Because it requires RTX cards to test, and
the fact that it’s in some ways not a direct
rival to other AA techniques, we haven’t
directly compared DLSS with most of the
other techniques here. However, we have
testedhowitsupscalingto4Kcompareswith
running at true 4K and there’s a significant
performance benefit. Running Final Fantasy
XV Benchmark, a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti drops
to a minimum of 28fps and an average of
43fps at 4K with TAA, but at ‘4K’ with DLSS
that minimum goes up to 36fps, with a 58fps
average. The DLSS image is blurrier than the
full-res 4K image, but it still looks good.
Choosing your AA setting
In the end, the right AA setting for you will
depend on your preferences and the games
you’re playing. Some people find particular
artefacts more distracting than others, whilesomegameseitherdon’tsupportcertainAA
types, or the exact type of AA it uses is masked
behind a generic ‘AA Low’ to ‘AA High’ scale.
As such, the best advice is to give each setting
a go, and then have a play around your GPU
driver settings. With modern graphics card
drivers now able to recognise different games
and apply different settings for each one, it’s
easy to fine-tune each game individually.If you’re mainly into playing fast-paced
games such as first-person shooters, most
anti-aliasing modes aren’t your friend.
Post-processing AA methods blur the
image, making it difficult to pick out crucial
details, while temporal methods, such
as TAA and MFAA, can introduce a laggy
feeling. Meanwhile, SSAA and MSAA look
good, but they have a severe impact on
frame rates. That said, if you have the GPU
hardware to get the performance you need
with MSAA or even SSAA turned on, these
AA methods are still your best bet.
Otherwise, if you’re looking at slightly
slower-paced, more graphically indulgent
games, there are many more options that
make sense. Again, SSAA and MSAA look
great, while TAA in particular looks fantastic
when there isn’t rapid movement. SMAA
also provides a very easy win if it’s an option
included in the game.THE SYSTEM DYNAMICALLY REDUCES THE RESOLUTION
OF THE SCENE, AND THEN UPSCALES IT USING THE
LEARNED DLSS OPTIMISATIONS
Apex Legends with anti-aliasing enabled Apex Legends with anti-aliasing disabled