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Is there a DLSS ultra performance comparison between 3.8 vs dlss 4 vs dlss 4.5

totalfps · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:24 · permalink

Basically title.

Wondering if the fps loss are worth it and a quality comparison.

Has anyone found a video or ran the test themselves?

DragonBorn_Kay · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:27 · permalink

4.5 tanks a bit more of performance but looks so much better

HeartbreakHell · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:28 · permalink

At 4K Ultra Performance, 3.8 is terrible, 4.0 is okay (depending on the game), and 4.5 is actually quite good. Personally, I would still try to use Performance mode with Preset K (4.0) instead of Preset M or L (4.5) with Ultra Performance.

Adr3aN_33 · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:31 · permalink

Same

lennartcanada · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:31 · permalink

When Ultra Performance was first introduced its intended usecase was output in 8k.

With DLSS 4.5 it looks okay at 4k. There's really a lot of quality difference.

HeartbreakHell · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:35 · permalink

But Ultra Performance works well at resolutions higher than 4K. I use DLSS Ultra Performance with Preset L in Anno 117 at 5120×2880, which means it's upscaling from 960p to 5K.

Jumpmommy · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:36 · permalink

Problem with sticking to preset K is that ghosting persists. My workaround to claw back the performance hit with using preset L is to use a custom scale percentage of ~44% so I gain the benefits of L at the same time like better reconstruction of pixels, reduced ghosting, and better motion clarity.

Preset L at 44% looks sharper than K at 50% (Performance).

HeartbreakHell · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:40 · permalink

It depends on the game. I really like Preset K, and I usually don't run into ghosting issues. I also don't like how oversharpened Presets M and L look. In some games, they're completely unusable.

That said, I enjoy tinkering and finding the best preset and resolution for each game. OptiScaler is perfect for that. It lets you change presets and resolutions on the fly, making it very easy to compare them.

sanya9272 · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:44 · permalink

Tried in Plague Tale resonance.
UItra pefrormance at 2160p >>> DLSS Quality 1440p.
Much cleaner , sharper and detailed

Lounas · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:50 · permalink

Hardwareunboxed has a video comparing 4 and 4.5

domysak · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:54 · permalink

Does this work very well with DSR/DLDSR?

irpirtirhGOOLD · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:55 · permalink

not bad, but still not good enough for me.

HeartbreakHell · 7 Sep 2026 at 10:56 · permalink

No idea. I've never used that.