Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 DLSS vs FSR: Which Upscaler Gives Better Performance?

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is one of the most demanding open-world RPGs released in recent years, with its dense Bohemian forests and sprawling medieval towns pushing even high-end GPUs to their limits. South African gamers running mid-range cards at 1440p or 4K will almost certainly need upscaling to hit playable frame rates. The two big options - NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR - both promise performance gains, but they work very differently and deliver different results in KCD2.

Quick Answer

DLSS 3.5 (with Frame Generation on RTX cards) delivers significantly higher FPS and cleaner image quality in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 compared to FSR 3.1. However, FSR works on any GPU, making it the only upscaling option for AMD and older NVIDIA card owners. If you have an RTX 30-series or newer, DLSS is the clear winner.

🖼️ Image Quality: DLSS 3.5 vs FSR 3.1

DLSS 3.5 uses NVIDIA's AI-powered temporal accumulation and ray reconstruction, producing noticeably sharper foliage, stonework textures, and fine detail on character models in KCD2. Ghosting on fast camera pans is minimal at Quality and Balanced presets. FSR 3.1, by contrast, uses a spatial upscaling algorithm that is GPU-agnostic - it works without dedicated AI hardware, which means its results, while improved from FSR 2, still show more aliasing on fine geometry like chain mail and fence posts in KCD2's highly detailed environments.

At 1440p using the Quality preset, DLSS edges ahead clearly on sharpness. At 4K, the gap narrows slightly because the higher native input resolution gives FSR more pixels to work with.

⚡ FPS Gains: Benchmarks and What to Expect

On an RTX 4070 Super at 1440p in KCD2, DLSS Quality mode typically delivers around 85–95 FPS in open environments, while FSR 3.1 Quality sits around 75–82 FPS. The difference becomes more dramatic when NVIDIA Frame Generation is enabled - frame rates can jump to 120+ FPS, though Frame Generation does add a small amount of input latency that is noticeable in fast combat.

FSR 3.1 with Fluid Motion Frames on compatible AMD hardware (RX 7000 series) can close the gap somewhat, but DLSS still leads on raw perceptual quality. For cards like an RX 6700 XT or RTX 3060, FSR 3.1 at Balanced or Performance is your best route to smooth gameplay. Check the Evetech GPU range for current RTX and RX pricing.

🎮 Which Should You Use Based on Your GPU?

RTX 40-series and RTX 30-series: Use DLSS 3.5 at Quality or Balanced. Enable Frame Generation if you have an RTX 40-series card and your frame rate is already above 60 FPS without it. Set Sharpness to around 0.3 in the DLSS settings to avoid the slightly over-sharpened look at higher settings.

RX 7000-series AMD: Use FSR 3.1 with Fluid Motion Frames enabled. Quality preset at 1440p is a good starting point. Enable FSR 3.1's Anti-Ghosting slider slightly if you notice halos on moving foliage.

Older mid-range cards (RX 6000 series, RTX 20/30 entry-level): Use FSR 3.1 at Balanced or Performance preset. At Performance, you're rendering at roughly half resolution, so set your native resolution high (1440p) so the upscaled output still looks acceptable at 1080p equivalent.

🔧 In-Game Settings to Pair With Upscaling

Regardless of which upscaler you use, certain KCD2 settings have outsized impact on GPU load. Shadows and Global Illumination are the most expensive - drop Shadows from Ultra to High and you'll recover 10–15% GPU headroom without much visible difference. Volumetric Fog and Screen Space Reflections are also heavy hitters worth scaling back to Medium on mid-range cards.

Ambient Occlusion at High is worth keeping - it contributes significantly to depth and realism in KCD2's interiors. View Distance is CPU-bound more than GPU-bound in this engine, so you can often leave it on High without a major frame rate hit. For a system that handles KCD2 at high settings comfortably, browse the Evetech gaming PC deals or explore the Evetech monitor range for a display that matches your GPU's output.

❓ FAQ

Q: Does DLSS require an internet connection in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2? A: No. DLSS runs entirely on your local GPU hardware using the Tensor cores on RTX cards. No online connection is needed.

Q: Can I use FSR on an NVIDIA GPU? A: Yes. FSR is GPU-agnostic and works on NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel graphics cards. It just won't be as sharp as DLSS on the same NVIDIA hardware.

Q: Does Frame Generation cause input lag in KCD2? A: Frame Generation adds roughly 10–20ms of additional latency. In KCD2's combat system this is noticeable at very high sensitivity settings. NVIDIA Reflex helps offset this - enable it alongside Frame Generation.

Q: Is 4K gaming in KCD2 realistic on a mid-range GPU? A: At 4K native, KCD2 is demanding even on high-end hardware. With DLSS Quality (rendering at ~1440p internally) or FSR 3.1 Quality, a mid-to-high-range GPU can achieve 60+ FPS at 4K.

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