With most recent DLSS mods for Radeon focused on getting the brand-new DLSS 5 Neural Rendering working on RDNA 4 graphics cards, this new mod from Countervolt does something we haven't seen before, or thought possible: bring NVIDIA's DLSS Super Resolution to the RDNA 3-powered Radeon RX 7700 XT as an OptiScaler mod.
DLSS Super Resolution is NVIDIA's AI-powered upscaling or anti-aliasing tool that has been a game changer for PC gaming since its DLSS 2.0 update in the GeForce RTX 20 Series era. Since then, it has continued to evolve, with the latest Transformer-powered DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution widely regarded as the gold standard for upscaling technologies and a key feature for any GeForce RTX GPU.
Now, Countervolt notes that this is an experiment and only works when running Windows games on Radeon GPUs in Linux with Valve's Proton compatibility layer. It also requires ZLUDA, which is a replacement for CUDA for non-NVIDIA GPUs. When the game asks for DLSS, the DLSS network runs on the Radeon GPU via ZLUDA, with the "heaviest DLSS kernels replaced by hand-written RDNA3 code."
And it actually supports all current versions of DLSS Super Resolution 'Presets.' These are Preset E (DLSS 3's CNN model), Preset K (DLSS 4's Transformer model), and Preset M (DLSS 4.5's advanced Transformer model). Running all models on the Radeon RX 7700 XT while playing Silent Hill Townfall in 1440p, we see the following based on a native 2560 x 1440 performance of 49.1 FPS.
| DLSS Mode Performance | DLSS 3 CNN (Preset E) | DLSS 4 (Preset K) | DLSS 4.5 (Preset M) | FSR 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality (1705x960) | 72.4 FPS | 69.4 FPS | 51.5 FPS | 76.0 FPS |
| Balanced (1488x837) | 80.5 FPS | 76.6 FPS | 59.6 FPS | 84.5 FPS |
| Performance (1280x720) | 87.8 FPS | 84.0 FPS | 69.9 FPS | 94.0 FPS |
| Ultra Performance (853x480) | 88.9 FPS | 94.5 FPS | 90.3 FPS | 107.3 FPS |
Story Q&A
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From TweakTown's coverage of this story.
How can Countervolt's DLSS mod be installed and configured with OptiScaler and ZLUDA on Linux?
How does image quality compare between DLSS Presets E, K, and M and FSR 4 in Silent Hill Townfall?
Which DLSS presets work on the Radeon RX 7800 XT, and how does its performance compare with the RX 7700 XT?
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As expected, the more complex DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution has a higher performance cost than the older DLSS 3 CNN model. Although slower than FSR 4, the CNN version offers similar performance uplifts, even when running via translated NVIDIA code. Because of its custom code, this mod is only compatible with Radeon RX 7000 Series graphics cards, specifically optimized for the Radeon RX 7700 XT and RX 7800 XT. The more powerful Radeon RX 7900 XT or 7900 XTX runs slower and lacks the transformer image quality; however, Preset E (DLSS 3's CNN model) works.
