Gaming performance 1440p - 2160p upscaling:
In this section, we’ll be testing our graphics cards by activating ray tracing, if available, as well as upscaling, depending on the graphics card used. As a reminder, there are currently three upscaling technologies . NVIDIA has DLSS, which can only be activated with NVIDIA cards. Depending on the generation of your GPU, you may or may not be able to benefit from all the technologies offered by the greens. For AMD, it’s FSR, which is also evolving and, for certain games, also benefits from Frame Generation.
Finally, Intel’s in-house upscaling is called XeSS, and with the arrival of this new generation of graphics cards, Intel has taken the opportunity to announce the arrival of XeSS 2, which will introduce two new features to compete with NVIDIA and AMD, who are already ahead of the game. Intel will offer Xe Frame Generation (XeSS-FG) and XeSS Low Latency (XeLL).
Finally, it’s important to point out that some games do not feature ray tracing, but only an upscaling solution. We’ll make this clear in the games below. For 1440p and 2160p definition, upscaling, whether in DLSS or FSR, will always be in Performance mode.
Cyberpunk 2077:
Here we go again, with Cyberpunk 2077 as our first game. Our NVIDIA cards are in front. Please note that, for comparative purposes, only Frame Generation is used with RTX 5000s. Multi Frame Generation will be discussed on the next page. In 1440p, our ASUS TUF Gaming RX 9070 OC is on a par with the RTX 5070 FE, but benefits from a better FG. Mind you, if we had activated MFG, the green card would have taken the lead.
In 2160p, the situation is virtually identical with the RTX 5070 Ti, which could also have benefited from MFG x4.
COD Modern Warfare III:
No worries in Call Of Duty Modern Warfare III, where upscaling still allows you to gain FPS, and even many, many FPS. We’ll come back to the quality of the various upscaling options when the new GPU launches have calmed down.
Forspoken:
The same applies to our ASUS TUF Gaming RX 9070 OC: rasterization is very easy, and upscaling boosts performance.
Horizon Zeron Dawn Remastered:
The same applies to Horizon Zeron Dawn Remastered, but the game is now compatible with FSR 4, and we’ve downloaded the update, which delivers excellent performance with our ASUS TUF Gaming RX 9070 OC.
Black Myth: Wukong Benchmark Tool:
Let’s go back to a very demanding game, Black Myth: Wukong, which benefits from ray tracing. And this is exactly where upscaling comes in handy, as the ASUS TUF Gaming RX 9070 OC barely manages 1440p and 2160p. The benchmark doesn’t seem to like AMD cards at all.
Far Cry 6:
There’s no DLSS here: we use AMD upscaling, which explains the very low gain between DXR and upscaling modes.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage:
The same is true of Assassin Creed Mirage, with our ASUS TUF Gaming RX 9070 OC taking its place in 1440p and 2160p as it did in our rasterization tests. Third place in 1440p and ahead of the RX 7900 XT in 2160p.
F1 24 :
The penultimate game on our test panel, FSR Performance combined with Frame Generation enabled our model of the day to achieve an average of 301 FPS at 1440p and 242 FPS at 2160p.
Monster Hunter Wilds:
Ninth and final game, and the same observation, with our ASUS TUF Gaming RX 9070 OC, which ranks top in 1440p and bottom, but ahead of the RX 7900 XT, in 2160p definition.
What about upscaling with the ASUS TUF Gaming RX 9070 OC?
Our ASUS TUF Gaming RX 9070 OC already does pretty well with upscaling, whether in 1440p or 2160p, except in the game Black Myth: Wukong. Upscaling is not really necessary in 1440p, but boosts performance in 2160p.
We’ll come back to this point later, but we wanted to highlight a remark in the RX 9070 review guide that particularly caught our attention. AMD recommends a minimum of 60 FPS before using Frame Generation, in order to maintain an optimal gaming experience and avoid the latency that could result. AMD suggests adjusting graphics settings, resolution and upscaling to achieve this 60 FPS before activating Frame Generation. This is a very important point, and we’ll be looking into it shortly.