over FSR4, making it the preferred choice. 🚀
• FSR4 provides a significant improvement over FSR 3.1, making it a viable option for AMD users. 🎉
• Upscaling support is crucial, with DLSS being more widely supported than FSR. 🌍
• Performance mode in upscaling comes with limitations, especially at 1080p. ⚠️

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview The chapter titled 'Introduction and Overview' begins with a focus on the comparison between DLSS4 and FSR4, two upscaling technologies. The discussion is centered around their performance at the 1080p resolution, which remains popular in 2025. This popularity is largely attributed to ongoing issues with entry-level GPU stagnation. The chapter also highlights the challenges of upscaling at this resolution, as activating DLSS or FSR can result in a much lower render resolution, sometimes dropping to 720p or below.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Sampling Methodology and Technologies Used This chapter discusses the challenges and advancements in sampling methodology and the technologies used to upscale game graphics. Historically, limited data for upscaling led to poor results, especially at 1080p resolution, which was sometimes not recommended for upscaling. However, the introduction of more advanced technologies like DLSS 4 and FSR4 has potentially changed this scenario. The chapter includes a comparison using the Radeon RX 9070 XT for FSR4 examples and the GeForce RTX 5090 for other technologies across different games, all captured at 1080p resolution.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Advanced Technologies and Sponsor Message The chapter discusses advanced graphic settings like motion blur, grain, vignette, chromatic aberration, and sharpness in the context of upscaling. It mentions updates to DLSS3 and DLSS4 technologies, particularly version DLSS3.8.10, and Nvidia's driver override for the latest models. Additionally, there is a sponsor message highlighting the Ice Whale's new Zema Board 2, which is powered by the Intel N150 processor and supports up to 16 GB of memory.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Testing in Different Resolutions The chapter titled 'Testing in Different Resolutions' discusses the capabilities of a high-performance single board server enhanced with state-of-the-art features such as dual 2.5 GB Ethernet ports, dual SATA ports, and PCI 3.0 expansion. A significant highlight is its integration with the latest Zema OS, allowing the server to function seamlessly as a lightweight Network Attached Storage (NAS). This setup supports users by offering features like one-click RAID setup, remote access, and data backup, facilitating efficient management of dispersed data. Furthermore, the chapter touches on the expansive Zema OS app store, which hosts a variety of applications, contributing to a rich ecosystem for users.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Comparison at 1080p Resolution The chapter 'Comparison at 1080p Resolution' discusses the capabilities of the Zemaboard 2, highlighting its versatility as a home server due to support for numerous third-party apps. It allows users to flash their preferred systems and offers robust hardware expandability, making it possible to set up self-hosted servers or advanced clusters. The Zemaboard 2 is now available on Kickstarter. The chapter ends with a mention of comparing upscalers FSR4 and DLSS4 at resolutions of 1440p and 4K, noting the newer upscalers' performance.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Comparison of Stability and Fine Detail The chapter discusses the improvements in preventing TAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing) blur in gaming technology. Previous TAA solutions showed a significant loss in image clarity and sharpness when a player moved in the game. This resulted in a blurry presentation during movement, detracting from the visual experience. However, with new advancements in deals 4 and FSR4, the difference in image clarity between standing still and moving is significantly reduced, offering a more consistent visual experience.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Challenges with DLSS4 at 1080p DLSS4 offers improved clarity and detail in motion at 1080p, addressing the blur issues found in previous versions, notably DLSS3. While DLSS3 exhibited significant clarity reduction during movement, DLSS4, alongside FSR4, presents a sharper and more detailed gaming experience, enhancing the overall presentation while navigating game environments.
• 03:30 - 04:00: FSR4 vs FSR3.1 This chapter discusses the comparative performance of two graphics technologies: AMD's FSR4 and NVIDIA's DLSS4, particularly at a resolution of 1080p. DLSS4 is noted to provide superior texture clarity and reduction of TAA blur, resulting in a slightly sharper image compared to FSR4. However, FSR4 represents a significant improvement over its predecessor FSR3 and even DLSS3 in these areas. The chapter highlights that AMD's FSR4 offers impressive performance, retaining clarity even in performance mode at 1080p. Overall, both FSR4 and DLSS4 maintain their effectiveness in reducing blur at various resolutions.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Overall Assessment of Upscaling at 1080p The chapter evaluates the efficacy of graphic upscaling technologies at a resolution of 1080p. Performance mode was deemed unusable, but with the use of FSR4, there was a noted improvement in image clarity, and the game appeared to maintain a reasonable resolution. For stability and detailing at 1080p, DLSS4 offered a substantial improvement over its predecessor, DLSS3. Previously, DLSS3 faced challenges in maintaining image stability, leading to common issues such as aliasing and shimmering even in quality mode.
• 04:30 - 05:00: Conclusion In the conclusion, the text discusses the improvements in DLSS4 upscaling compared to its predecessor, DLSS3. While DLSS3 was seen as a visual downgrade, DLSS4 offers more stability and fewer issues such as aliasing or shimmering, especially noticeable at a 1080p resolution in quality mode. This advancement makes DLSS more viable for 1080p gaming by providing clearer motion and a more stable presentation with less TAA blur. However, it acknowledges that DLSS4 is still not entirely free of artifacts due to the inherently low render resolution.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Closing Remarks and Call to Support The chapter discusses the performance of DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) technologies at different resolutions, particularly focusing on 1080p. DLSS4 is praised for its high-quality output in normal gameplay compared to FSR4, which demonstrates variable stability. The comparison extends to DLSS3 and highlights differences in specific gaming scenarios, such as scenes in 'The Last of Us Part One.' Overall, DLSS4 is concluded to provide superior visual quality.

Is 1080p Upscaling Usable Now? - FSR 4 vs DLSS 4 vs DLSS 3 vs FSR 3 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] Today we're rounding out our coverage of DLSS4 and FSR4 with a look at how the upscalers compare at 1080p, which is still a very popular resolution in 2025, probably due to that pesky issue of entry-level GPU stagnation. It's also a resolution that tends to cause the most issues for upscaling as the render resolution when enabling DLSS or FSR can quickly fall to just 720p or even lower
• 00:30 - 01:00 without much data to work with. Historically, this has led to poor results. And in some games, we've recommended you avoid upscaling entirely at 1080p. But is that true now that we've got the much more advanced DLSS 4 and FSR4 technologies? Well, let's find out. Like our previous videos, all of the FSR4 examples were captured at 1080p using the Radeon RX 9070 XT, while all of the other examples were captured using the GeForce RTX 5090. I've used a selection of games, all of which had
• 01:00 - 01:30 settings such as motion blur, grain, vignette, and chromatic aberration disabled, and sharpness has also been set to zero for upscaling. All DLSS3 examples were upgraded to DLSS3.8.10 with the exception of Hunt Showdown. All DLSS4 examples are using the latest model via Nvidia's driver override. Let's get into it. But before we do, today's sponsor spot is brought to you by Ice Whale and their new next generation Zema Board 2 powered by the Intel N150 processor with support for up to 16 GB of memory. The Zema Board 2 is
• 01:30 - 02:00 a higherformance single board server equipped with dual 2.5 GB Ethernet ports, dual SATA ports, and PCI 3.0 expansion, all while featuring the latest Zema OS builtin. Paired with Zema OS, Zema 2 effortlessly transforms into a lightweight NAS, offering one-click RAID setup, remote access, backups, and more, making it easy for users to manage scattered data with simplicity and efficiency. Meanwhile, the Zema OS app store provides a rich ecosystem of
• 02:00 - 02:30 hundreds of third party apps, turning Zemaboard 2 into a versatile home server to meet diverse needs. Zaboboard 2 also lets users flash their preferred systems and with its robust hardware expandability, it can become a self-hosted server or even support advanced setups like clusters, ready for enthusiasts to explore. ZMA Board 2 is now live on Kickstarter, so for more information, please check the link in the video description. When examining FSR4 and DLSS4 at 1440p and 4K, we generally found these newer upscalers to
• 02:30 - 03:00 be much better at preventing TAA blur than any previous temporal anti-aliasing or upscaling solution. With previous TAA based tech, there was a noticeable difference between the sharpness and clarity of the image depending on whether you were standing still or moving in the game. As soon as you started moving, there was an obvious loss of clarity. the game became more blurry and this really ruins the presentation in some instances. With deals 4 and FSR4, there is a much smaller difference between standing still and moving in terms of clarity,
• 03:00 - 03:30 effectively removing the TIAA blur we see in motion, resulting in a more detailed, higher quality presentation as you actually move around the game world, which is most of what you do in games. And I'm pleased to say this is also true when using these technologies at 1080p. In some of the examples you have seen so far, DLSS3 is quite blurry in motion even when using the quality mode and there's a noticeable drop in clarity as soon as you start moving. With FSR4 and DLSS4, the clarity is much improved. Now
• 03:30 - 04:00 DLSS4 is the superior technology at 1080p for texture clarity and TAA blur. Generally, the image is a little sharper than FSR4, but FSR4 is also a huge upgrade over DLSS3 in this area. And AMD's tech really impressed me here. It looks great. Like we found at higher resolutions, this blurred reducing capability is basically unchanged at lower modes. So even using the performance mode at 1080p looks a lot clearer than DLSS3. And this is still true of both FSR4 and DLSS4. The FSR3
• 04:00 - 04:30 performance mode was essentially unusable, whereas with FSR4, the clarity is decent, and the game looks to be running at a reasonable resolution. When it comes to stability and fine detail, there is a pretty consistent theme when assessing the 1080p footage. DLSS4 is a significant leap forward compared to DLSS3. Often at 1080p, DLSS3 would really struggle to keep the image stable in motion, resulting in aliasing, shimmering, or sizzling, even using the quality mode. Typically, this meant
• 04:30 - 05:00 DLSS3 upscaling was a visual downgrade compared to native rendering. DLSS4 is much more stable in comparison, and you're less likely to spot issues like aliasing or shimmering at 1080p using the quality mode. This really opens the door for DLSS to be truly viable at a 1080p resolution, as it not only provides better clarity in motion with less TAA blur, but a more stable presentation as well. Of course, it's not fully free of artifacts. The low render resolution at play here still means there are some issues compared to
• 05:00 - 05:30 what you'd see at 4K. But in normal gameplay, I was very happy with the quality of DLSS4 at 1080p. FSR4 is more of a mixed bag when it comes to stability, and it's clearly not as solid as DLSS4 at this resolution. How it compares to DLSS3 using the quality mode depends on the game or even the specific part of the game. For example, in this panning shot in The Last of Us Part One, towards the start of the scene, FSR4 is less stable than DLSS3, but towards the end of the scene, it's more stable. In both cases, DLSS4 looks noticeably better. As an
• 05:30 - 06:00 alternate example, here's Hunt Showdown. And in this game, I believe FSR4 is more stable in a general sense, especially when you see the impact of the mild swaying as you move around. FSR4 handles that better than DLSS3. But then in a game like Spider-Man 2, it's less stable. And in Ratchet and Clank, it's pretty close to DLSS3, maybe slightly better. Now, DSS3 levels of stability from FSR4 still results in better image quality overall as FSR4 is much less blurry. So, the image in general is more
• 06:00 - 06:30 detailed, but AMD still needs to put in some work here to recreate the cleanness we're seeing from DLSS4 at this resolution. What I will say though is that the FSR4 performance mode isn't too bad and doesn't fall away nearly as hard as FSR3 did for stability at 1080p. In the worst cases, FSR4 performance is similar to DLSS3 performance. And in the best cases, it's actually quite a bit more stable and sits between DLSS3 and 4. I personally wouldn't choose to use
• 06:30 - 07:00 this mode, but it's not that bad considering the render resolution is just 540p. Dislusion at 1080p is really no different to what we saw at higher resolutions. This is the main area where DLSS4 struggles compared to DLSS3 with an obvious downgrade visible at this resolution. There is more sizzling and blurring around characters in thirdp person games. And as objects discclude, you're more likely to notice artifact or blur trails in motion, which isn't necessarily ghosting, but a byproduct of DLSS4's weaker handling of discclusion.
• 07:00 - 07:30 Comparing the three upscalers using the quality mode, in my opinion, FSR4 usually looks the best, though at times it's not hugely different to the DLSS3 image. examining FSR4 relative to DLSS4 and AMD's upscaler clearly handles discclusion better and you can notice this in real time non-zoomed footage using the quality mode. Of course, like all artifacts, the degree to which FSR4 is better changes between games. It's much less of an issue in Horizon Zero Dawn than The Last of Us, for example.
• 07:30 - 08:00 But in no examples did I find DLSS4 to outperform FSR4 in this area. To make matters worse, discclusion artifacts tend to get worse at lower modes, like the performance mode. Here are the blur trails as a wire passes over some bricks using the quality mode. And here's the same artifact using the performance mode. The lower render resolution results in more noticeable blur trails. And this is why it's hard to recommend the DLSS4 performance mode at 1080p. These artifacts can be really noticeable in this configuration, much more so than
• 08:00 - 08:30 using the same mode at 4K. Hair quality is also very similar to other resolutions in that FSR4 and DLSS4 end up looking pretty similar. DLSS4 can be a little sharper and more stable at times, but if the hair is prone to discclusion, that's where FSR4 can end up looking better. The big win here for AMD's technology is that hair no longer looks extremely grainy, which was a significant issue with FSR3. Across both FSR4 and DLSS4, we're getting an upgrade
• 08:30 - 09:00 compared to DLSS3, which can be a bit aliased for hair. Particle and rain quality is also similar to other resolutions, where generally all the upscalers here trade blows. In the Last of Us Spore test, FSR4 comes out ahead when comparing the quality modes with more visible particles and less ghosting. However, FSR4 produced more ghosting, looking at ratchet and clank confetti, with more aliasing as well relative to DLSS4, which ended up looking the best. In the Horizon Zero Dawn snow test, FSR4 and DLSS4 end up
• 09:00 - 09:30 looking pretty similar in terms of the quality of the snow particles, while DLSS3 has slightly less clarity. As we've seen through most of these examples, DLSS4 is stronger at reconstructing the background behind the snow, so the grass and trees look a bit more natural compared to FSR4. But this difference is pretty hard to spot unless you're looking for it. In general, either upscaler does a decent job at handling particles. At 1080p, upscale transparencies are pretty similar between DLSS3, DLSS4, and FSR4. When using the quality mode, elements like
• 09:30 - 10:00 fire, and holograms are reconstructed pretty well, though there can be some aliasing, grain, and blur in motion depending on the technique. Based on what I've seen, I don't think one technique is clearly better than the others, which is similar to what we've found at higher resolutions. Interestingly though, I do think FSR4 holds up quite well when looking at the 1080p performance mode. In these instances, DLSS4 can be a bit grainy or pixelated compared to FSR4, such as in the fire in Horizon Zero Dawn or the
• 10:00 - 10:30 holograms in Ratchet and Clank. At the lowest render resolutions, this can give FSR4 the edge, which was a surprise to me considering how badly FSR3 handled transparencies at 1080p. Foliage quality, especially grass, is one of the hardest things to upscale at 1080p and often ends up looking aliased or grainy in motion. Like we've seen at other resolutions, FSR4 tends to hold up the best for grass using the quality mode, though it does trade blows with DLSS4 in some titles. For example, in Hunt Showdown, grass is
• 10:30 - 11:00 quite grainy and is prone to shimmering in the DLSS3 image, whereas both FSR4 and DLSS4 are much more stable and less grainy. I also gave a small edge to FSR4 in Horizon Zero Dawn compared to DLSS3, though ultimately both are very close. It can flip the other way in some other examples like The Last of Us Part One where DLSS4 delivers the best image stability for grass. Though in my opinion, FSR4 is still superior to DLSS3. The softness of DLSS3 in this example kills the detail in the grass
• 11:00 - 11:30 and it just ends up looking like a blurry green mess when using the quality mode. Tree quality though is generally where DLSS4 takes the lead due to better image stability and more detail. In examples like Spider-Man 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, and The Last of Us, tree branches and leaves are less prone to shimmering in DLSS 4 relative to FSR4, the latter of which is closer to DLSS3 in its output. I wouldn't say FSR4 is horrible or anything here. It's just going to produce stability similar to some of the earlier examples that we looked at. None
• 11:30 - 12:00 of the upscalers are particularly great at handling fine tree branches in motion at 1080p with all producing significant levels of aliasing even using the quality mode. Dus 4 does deliver better fine detail reconstruction when stationary, but that's far less relevant than the aliasing scene in motion considering you mostly play games by moving around. FSR4 probably looks the worst here if we're being honest, but it's not all that different to the other technologies. With fence quality, it's a battle of two elements. FSR4 has superior discclusion handling, but
• 12:00 - 12:30 inferior overall stability compared to DSS4. So depending on the type of fence, one or the other element will be the dominant factor in how the fence is upscaled. For example, in The Last of Us with this thicker iron fence, this is mostly a stability problem. And you'll see here at 1080p quality mode that DLSS4 is much more stable, whereas FSR4 is closer to or even worse than DLSS3 in how it reconstructs this element. But if we move to Spider-Man 2 with a thin chicken wire fence now, there are times
• 12:30 - 13:00 where DLSS 4 upscales this and it ends up quite blurry, whereas FSR4 is cleaner and shows more of the background. There are other times where the stability angle is more at play and DSS4 does a better job. Typically, FSR4 sits somewhere between DSS 3 and four in overall fence quality, but it's a good example of how these specific areas to upscaling can play out with one type of item that's common across games. Lastly, I wanted to show some examples of FSR4 versus FSR 3.1 because throughout the
• 13:00 - 13:30 video so far, I've focused on FSR4 versus DLSS, largely because FSR 3.1 is so bad at 1080p that it's basically irrelevant in the upscaling discussion. But for the sake of completeness, let's see how far FSR4 has come. It's very apparent with just a few examples that FSR4 is a night and day difference compared to FSR 3.1. Even using the quality mode, FSR3 just looks horrible at 1080p. There is so much shimmering and aliasing that it looks like you're
• 13:30 - 14:00 playing at a much lower resolution, defeating the purpose of upscaling. FSR4 is nowhere near as aliased. It actually looks decent and playable. And this applies across every game we've looked at. What's even more striking is that the FSR4 performance mode at 1080p is still noticeably superior to FSR 3.1 using the quality mode, which is one of those scenarios you probably wouldn't have guessed would occur prior to the release of FSR4. I'm not even going to show the FSR 3.1 performance mode because it's offensively bad. FSR4 has
• 14:00 - 14:30 well and truly buried older versions. Overall, upscaling at a 1080p resolution has come a long way in 2025 thanks to the release of FSR4 and DLSS4. These new upscalers are much better at handling lower resolutions like 1080p compared to previous versions with significant strides taken in overall clarity, blur, stability, and detail. A couple of years ago, it was very much hit or miss as to whether upscaling was worth using at 1080p because the quality loss relative to native rendering could be very
• 14:30 - 15:00 noticeable in some games. These days, if you're using the latest version, I think upscaling is quite viable and usable across the board for 1080p gaming. DLSS4 is the real star of the show here and is the best upscaler for 1080p gaming. It's quite amazing how much more stable DLSS4 is at 1080p compared to DLSS3, even when using the higher modes such as quality. Though, there are massive improvements to the performance mode as well. DLSS4 not only removes a lot of the TAA blur
• 15:00 - 15:30 that's typically associated with modern 1080p gaming, making the overall presentation much less blurry. It also retains an impressive amount of detail. In most situations, this makes DLSS4 the better way to play than native TAA rendering because the overall presentation is superior and performance is better. FSR4 is also quite good at 1080p and is an enormous improvement over FSR 3.1 at this resolution. FSR 3.1 was basically unusable at 1080p in my
• 15:30 - 16:00 opinion, even with the quality mode, which was a real issue for AMD considering Radeon's popularity in the cheaper parts of the GPU market where gamers are more likely to play at 1080p. FSR4 is quite viable for 1080p gaming. Like DLSS4, it reduces the blurriness of 1080p gaming in motion. And across most of the areas we assessed, FSR4 either matched or beat DLSS3 in image quality at the same mode. This is an incredible step forward considering how far behind
• 16:00 - 16:30 AMD's upscaler was at handling lower render resolutions. This is simply far less of a concern with FSR4. We don't see anywhere near the drop off in quality going from 4K to 1080p upscaling that we were seeing with FSR previously, which is great. With all of that said, FSR4 is still behind DLSS4 in overall image quality. And a lot of that is due to DLSS4's superior stability. This is the main area AMD need to work on because the difference is noticeable at this resolution. Now FSR4 is the better
• 16:30 - 17:00 technology at handling discclusion and overall FSR4 is usable and competitive. But if I had to choose one upscaler to use for 1080p gaming, I would choose DLSS4. As for the minimum viable modes at 1080p, the quality mode for both DLSS4 and FSR4 is easy to recommend. Below that, it does get harder to make a solid recommendation, but for different reasons. With DSS4, discclusion artifacts and blur trails become very noticeable at lower modes, especially the performance mode, which I just
• 17:00 - 17:30 cannot recommend. With FSR4, stability gets a bit worse, and it isn't amazing to begin with. So, I'd largely stick to the quality mode at 1080p. You might also find that lower modes don't boost performance all that much because the render resolution is so low. So, quality typically strikes the best balance. As you might have noticed, there's no performance data in this review, and that's because with the RX970 XT, you quickly run into a CPU bottleneck using upscaling at 1080p in these games. This
• 17:30 - 18:00 configuration is mostly designed for lower-end cards, but I wanted to get this examination out before the RX960 series is released, so you have all the information you need before making a purchase. The usual caveats apply here about game support. DealSS is supported in significantly more games than FSR4. So if you are thinking about factoring in upscaling to your next GPU purchase, keep that in mind. While FSR4 is decently competitive as an upscaling technology in games that support both FSR4 and DLSS4, there are more games
• 18:00 - 18:30 right now with DLSS4 support than FSR4 support. And if neither technology is available, GeForce owners can typically fall back to using DLSS3 or DLSS2, whereas Radeon owners are stuck using the horrible FSR 3.1 or FSR 2.2. AMD still has a long way to go before FSR4 game support is in a healthy and competitive position, but the technology at least is now in a very solid place. So anyway, that's it for this look at FSR4, DLSS 4, DLSS 3, FSR 3.1 at a 1080p
• 18:30 - 19:00 resolution. I know some people are probably going to be asking, you know, why are you looking at 1080p gaming? That's not really a thing anymore. It's still obviously a very popular resolution for some people. I just thought you might want to know how these upscalers work at a 1080p resolution, especially because of how difficult it is to upscale at 1080p. And as we've seen from things like FSR 2.2, it is possible to make an upscaler that just doesn't work at the resolution. So yeah, obviously great signs from DLSS4 and FSR4 at this resolution. If you want to
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• 19:30 - 20:00 [Music]