Poll: How do you game? Upscaling or native? (updated poll choices - 24/12, revote!)

[Nexus18]

As per poll:

- native
- fsr
- dlss
- xess

This is only for upscaling, not frame gen.

And in your post, post your config so for me:

gpu - 3080
res - 3440x1440 and 4k
reason you use your chosen upscaling tech or native - dlss provides better IQ and temporal stability than native in most cases whilst providing a substantial performance boost, it also exhibits less ghosting than native TAA implementations. Also, in combination with DLDSR, it can provide much better IQ than even my 4k display for clarity yet still perform similarly or better than just using dlss or native

As per usual, keep the fanboy crap out and in another thread.

EDIT:

This is purely for how and what you use in your day to day gaming (as in most of the time), not "preference". If you prefer native but use dlss, fsr, xess, you vote for whatever one it is that you use and don't vote for native. In your post, you can explain your preference to use native or upscaling for whatever reason.

 

[Aegis]

For the stuff I play (which is all pretty GPU demanding):

1) Native with *good* AA (MSAA) but that's almost never an option.
2) Native with DLAA.
3) Upscaling with DLSS Quality.
4) Same as above but with Balanced/Performance as necessary.

Oh, @ 4k.

 

[BigBANGtheory]

Native is my 1st choice (and daily driver) with MSAA - less latency and a crisper/clearer image I find especially when the scene is in motion
DLSS only if it demands more performance (raytracing and hitting higher frame rates for VR)
FSR if there is no other option

gpu - 4090
res - 4k pancake & 5760 x 2880 (VR)

 

[Nexus18]

Just a reminder, this is purely for how and what you use in your day to day gaming (as in most of the time), not "preference". If you prefer native but use dlss, fsr, xess, you vote for whatever one it is that you "use" and don't vote for native, if you mostly game at native, then you vote for native, if you mostly game with fsr over dlss, then you vote for fsr and so on. In your post, you can explain your preference to use native or upscaling for whatever reason.

 

[Aegis]

Just a reminder, this is purely for how and what you use in your day to day gaming (as in most of the time), not "preference". If you prefer native but use dlss, fsr, xess, you vote for whatever one it is that you "use" and don't vote for native, if you mostly game at native, then you vote for native. In your post, you can explain your preference to use native or upscaling for whatever reason.

Problem is that's always going to vary by game. If a game has DLAA I'll use it in preference to DLSS Quality - but most/many don't.

 

[Kirby Wurm]

Native with whatever AA is available (unless it's a garbage implementation), FSR2 if necessary for extra frames. Spec in sig.

I'm having to game a lot on my 4K TV ATM (S95B OLED, oh wow is me!) and in Darktide discovered that, fortunately, with the distance I'm sitting from the TV and my shoddy eyes, I can even use FSR2 performance and rarely notice the blurriness/artifacts. The extra frames are far more important than crispness for that type of game when you're being swarmed by a horde etc. This was a pleasant discovery!

I wouldn't dream of using it on my 1440p screen, only Quality mode, and in SP games like Cyberpunk I would rather dial down settings and run native or with high quality upscaling (XESS on quality looks really good to me).

 

[PaulM]

I always try to use native but only have a 3060 Ti at the moment so for 1440p do have to sometimes use DLSS

 

[Nexus18]

Problem is that's always going to vary by game. If a game has DLAA I'll use it in preference to DLSS Quality - but most/many don't.

Of course and this poll isn't going to be exactly fit or rather accurate for all scenarios e.g. someone could just be playing 7 days to die all the time thus native will be their only use case and like wise, someone could be playing cp 2077 with path tracing all the time so the only use case for them is dlss. Not sure how else to do the poll, perhaps some other options? Having a "preference" based poll is pointless as everyone would love to do 8k res gaming at 100+ fps but alas that isn't possible and I think we can all agree that upscaling is probably here to stay now.

This is just to get a gist for what people use for their day to day gaming so if for example, you use native 60% of the time for your gaming needs, that should be your vote, if it is dlss for 60% of the time, then dlss is your vote.

 

[Aegis]

Of course and this poll isn't going to be exactly fit or rather accurate for all scenarios e.g. someone could just be playing 7 days to die all the time thus native will be their only use case and like wise, someone could be playing cp 2077 with path tracing all the time so the only use case for them is dlss. Not sure how else to do the poll, perhaps some other options? Having a "preference" based poll is pointless as everyone would love to do 8k res gaming at 100+ fps but alas that isn't possible and I think we can all agree that upscaling is probably here to stay now.

This is just to get a gist for what people use for their day to day gaming so if for example, you use native 60% of the time for your gaming needs, that should be your vote, if it is dlss for 60% of the time, then dlss is your vote.

But what do the responses actually tell you?

If I just state (factually) that I mostly use DLSS Quality that's neither my preference nor an endorsement of DLSS/upscaling - it's the least worst option because it's the only decent AA solution available to me in most games.

 

[jinxpad]

Native all the way, especially at 1440p. I think I'd only consider using FSR/DLSS if I were at 4k.

 

[Tediore]

I usually use native. I don't have access to DLSS and FSR implementation can be hit and miss. I don't play anything competitive or fast paced so 60 FPS is fine for me at high settings. I will use FSR or XeSS on those occasions where I can't hit 60.

6900 XT at 4K.

 

[TheRealDeal]

Gpu-7900xt
Res-1440p 240hz

Native as i already get high fps in my games which are mainly online competitive on PC. I dare say if i done a lot of SP and felt i needed more fps i would use FSR if it was good enough in said game. So i guess you could call me mixed as i am using whatever it takes to make my game run smooth but still has to look good. No point in having a PC if you won't use whatever tech gives you the best experience to your eyes. Still no sure on the fake frames though hahaha

 

[BUDFORCE]

Native 1440p

Have a 7900xt.

But I've been native 1440p for years, 3070 and 1070 before that.

 

[Nexus18]

But what do the responses actually tell you?

If I just state (factually) that I mostly use DLSS Quality that's neither my preference nor an endorsement of DLSS/upscaling - it's the least worst option because it's the only decent AA solution available to me in most games.

Basically the point of the thread is to see if people are using native over upscaling tech since a few state that they would always use native over upscaling so I'm curious to see if this translates to the larger community and in actual day to day gaming/usage. Not much else to it really. This is why I said try to stick to this format:

gpu - 3080
res - 3440x1440 and 4k
reason you use your chosen upscaling tech or native - dlss provides better IQ and temporal stability than native in most cases whilst providing a substantial performance boost, it also exhibits less ghosting than native TAA implementations. Also, in combination with DLDSR, it can provide much better IQ than even my 4k display for clarity yet still perform similarly or better than just using dlss or native

Having a poll based on "preference" is pointless and is heavily skewed by certain communities.

I must admit though, I am curious to see what the 4090/7900xtx users mostly use for their gaming needs especially those gaming at 4k since a common thing I see "stated" is they buy these gpus to avoid using upscaling tech.

 

[Aegis]

Basically the point of the thread is to see if people are using native over upscaling tech since a few state that they would always use native over upscaling so I'm curious to see if this translates to the larger community and in actual day to day gaming/usage. Not much else to it really. This is why I said try to stick to this format:

Having a poll based on "preference" is pointless and is heavily skewed by certain communities.

I must admit though, I am curious to see what the 4090/7900xtx users mostly use for their gaming needs especially those gaming at 4k since a common thing I see "stated" is they buy these gpus to avoid using upscaling tech.

I get the intent - just stating that if 50 people tell you that (like me) they mostly use DLSS Quality @ 4k - what does that even mean?

Do people really *love* DLSS? Or are they just using it because that's the best compromise the game they're playing offers?

My decision to use DLSS (or not) is based on:

What AA solution a game offers (if any)
What kind of performance a game demands @ 4k
Whether DLSS is even supported (not a given)

And that varies with every single game I play.

Looking at my Steam list of games I have installed:

Forza Horizon 5: 4k native with MSAA
The Finals: 4k native with DLAA
Starfield: DLSS Quality @ 4k
Cyberpunk: DLSS Balanced @ 4k
Resident Evil 4: native 4k but it's horrible because RE4's TAA is terrible and there's no DLSS without modding it.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Native for the vast majority of games.

 

[Nexus18]

I get the intent - just stating that if 50 people tell you that (like me) they mostly use DLSS Quality @ 4k - what does that even mean?

Do people really *love* DLSS? Or are they just using it because that's the best compromise the game they're playing offers?

My decision to use DLSS (or not) is based on:

What AA solution a game offers (if any)
What kind of performance a game demands @ 4k
Whether DLSS is even supported (not a given)

And that varies with every single game I play.

Looking at my Steam list of games I have installed:

Forza Horizon 5: 4k native with MSAA
The Finals: 4k native with DLAA
Starfield: DLSS Quality @ 4k
Cyberpunk: DLSS Balanced @ 4k
Resident Evil 4: native 4k but it's horrible because RE4's TAAU is terrible and there's no DLSS without modding it.

Hence the:

reason you use your chosen upscaling tech or native

For further explanation on what your preference/reasoning is for using upscaling and native.



It's also to see if the supposed "no one uses upscaling and only games at native" claims are true too, when browsing the forum here and others, you would think that no one uses upscaling and all game at native.

Personally, it's an easy decision for me as based on my own testing as well as evidenced by other sites, dlss usually always offers the better experience "overall" with the games I play and at the res I game at so even if I don't need the extra performance, I'll still use DLSS or better yet, DLSS and DLDSR which provides noticeably better IQ than native, DLAA, DLSS UQ/Q alone.





Regarding the poll, can we not enable the option to see who is voting for what @Stanners ?

 

[Aegis]

Personally, it's an easy decision for me as based on my own testing as well as evidenced by other sites, dlss usually always offers the better experience "overall" with the games I play and at the res I game at so even if I don't need the extra performance, I'll still use DLSS or better yet, DLSS and DLDSR which provides noticeably better IQ than native, DLAA, DLSS UQ/Q alone.

Supersampling (which is what DLDSR is doing) is always going to look better, but since I typically run my 4090 at 60% power, it's just a waste of resources for me.

'Better' is also highly subjective - MSAA in Forza Horizon 5 doesn't completely eliminate jaggies in the image but it is noticeably more 'native' looking than DLSS in FH5 (which is visibly softer).

Overall though, I think the quality of DLSS is excellent and I do miss it when it's not available.

 

[montymint]

6900XT rendering native 3440x1440p

I don't have the fastest refresh rate monitor and the games I tend to play don't need 120+fps to be enjoyable.

Edit: haven't yet found a game with RT that I've enjoyed enough to warrant turn it / upscaling on. But tbh when that time comes, I'll probably upgrade the GPU.

 

[Joxeon]

Native preferably, with DLSS as a fall back option if I can’t get the frames I’d like from native.