Avowed DLSS vs FSR: Which Upscaler Gives Better Performance?

Quick Answer

For Avowed in South Africa, DLSS 4 on NVIDIA hardware delivers better image quality and higher frame rates than FSR 3 on AMD cards at equivalent settings. DLSS Quality mode at 1440p is the recommended starting point for most mid-range rigs.

How DLSS and FSR Work in Avowed

Avowed, Obsidian Entertainment's open-world RPG, ships with support for both NVIDIA DLSS 4 and AMD FSR 3 through the game's graphics settings menu. Both upscalers work by rendering the game at a lower internal resolution and then reconstructing a higher-resolution output frame, reducing GPU load without a proportional drop in visual clarity. The key difference is in how each achieves that reconstruction.

DLSS 4 uses a Transformer-based neural network model trained on millions of frames. It has access to motion vectors, temporal data, and per-pixel depth information, producing a result that often rivals or exceeds native resolution at Quality and Balanced modes. FSR 3, AMD's open-source alternative, uses a spatial upscaler combined with frame generation. It works on any GPU, including NVIDIA cards, but the spatial algorithm shows more aliasing on fine foliage and distant geometry in Avowed's Aedyr environments.

DLSS 4 in Avowed: Performance Analysis

At 1440p with DLSS 4 Quality mode, an RTX 4070 will hit 80-90fps in Avowed's outdoor areas without ray tracing. Enabling DLSS Frame Generation pushes the displayed frame rate well above 100fps with minimal latency penalty when Reflex is active. The foliage in Avowed's forest biomes, which is one of the most demanding transparency passes in the game, holds up well under DLSS 4's multi-frame reconstruction.

For RTX 3060 and RTX 4060 owners in South Africa - both popular mid-range cards in the local market - DLSS 4 Balanced mode at 1440p sits comfortably in the 55-70fps range depending on scene density. This is a playable, visually pleasing result that FSR 3 struggles to match at the same quality preset due to ghosting on fast camera pans.

FSR 3 in Avowed: Where It Competes

FSR 3 is vendor-agnostic, which is its biggest advantage. If you are running an AMD RX 7600 or RX 6700 XT, FSR 3 Performance mode at 1080p can unlock solid frame rates in Avowed's more demanding outdoor dungeons. AMD's Fluid Motion Frames (frame generation) works on RX 7000-series cards and adds a meaningful fps boost in GPU-limited scenarios.

The visual comparison is closest at 1080p native vs. 1440p FSR 3 Quality. At 1440p FSR 3 Quality vs. 1440p DLSS 4 Quality, DLSS wins on sharpness, temporal stability, and fine detail preservation in Avowed's character models and distant architecture.

Loadshedding and UPS Considerations

South African players need to think about power stability when running Avowed at high settings. The RTX 4070 draws around 200W under sustained load. A mid-range UPS with a 600VA rating paired with an efficient PSU should sustain a gaming session through Stage 2 loadshedding. If you are on an RTX 4060 (115W TDP), a smaller UPS covers you comfortably. Running DLSS or FSR at a higher quality preset actually helps here - by reducing GPU load, upscaling lowers peak power draw, which is a genuine consideration for SA gaming setups dependent on battery backup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use DLSS on an AMD GPU in Avowed?

No. DLSS is exclusive to NVIDIA RTX GPUs. AMD cards can use FSR 3, and FSR 3 also runs on NVIDIA hardware as a fallback option.

Does Avowed support DLSS Frame Generation?

Yes. Avowed supports DLSS 4 Frame Generation on RTX 40-series cards. Frame Generation requires a GeForce RTX 40-series GPU and works best when baseline frame rates are already above 60fps.

Which upscaler should I use at 1080p in Avowed?

At 1080p, both upscalers are less critical because the native resolution is lower. DLSS 4 Quality at 1080p renders at 720p internally and still looks very clean. FSR 3 Quality at 1080p renders at around 720p as well and is a reasonable alternative on non-NVIDIA hardware.