Gamers prefer NVIDIA DLSS 4.5
- ComputerBase’s updated blind test found gamers still preferred NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 over AMD FSR 4.1, with DLSS winning six of seven game comparisons. - The one exception was Resident Evil Requiem, where FSR 4.1 beat DLSS 4.5 — a sign AMD’s latest model is closing the gap. - That matters because upscaler quality now helps sell GPUs, not just frame rates, and Nvidia still owns the image-quality edge.
Upscaling is now one of the main reasons people pick one graphics card over another. Not raw teraflops — the reconstruction tech that turns a lower-resolution frame into something that looks crisp enough to pass for native. That is why this new blind test matters. ComputerBase reran its comparison with AMD’s newer FSR 4.1, and gamers still picked NVIDIA’s DLSS 4.5 most often. But the gap is no longer the blowout it looked like a few months ago. (techpowerup.com) ### What was actually tested? ComputerBase compared three outputs — FSR 4.0, FSR 4.1, and DLSS 4.5 — across seven games: Anno 117: Pax Romana, ARC Raiders, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Resident Evil Requiem, and The Last of Us Part I. The clips(techpowerup.com)e bring a lot of brand baggage to this stuff. (techpowerup.com) ### Why do blind tests matter here? Because upscaling arguments usually get weird fast. People zoom into still frames, defend the brand they bought, and talk past each other. A blind test cuts through most of that. You are just asking a simpler question — which image looks better when the label is hidden? That does not make it perfect, but it does make it a lot more useful than marketing slides. (techpowerup.com) ### So who won? DLSS 4.5 won six of the seven game matchups in the updated test. FSR 4.1 finished first only once, in Resident Evil Requiem. In the other six games, AMD’s newer model generally landed in second place ahead of FSR 4.0, which is the key part of the story. Nvidia is still ahead, but AMD is no longer stuck where it was. (techpowerup.com) ### Why does DLSS still look better? The short version is detail reconstruction. DLSS 4.5 uses Nvidia’s newer transformer-based model, and reviewers keep describing the result the same way — sharper fine detail, steadier image reconstruction, and fewer moments where motion turns foliage, textures(techpowerup.com)educed blur and improved motion handling, but DLSS 4.5 still looks sharper overall. (tweaktown.com) ### Is “sharper” always better? Not automatically. Some people think DLSS can look a little too sharp in places. But blind tests suggest that this sharper presentation is usually what players prefer when they are forced to choose quickly between outputs. It is a bit like phone c(tweaktown.com) seems to be what is happening here too. (techspot.com) ### What did AMD actually improve? FSR 4.1 seems to be better mostly in motion. The big complaint with older FSR versions was smearing — especially around foliage, branches, and other fine detail that moves across the frame. FSR 4.1 does a better job holding those details together. It did not fully catch DLSS 4.5, but it improved enough to beat it in one game and to avoid looking obviously behind in the rest. (techpowerup.com) ### Why should buyers care? Because this is no longer a side feature. Upscaling is part of the product. If one vendor consistently gives you the image people prefer in blind tests, that becomes a real selling point — especially at 4K or in heavy ray-traced games where upscaling is doing a lot of (techpowerup.com)” (techpowerup.com) ### Bottom line The updated result is simple. DLSS 4.5 is still the image-quality leader, and gamers can usually see it even when the labels are hidden. But AMD finally has a more interesting story than “still behind.” FSR 4.1 looks like a real step forward — just not the step that erases Nvidia’s lead yet. (techpowerup.com)
