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DLSS, FSR & XeSS: upscaling explained

The biggest free FPS gain on any modern PC — and the first thing FrameCoach recommends in almost every game.

Upscalers render the game at a lower internal resolution, then reconstruct a full-resolution image using temporal data (previous frames) and, in DLSS and XeSS's case, machine learning. Done well, the result looks close to native while the GPU does 40–65% less pixel work. That's why the first item in nearly every FrameCoach settings list is the upscaler — no other single option buys as many frames for as little visual cost.

The three families

Use DLSS if your card supports it, FSR otherwise — that's the rule FrameCoach applies automatically based on your GPU.

What the modes mean

Quality renders at ~67% of your resolution per axis, Balanced at ~58%, Performance at 50%. At 1440p and 4K, Quality mode is close to indistinguishable from native in normal play and typically adds 25–40% FPS. Performance mode is best reserved for 4K, where the input resolution is still high enough to reconstruct from.

When upscaling is the wrong tool

At 1080p, aggressive modes reconstruct from very few pixels — Quality is usually fine, but Balanced/Performance get visibly soft and shimmery. In CPU-bound games (see the bottleneck guide) upscaling gains little, because rendering fewer pixels doesn't speed up the CPU — CS2 and Valorant players chasing 300+ FPS usually benefit more from CPU-side tuning. And in fast competitive shooters some players simply prefer native clarity; that's a legitimate trade the optimizer lets you override with live FPS feedback.