I find myself quite fond of using Nvidia DLSS upscaling on my PC whenever possible, but the recent release of Gears of War: E-Day has reshaped my perspective on how I utilize this feature. The game introduces a dynamic upscaling option that works harmoniously with a customizable frame rate target, effectively shifting the focus from minimum resolution to performance. This innovation significantly enhances the management of image quality and performance.
Dynamic Resolution Scaling on PC
While dynamic resolution scaling aimed at maintaining a target frame rate has become commonplace in many console titles, it remains less accessible on the PC platform. Even when such options appear in a game’s settings, developers often do not provide the flexibility to target a specific performance metric. Take Cyberpunk 2077, for instance; it arrives with an Auto preset but lacks the means for users to customize their baseline frame rate.
In the settings menu of Gears of War: E-Day, players can seamlessly switch between their preferred upscalers, whether it be Nvidia DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4.1, or Intel XeSS 2. Each of these options can operate from either a static or dynamic resolution. Personally, I tend to default to DLSS in Performance mode on my 4K setup, upscaling from a baseline pixel count of 1920×1080 to achieve an optimal balance between fidelity and performance.
Applying this philosophy to our test bench, equipped with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D and GeForce RTX 5090, we can run Gears of War: E-Day at maximum settings, achieving an average of 77fps while being 97.8% GPU bound. This offers a commendable gaming experience, yet there remains potential to exceed 1080p without dipping below a playable threshold.
Transitioning to dynamic DLSS, with a target of 60fps and a maximum of 240fps, our test system comfortably averages 64fps, now at 99.4% GPU bound. The average resolution scale sits at 61%, indicating an 11% increase in pixel count, though performance has decreased by 18.4%. Additionally, VRAM usage has seen a notable uptick of nearly 3GB.
Some may understandably question this uneven trade-off between performance and resolution. However, I personally prefer to channel the graphics card’s capabilities and Nvidia DLSS towards achieving sharpness rather than smoothness in a cinematic experience like the Gears of War: E-Day campaign. I crave ray tracing and other visual enhancements at the highest pixel count possible.
This approach also ensures that the game consistently runs at 60fps, alleviating concerns about experiencing unsightly dips below that threshold during more demanding scenes. This baseline allows users with less powerful graphics cards to enable frame generation confidently, without the worry of incurring noticeable latency penalties.
Ultimately, I appreciate the flexibility to prioritize my PC hardware and software according to my preferences. While Gears of War: E-Day may not be the first title to offer such configurability, I sincerely hope it paves the way for more games to follow suit in the near future.
