--- title: I stopped using DLSS at 1440p, but not for the reason... description: An RTX 4090 owner explains why DLSS Quality upscaling underwhelms at 1440p despite looking visually sharp with DLSS 4.5's Preset L and M. At Quality mode,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-using-dlss-at-1440p-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think-zeah3ycyd twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I stopped using DLSS at 1440p, but not for the reason you think | daily.dev og:description: An RTX 4090 owner explains why DLSS Quality upscaling underwhelms at 1440p despite looking visually sharp with DLSS 4.5's Preset L and M. At Quality mode,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-using-dlss-at-1440p-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think-zeah3ycyd og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/zEAH3ycYd.png og:image:alt: I stopped using DLSS at 1440p, but not for the reason you think og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I stopped using DLSS at 1440p, but not for the reason you think **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary An RTX 4090 owner explains why DLSS Quality upscaling underwhelms at 1440p despite looking visually sharp with DLSS 4.5's Preset L and M. At Quality mode, 1440p renders internally at 960p, which is too low a resolution to keep a modern GPU fully utilized, pushing the bottleneck onto the CPU instead—especially with an older Ryzen 7 5800X3D. The FPS gains only become meaningful in GPU-heavy titles like Assassin's Creed Shadows or Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing enabled, while esports titles and most 1440p games see little to no benefit. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What internal resolution does DLSS Quality mode render at when using 1440p output? DLSS Quality mode renders internally at 66.7% of the output resolution, meaning a 1440p output is actually rendered at 960p internally, which is lower than 1080p. This lower rendering resolution isn't demanding enough to keep modern GPUs like the RTX 4090 fully utilized in many games, shifting the performance bottleneck to the CPU instead. _Anyone tuning DLSS settings against their CPU/GPU pairing can compare real-world tradeoffs like this on daily.dev._ ### Why doesn't DLSS improve my frame rate much at 1440p even with a powerful GPU? At 1440p, DLSS Quality mode's 960p internal render often isn't demanding enough to keep a GPU like the RTX 4090 fully loaded, so the CPU becomes the limiting factor instead. Pairing a powerful GPU with an older CPU, such as a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, makes this worse, especially in esports titles like Valorant or Counter-Strike 2, though GPU-heavy titles with ray tracing still see a real FPS boost. _Gamers weighing upscaling tech against their own hardware bottlenecks can track these tradeoffs on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [DLSS made my GPU feel new, but it revealed a CPU problem I didn't know I had](https://daily.dev/posts/dlss-made-my-gpu-feel-new-but-it-revealed-a-cpu-problem-i-didn-t-know-i-had-qudphmasq) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I thought DLSS was the answer to my FPS problems until I checked one metric](https://daily.dev/posts/i-thought-dlss-was-the-answer-to-my-fps-problems-until-i-checked-one-metric-auskkqdz8) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I used to prefer gaming at 1440p, but DLSS 4.5 changed that](https://daily.dev/posts/i-used-to-prefer-gaming-at-1440p-but-dlss-4-5-changed-that-fleak5ldg) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [I pushed FSR 4.1 and DLSS 4.5 to their limits on older hardware, and one changed my mind about 4K gaming](https://daily.dev/posts/i-pushed-fsr-4-1-and-dlss-4-5-to-their-limits-on-older-hardware-and-one-changed-my-mind-about-4k-ga-ylizdpm2t) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I stopped chasing GPU upgrades once I realized DLSS was doing more for my framerate than the silicon](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-chasing-gpu-upgrades-once-i-realized-dlss-was-doing-more-for-my-framerate-than-the-silicon-sewkseoso) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#gaming](https://daily.dev/tags/gaming), [#nvidia](https://daily.dev/tags/nvidia), [#gpu](https://daily.dev/tags/gpu) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-using-dlss-at-1440p-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think-zeah3ycyd) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I stopped using DLSS at 1440p, but not for the reason you think","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-using-dlss-at-1440p-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think-zeah3ycyd","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-using-dlss-at-1440p-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think-zeah3ycyd"},"datePublished":"2026-09-02T11:03:19.118Z","dateModified":"2026-09-02T11:07:45.460Z","description":"An RTX 4090 owner explains why DLSS Quality upscaling underwhelms at 1440p despite looking visually sharp with DLSS 4.5's Preset L and M. At Quality mode,...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/fcd89b4485c5ed501eba4b4cdf31d7d8?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/fcd89b4485c5ed501eba4b4cdf31d7d8?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-using-dlss-at-1440p-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think-zeah3ycyd","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"gaming,nvidia,gpu","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I stopped using DLSS at 1440p, but not for the reason you think"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-using-dlss-at-1440p-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think-zeah3ycyd#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What internal resolution does DLSS Quality mode render at when using 1440p output?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"DLSS Quality mode renders internally at 66.7% of the output resolution, meaning a 1440p output is actually rendered at 960p internally, which is lower than 1080p. This lower rendering resolution isn't demanding enough to keep modern GPUs like the RTX 4090 fully utilized in many games, shifting the performance bottleneck to the CPU instead. Anyone tuning DLSS settings against their CPU/GPU pairing can compare real-world tradeoffs like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why doesn't DLSS improve my frame rate much at 1440p even with a powerful GPU?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"At 1440p, DLSS Quality mode's 960p internal render often isn't demanding enough to keep a GPU like the RTX 4090 fully loaded, so the CPU becomes the limiting factor instead. Pairing a powerful GPU with an older CPU, such as a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, makes this worse, especially in esports titles like Valorant or Counter-Strike 2, though GPU-heavy titles with ray tracing still see a real FPS boost. Gamers weighing upscaling tech against their own hardware bottlenecks can track these tradeoffs on daily.dev."}}]} ```