Image Scaling & Super Resolution: Easy Performance Gains for Your Favorite Sim

Image Scaling & Super Resolution Easy Performance Gains for Your Favorite Sim.png
As nice as beautiful graphics are, visuals in sim racing are secondary - performance is everything. However, this is sometimes difficult to get right - especially Assetto Corsa Competizione is known for its hardware hunger. With DLSS and FSR, Nvidia and AMD Radeon have already introduced solutions for such cases - but both systems only work with compatible games. However, software-independent solution also exists.

The principle of DLSS and FSR is simple: The respective game is output in a lower resolution, which the graphics card then upscales via AI to achieve higher performance in the form of more frames per second - a feature that Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC) has already received last year.

However, not all titles are compatible with DLSS and FSR. Nevertheless, the upscaling principle can also be applied to them: Both Nvidia and AMD have developed a system that works at the driver level instead of the game engine level, and as a result, it works with significantly more titles.

In Nvidia's case, the feature goes by the name Image Scaling and is compatible with graphics cards from the GTX series onwards. AMD's version is called Radeon Super Resolution and runs on GPUs from the RX5000 series and newer. The features can simply be enabled in the respective graphics card driver, the in-game resolution must then be set lower than the native monitor resolution.

A lot of technical terms - but the results are impressive. Both manufacturers show clear performance increases, Yannik Haustein tested Radeon Super Resolution with ACC and Automobilista 2. The result: ACC immediately gained between 20 and 30 frames per second, AMS2 ran almost constantly at 110 FPS or more and did not show any optical disadvantages. ACC, on the other hand, looked a bit blurry in parts - just like with FSR enabled, by the way - but ran more smoothly.

Conclusion: Especially for sim racers with somewhat older hardware, who cannot or do not want to upgrade to a still wickedly expensive graphics card, it is worth trying out the systems to get more out of the hardware and enjoy a fluent performance.

Have Image Scaling or Super Resolution helped your experience? Let us know on Twitter at @RaceDepartment or in the comments below!
About author
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

Comments

Hi everyone! Just a quick question... any chance to have an FPS boost with AMD RX580?

Thanks everyone.
 
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Hi everyone! Just a quick question... any chance to have an FPS boost with AMD RX580?

Thanks everyone.
Unfortunately none of these new gimicks will work with the older RX models. (I had the RX 480) You have to accept the software has outgrown your hardware and limit your graphic settings. There are smorgasboard of text files you can edit that will help. In the player.json file look for lines that control how many cars are visible, how many headlights can shine, whether you enable rain at all, etc etc. Facinating reading, well some of it is...
 
‎Sfortunatamente nessuno di questi nuovi giga funzionerà con i vecchi modelli RX. (Ho avuto la RX 480) Devi accettare che il software ha superato il tuo hardware e limitare le tue impostazioni grafiche. Ci sono smorgasboard di file di testo che puoi modificare che ti aiuteranno. Nel file player.json cerca le linee che controllano quante auto sono visibili, quanti fari possono brillare, se abiliti la pioggia, ecc. Ecc. Facinating lettura, beh, parte di esso è...‎
Many thanks for the tips of player.json file
 
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Upscaling is really helpful with VR, in AC it's a massive improvement using FSR via CSP. I am now able to get a stable 90fps on my HP Reverb G2 with full details and everything that CSP has to offer enabled.

This means I can in parallel record a video in 4k and stay all the time above 60fps getting a smooth video in VR with all that AC has to offer.

Impossible without upscaling !
How do you achieve this?, I have a GTX1070 and run a Rift S and struggle to get GPU frametimees low enough and keep good quality. I can hit 40fps and less only!, any advice welcomed.
 
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What's needed for simracing in 2024?

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