FSR vs. XeSS vs. DLSS: Best Upscaling Technology for Gaming in 2025

Comprehensive comparison of FSR, XeSS, and DLSS performance and visual quality across multiple modern games and GPUs

Hardware by Tanvir Kabbo on Aug 11, 2025

Upscalers have become highly competitive in recent years, leading to a lot of confusion among gamers about which one to choose. Many wonder which upscaler delivers the best visual quality, which offers the best performance, and ultimately, which provides the best overall experience.

Unfortunately, much of the information available is anecdotal, making it difficult to get clear, reliable answers. By testing multiple upscalers across a variety of popular games and different GPU brands, it becomes easier to understand their strengths and weaknesses.

FSR, XeSS, DLSS, Upscaling Technology, Gaming in 2025, NoobFeed

We compared these technologies to help clarify which upscalers perform best in real-world scenarios and how they differ visually and technically.

Test Setup and Methodology

We tested seven games supporting a variety of upscalers—AMD’s FSR 2, Nvidia’s DLSS, and Intel’s XeSS—using the performance setting on all of them. This setting forces upscaling from the lowest base resolution, pushing each to its limits and revealing which performs better under stress.

After evaluating visuals, we compared FPS performance across Intel, Nvidia, and AMD GPUs.

Visual Comparison in Cyberpunk 2077

In Cyberpunk 2077, supporting XeSS, FSR, and DLSS, all upscalers perform well, but subtle differences appear. For example, the grate on top of a fridge looks wavy and odd on FSR but not on DLSS or XeSS, which use deep learning for more intelligent upscaling.

All upscalers, however, show some shimmering in puddle reflections, with XeSS showing the worst performance there. Fine details, such as fences, are difficult to reproduce at low resolutions like 720p, so any good detail recreation is impressive.

Visual Quality in Witcher 3 and Other Titles

In Witcher 3, DLSS stands out as much sharper while FSR and XeSS look blurrier. FSR exhibits more shimmering on wooden planks, and XeSS reduces some but lacks sharpness compared to DLSS.

In Forespoken, DLSS again looks more stable and sometimes better than native, whereas FSR and XeSS look unstable and weird. In The Last of Us, only FSR and DLSS are available. While differences when walking around are subtle, DLSS better recreates fine fence details.

FSR, XeSS, DLSS, Upscaling Technology, Gaming in 2025, NoobFeed

FSR vs XeSS When DLSS Is Not Available

If DLSS is not an option due to a lack of Nvidia GPU support, the choice comes down to FSR versus XeSS. In Cyberpunk, XeSS looks more stable and closer to native, especially on textures and palm tree leaves, while FSR looks softer and shimmier.

XeSS also better recreates fine details like barbed wire. While FSR is impressive as an open-source option working across nearly every GPU, XeSS tends to offer better visual stability.

In Witcher 3, XeSS fixes shimmering on wooden planks better than FSR, but neither is as sharp as native. In Forespoken, XeSS leans toward sharpness in foliage while FSR is softer. Buildings in the distance appear more stable on XeSS.

Overall, FSR struggles more with shimmering than XeSS and generally looks softer.

Performance Comparison on Nvidia GPUs

Performance on Nvidia RTX 3080 at quality settings shows DLSS and FSR with nearly identical uplifts (~27–28%), while XeSS lags at 17% (tested on three games).

The lower XeSS uplift results from the lack of hardware acceleration on non-Intel GPUs, forcing a slower fallback method. At performance settings, FSR and DLSS boost FPS by ~50%, while XeSS offers ~35%.

Performance on AMD GPUs

On AMD’s RX 6700, FSR outperforms XeSS substantially. At quality settings, FSR yields a 47% uplift, nearly double XeSS’s 25%. At performance settings, FSR’s uplift is 80%, XeSS's 52%. In Witcher 3, XeSS gets closer to FSR, sometimes worth using for better visuals.

The large uplift gap in Cyberpunk might relate to the 6700’s limited memory bandwidth, benefiting from less VRAM use during upscaling.

FSR, XeSS, DLSS, Upscaling Technology, Gaming in 2025, NoobFeed

Performance on Intel GPUs

On Intel Arc A770, where XeSS uses hardware acceleration, uplifts at quality settings are close: FSR 27%, XeSS 25%. At performance settings, both reach ~50%.

Excluding older poor XeSS implementations, XeSS and FSR perform neck and neck on Intel hardware. If available and well implemented, XeSS is preferable on Intel GPUs.

Unreal Engine 5 Temporal Super Resolution (TSR)

Unreal Engine 5’s built-in Temporal Super Resolution (TSR), seen in Fortnite alongside DLSS, performs well, offering about 69% uplift on RTX 3080, slightly above DLSS’s 67%.

TSR breaks down more in motion with blurry fine details, but it is an effective built-in upscaler.

Final Thoughts

If your Nvidia GPU supports DLSS, it’s the best option, combining superior visuals and performance comparable to FSR. AMD users generally benefit more from FSR’s higher performance uplift, though XeSS may offer better visuals in some games.

Intel users should prefer XeSS when available, thanks to hardware acceleration and better visual fidelity. Ultimately, the best upscaler depends on your GPU, game implementation, and preference for performance or image quality. Using your GPU vendor’s native upscaler tends to yield the best experience.

Nvidia locks DLSS to their GPUs, while Intel and AMD offer more open but sometimes less efficient solutions.

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