GPU Comparison – HIGH Quality Preset – Upscaling
On the previous page, we tested at the “High” Quality Preset at Native resolution, without upscaling. Now we will simply turn on DLSS and FSR 2 on the “Quality” option for the Render Resolution in Alan Wake 2. Therefore we are testing the same settings as the previous page, but now we have simply turned on DLSS and FSR 2 upscaling to see what the performance is and what is playable when upscaling is used at each resolution. We can now see what is playable with DLSS or FSR 2 enabled. The graphs are sorted from fastest to slowest, NVIDIA is in green, AMD is in red, let’s go.
4K
Alright, turning on DLSS or FSR 2 does change what is playable at 4K and “High” Quality Preset in Alan Wake 2. Before, only the GeForce RTX 4090 was playable, but now with DLSS or FSR 2 enabled the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GeForce RTX 4080 Radeon RX 7900 XT and Radeon RX 7900 XTX are very playable. The Radeon RX 7800 XT is borderline playable. All of those GPUs can maintain above 60 FPS here and the game is smooth and enjoyable, as long as upscaling is used.
Naturally, the GeForce RTX 4090 produces the highest framerates at 120 FPS and is perfect for high refresh rate monitors in this game. At 120 FPS it is 37% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and 45% faster than the GeForce RTX 4080. Speaking of which, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX edges out the GeForce RTX 4080 by 5% on performance. The Radeon RX 7900 XT does very well and exceeds the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti by 10% in this game. The Radeon RX 7800 XT is 8% faster than the GeForce RTX 4070 and the Radeon RX 7700 XT is 20% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. Even the Radeon RX 7600 edges out the GeForce RTX 4060 when upscaling is used.
1440p
Moving down to 1440p display resolution and turning on Quality DLSS or FSR 2 has made every video card playable, well except for the GeForce RTX 4060. The GeForce RTX 4060 still struggles to hit 60 FPS here, the Radeon RX 7600 pushes past the GeForce RTX 4060 by 7% and is playable. Once again, as the resolution decreases we find the AMD GPUs pick up steam, or the NVIDIA GPUs lose steam due to CPU bottlenecks.
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX and GeForce RTX 4090 are a lot closer in performance with upscaling enabled and both provide very high framerate gaming. The Radeon RX 7900 XT is very strong against the RTX 4070 Ti being 16% faster. The RX 7800 XT is 13% faster than the RTX 4070 and the Radeon RX 7700 XT is almost matching the RTX 4070 performance when upscaling is used.
1080p
Finally, at 1080p with Upscaling, every single card is playable including the GeForce RTX 4060 at 78 FPS. However, what is noticeable is just how fast the AMD GPUs have become at this lower resolution with upscaling enabled. Once again, we see either the NVIDIA GPUs falling behind at the lower resolution, or the AMD GPUs catching up, perhaps driver CPU inefficiency.
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT are faster than the GeForce RTX 4090 and GeForce RTX 4080. The Radeon RX 7900 XTX is 3% faster than the GeForce RTX 4090 at 1080p with upscaling, that’s not something you ever hear. This is obviously down to driver inefficiency or some other CPU bottleneck taking place. We can also see the GeForce RTX 4090 and GeForce RTX 4080 bunched up together, hitting a major CPU bottleneck here, and the same is sort of happening between the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT as well.