Benchmarks

The NVIDIA DLSS feature test helps you compare performance and image quality with and without DLSS processing.

The feature test runs the Port Royal benchmark twice. The first run renders Port Royal to the output resolution with DLSS disabled to measure baseline performance.

The second run renders Port Royal at a lower resolution then uses DLSS processing to create frames at the output resolution.

The result screen reports the frame rate for each run. Compare frame rates to see how DLSS affects performance.

DLSS version

You can choose to run the NVIDIA DLSS feature test using DLSS 3, DLSS 2 or DLSS 1.

DLSS output resolution settings

You can choose an output resolution for the test. By default, the test uses the 2560 × 1440 output resolution. You can select from the following resolutions:

• 1920 × 1080 (1080p)
• 2560 × 1440 (1440p)
• 3840 × 2160 (4K)
• 7680 × 4320 (8K), available only for DLSS 2 and DLSS 3.

The lower the resolution the lower the image quality, but higher performance due to a lighter load on the GPU. You can choose 1920 × 1080 for the highest performance and 7680 × 4320 for the highest image quality.

Part 1 — DLSS off

The first part of the test renders the Port Royal benchmark at the output resolution with DLSS disabled. This gives you a baseline reference for Port Royal performance and image quality using TAA.

Part 2 — DLSS on

The second part of the test renders Port Royal at a lower resolution then uses DLSS processing to create frames at the output resolution. The table below shows the rendering and output resolution pairs used in the test when DLSS 1 is used.

DLSS mode

With DLSS 2 and DLSS 3, you can also choose between three image quality modes—Quality, Performance and Ultra Performance.

• The Quality mode offers higher image quality than the Performance mode.
• The Performance mode offers higher performance than the Quality mode.
• The Ultra Performance mode offers the highest performance increase. It is available for 8K resolution only.

The choice of modes depends on the resolution. Choose the DLSS output resolution first, then select a mode. Please note that 8K resolution may be too demanding for some hardware.

The table below shows the DLSS modes you can choose from for each DLSS output resolution.

Display resolution

For both parts of the test, the output resolution is scaled (if required) to the Scaled resolution setting on the 3DMark Options screen. By default, this is set to Automatic, which scales the output resolution to the display resolution of your Windows desktop. You can override this setting on the Options screen to test other scenarios based on the resolution and scaling capabilities of your monitor. 

Scaling from output resolution to your display resolution has a negligible effect on performance.