Opinions on NVIDIA DSR / AMD VSR?

[Rafael Freeman]

I really like both implementations. The game looks less blurry with DSR and VSR on. Presumably because the build in AA doesn’t have to work as hard and the image seems to have more depth.

I switched PC’s recently and forgot to enable DSR and was reminded about how much I like the way it improves image quality.

[Bjørn]

Sorry to revive this old post, but I'm also curious about DSR. I can't see much difference, to be honest.

GeForce experience recommends using DSR with 3620x2036 resolution (I have a 2560x1440 monitor, so not sure where that number comes from), but I'm using 2 monitors, using the other (1920x1080) to keep some TV-channel or something on while playing, and when I select the DSR resolution it messes up this other screen a bit.

Is DSR something people still use, or was it some kind of hype? It doesn't change the resolution of the monitor, after all, just forces the graphics card to work much harder, or something...? Price of electricity is crazy these days, after all!

[Rafael Freeman]

"Is DSR something people still use, or was it some kind of hype? It doesn't change the resolution of the monitor, after all"

With DSR (in a typical user case) an image is first generated at a higher resolution than the resolution of monitor and then downsampled using a filter.

The effect is very similar to anti-aliasing, (Technically it is a type of anti-aliasing.)

So there are less jagged edges. And added benefit is that if a game uses post processing AA, the AA has less work to do which means a less blurry image.

Whether the performance hit is worth it or not is a matter of personal taste, but it also depends on the game and other quality settings.

[mikk011]

I liked the look of DSR, but didn't like the perpetual strain on the hardware. Buying a new gpu every year or two just isn't in the budget.

[Bjørn]

Thank you for a good explanation!

I recently got this monitor, and it has HDR as well. I've read that HDR is mainly in games from 2017 onwards, so although I notice the screen says "HDMI (HDR)" when I start the game, I suspect this game doesn't really support it...?

The graphics / colours / lighting in the game is still fantastic, btw. True art. I had forgotten how beautiful it was. And I notice I have the 'brightness' level turned way down below the middle, so it might actually support HDR.

Anyway, thank again!

[Bjørn]

Oprindeligt skrevet af mikk011:

I liked the look of DSR, but didn't like the perpetual strain on the hardware. Buying a new gpu every year or two just isn't in the budget.

That's a good tip! Yikes...

[Rafael Freeman]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Bjørn:

Thank you for a good explanation!

I recently got this monitor, and it has HDR as well. I've read that HDR is mainly in games from 2017 onwards, so although I notice the screen says "HDMI (HDR)" when I start the game, I suspect this game doesn't really support it...?

The graphics / colours / lighting in the game is still fantastic, btw. True art. I had forgotten how beautiful it was. And I notice I have the 'brightness' level turned way down below the middle, so it might actually support HDR.

Anyway, thank again!

Skyrim doesn't support HDR. Many new games don't support HDR either and most monitors don't have true HDR anyway.

You can turn HDR off in the Windows settings and see if it makes a difference.

And yeah, Skyrim SE shows that art design, level design and lighting can make a game beautiful even if the graphical quality isn't always great.

As for DSR, test it in Riverwood. If you don't see much of a difference, just turn it off.

I hope you have adjusted the FOV, a higher FOV definitely make the game look more epic.

[Bjørn]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Rafael Freeman:

I hope you have adjusted the FOV, a higher FOV definitely make the game look more epic.

I didn't notice any setting for that in the game or launcher, so I guess I need some mod for that?

I was hoping to play without mods, but someone suggested 'SkyUI', and I notice the UI is a bit cumbersome, so I susåect I'll want to install that anyway, at least.

Or can it be done with console commands?

[HazakTheMad]

FOV is done in either Console commands, or editing the ini file where settings are stored.

[Rafael Freeman]

You don't need a mod. Just a simple adjustment in the ini files and a console command.

I use a FOV of 90, but you can use another value.

Step 1:

Find the Skyrim.ini file in Documents\My Games\Skyrim\

Add this under Display:

fDefaultFOV=90
fDefault1stPersonFOV=90
fDefaultWorldFOV=90

Save the file

Step 2:

Find the SkyrimPrefs.ini file in Documents\My Games\Skyrim\

Add this under General:

fDefaultFOV=90
fDefault1stPersonFOV=90
fDefaultWorldFOV=90

Save the file

Step 3:

Start Skyrim

Use ~ to bring up the console

Type

FOV=90

Hit the Enter button

Use ~ to close the console

Save your game and then load the game (you only have to do this once).

You can also disable the crosshair and compass in SkyrimPrefs.ini if you want.

bShowCompass=0

Under interface. Obviously this makes the game a bit more difficult.

[Bjørn]

This is so helpful, thank you (your own old thread turning out very helpful)!

I might try some different settings, but to be honest I hadn't noticed the the FOV was too small.

I don't know if the number is the same for all games (is the FOV value how many degrees you see in front of you?), but I normally have it at 75 in most games (not sure of the default value in this game).

I think in The Outer Worlds's settings it's mentioned that 'anything above 75 at your own risk' or something like that, so I've used that as a reference for other similar games. The higher the FOV, the higher the load on the hardware, I suspect.

[matt]

Skyrim's ancient engine doesn't work well above 60 fps, so you might as well put your GPU to work doing other stuff. Simply using your components within their specifications won't cause them to melt. Given proper cooling and steady power, a desktop gaming PC should be fine for years. However, laptops certainly do need to be careful about heat dissipation. Don't push laptops.

Most modern video cards should handle cranking the quality to "ultra". Supersampling -- rendering an image at a high resolution and then downsampling it -- is GPU-intensive but can make the image look better. If your GPU isn't being fully utilized, this is a free image quality upgrade. With GPUs that have a decent amount of VRAM, you should consider installing high quality texture packs. The performance hit shouldn't be too bad as long as you don't run out of VRAM.

If you've got a 4k HDTV, try hooking it up to your PC using HDMI. Skyrim is an old game, so it's not nearly as demanding as some of the horror stories you might have heard about people trying to do 4k on mid-range GPUs. Make sure to set your TV to "game mode". Many of them, especially the cheaper or older ones, will have horrible input lag and response times, and this will help.

If you're on Windows 11, maybe try enabling auto HDR. Skyrim doesn't support HDR, but you can simulate it with this feature. Unfortunately, this will probably be underwhelming unless you have a very expensive display. This shouldn't have any performance cost, though.

[Bjørn]

Thanks for the tips!

[Rafael Freeman]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Bjørn:

This is so helpful, thank you (your own old thread turning out very helpful)!

I might try some different settings, but to be honest I hadn't noticed the the FOV was too small.

I don't know if the number is the same for all games (is the FOV value how many degrees you see in front of you?), but I normally have it at 75 in most games (not sure of the default value in this game).

I think in The Outer Worlds's settings it's mentioned that 'anything above 75 at your own risk' or something like that, so I've used that as a reference for other similar games. The higher the FOV, the higher the load on the hardware, I suspect.

FOV has no real impact on FPS.

Normal values are between 75 and 90, Skyrim is probably less than 75. The old version was 65 I believe, which is really too low for a PC game.

The good thing is that it's easy to experiment and find a setting that suits you and at anytime you can revert back to the old setting.

And I second the remark about using a GPU within it's specification, I have an 8 year old GPU in a secondary system and it has seen some really heavy workloads (including 3D rendering for work). Still works fine.

[HazakTheMad]

FOV is blurring at the edges of the screen, to high and it looks funky, to low and you see unrealistically with perfect vision at the very edge of your screen.

[Rafael Freeman]

Oprindeligt skrevet af HazakTheMad:

FOV is blurring at the edges of the screen, to high and it looks funky, to low and you see unrealistically with perfect vision at the very edge of your screen.

FOV should not blur the edges of the screen. It might make objects at the edge of the screen wider, depending on how the game engine implements FOV.

A FOV of 90 should be fine, this is actually the default in some games.