But be considerate of the visual impact here there's a careful balance to be struck between performance and quality. If you're enabling some sort of upscaling, you're not doing it to make your game look slightly worse than native. There are also some details that are almost entirely missing from the FSR upscaled image, such as the crack in the concrete running between the 'N' and 'T' in 'Amendment'.ĭo these small details matter much to your enjoyment of the game? Heck no, but actually they're indicative of a wider hit on image quality that just might. Complicated, repeating patterns such as the caging also entirely lose their detail in the FSR image-check out under the light to the left of the hanging lantern. Once again, thin details are patchy with FSR enabled, whereas XeSS manages to maintain these much better. XeSS 2.1 Performance -> upscaling from 1080p to 4Kīack to the streets outside V's apartment, running both upscalers in their respective Performance modes, we can see the weaknesses and strengths of each even more clearly.FSR 2.1 Performance -> upscaling from 1080p to 4K.That said, generally XeSS keeps the finer details in the picture and maintains a higher overall contrast, whereas FSR tends to wash out those darker details a smidge. Though actually there are some jaggies present in the XeSS picture, on the rear of the spinning chair, which aren't present in the FSR image. Compared to FSR in Balanced mode, XeSS is able to retain more of the softer details such as around bright lights and on the stool pictured above. It retains plenty of detail, deals well with motion, and offers a decent increase to my frame rate-around 25% extra versus native 4K. XeSS in Balanced mode is my go-to for Cyberpunk 2077. XeSS 2.1 Balanced -> upscaling from 2240 x 1260 to 4K.

FSR 2.1 Balanced -> upscaling from 2227 x 1253 to 4K.While not visible in the still images, while playing the game this means that those thin details don't appear to move around or flick in and out as much with XeSS as they do FSR. Smaller thin details, such as the creases in the lantern, are also significantly worse off in the FSR picture, and that's despite AMD's efforts with FSR 2 to try and keep these more intact. Similarly, areas around strong light sources are not as clearly defined with FSR enabled.

It's messy by comparison to the XeSS image. One key area of comparison I'd like to point you to is how FSR deals with the caging within the store. I'm comparing XeSS in Quality mode versus FSR in Quality mode both are rendering the scene at 1440p and upscaling to 4K. You can see why XeSS scores my recommendation in the images above, taken in the streets right outside V's apartment in Night City.

XeSS 2.1 Quality: upscaling from 1440p to 4K.

FSR 2.1 Quality: upscaling from 1440p to 4K.

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