Want to play Starfield with DLSS upscaling? There's already a mod for that

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Highly anticipated: Starfield, Bethesda's new role-playing game with space opera vibes and plenty of mineral ores to mine with lasers, is officially scheduled for release on September 6 but those who have purchased either the Premium or Constellation Edition can play it now. PC gamers can also enjoy enhanced performance on Nvidia GeForce GPUs thanks to the very first mod released for the game.

A recent controversy has arisen regarding Bethesda's decision not to support DLSS in Starfield. The game can still offer some upscaling benefits thanks to AMD's FSR, which, unlike DLSS, works on all modern GPUs and doesn't necessarily require a GeForce RTX card. Frank Azor seemingly confirmed that AMD did nothing to block DLSS support in Starfield.

Now that early access has been unlocked for gamers who purchased premium editions, the controversy is no longer relevant. An "Upscaler mod" is already available for download through the Nexus Mods website, providing players with the option to replace FSR2 with competing upscaling technologies like DLSS or XeSS.

Nvidia DLSS2 is an upscaling algorithm that only functions on GeForce RTX GPUs, while Intel XeSS technology supports both Intel Arc GPUs and competing cards from AMD or Nvidia. The Starfield upscaler mod can be installed by following the simple instructions provided by its creator, although it does require another mod called the Upscaler Base Plugin. DLSS3 frame interleaving technology is not supported at this point, however.

After installation, the Starfield upscaler mod replaces the game's default settings for FSR2. According to the mod creator, there are no longer specific quality levels; instead, players can adjust the render scaling ratio in the game settings. The performance improvements will depend on how much the system is GPU-limited. If the FPS count doesn't increase significantly, it's likely due to the game being CPU-limited.

On Xbox consoles, Starfield is set to release with a fixed 30-fps frame rate. PC users should enjoy greater customization options and higher performance, provided their hardware can handle it. Compared to other recent gaming blockbusters, Starfield boasts more manageable system requirements, except for the hefty 125 GB SSD storage space requirement, which applies to both the minimum and recommended configurations.

Bethesda games are well known for offering modders a rich playground for experimentation. Skyrim, in particular, stands out as one of the most heavily modded games ever released for PC. Starfield marks Bethesda's first original IP in 29 years, and early reviewers are primarily promoting this new space RPG experience, which director Todd Howard once described as "Skyrim in space."

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/100001-want-play-starfield-dlss-upscaling-there-already-mod.html

 

[godrilla]

Hopefully, Nvidia is coming with an improved performance driver, I'm hearing the performance is significantly better for team Red like brutally better.

 

[yRaz]

Hopefully, Nvidia is coming with an improved performance driver, I'm hearing the performance is significantly better for team Red like brutally better.

I cannot wait to see the comments section response to this.

 

[godrilla]

I cannot wait to see the comments section response to this.

It could be my fault I was editing mod to driver lol.

 

[takaozo]

Game not even out yet and already moded and cracked.

 

[neeyik]

Game not even out yet and already moded and cracked.

Those who bought the Premium Edition gained access to it today.

Edit: For those people worried about performance, well Skyrim wasn't exactly blazing fast when it was released 12 years ago.

 

[takaozo]

Those who bought the Premium Edition gained access to it today.

I only check Steam, thanks for the info. Not that going to buy day one.

P.S. even BG3 cracked with latest patch I'ts insane how fast.

 

[nnguy2]

I cannot wait to see the comments section response to this.

According to this board only AMD have poor driver performance lol

 

[scavengerspc]

According to the mod creator, there are no longer specific quality levels; instead, players can adjust the render scaling ratio in the game settings.

FSR 2 is the same way, so no biggie.

Gonna try this. FSR 2 isn't very effective early on.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Hopefully, Nvidia is coming with an improved performance driver, I'm hearing the performance is significantly better for team Red like brutally better.

Someone's posted (gamegpu.com) some sort of comparo though it's suspect as many GPUs were 'tested' in a very short time but the Nvidia GPUs were performing about a tier down from typical games. Not 'brutal' but they should be faster.

 

[godrilla]

Someone's posted (gamegpu.com) some sort of comparo though it's suspect as many GPUs were 'tested' in a very short time but the Nvidia GPUs were performing about a tier down from typical games. Not 'brutal' but they should be faster.

It seems they were correct, although depending on the settings and resolution like 4k ultra the 4080 is performing even lower than the 7900xt and the $1600 4090 is performing like the $950 7900 xtx.

 

[FaTaL]

Hopefully, Nvidia is coming with an improved performance driver, I'm hearing the performance is significantly better for team Red like brutally better.

Im on RTX 2080 and FPS is perfect for me

 

[i like foxes]

I am not planning to get Starfield . Not to my liking . it s more about the present than the future . Thus not interesting

 

[godrilla]

S

Im on RTX 2080 and FPS is perfect for me

Sweet, if I recall the 2080 performs more or less than the 1080ti in the Gamers Nexus day 1 benchmarks, It shows the 1080ti getting an average of 35 fps at 1080p with dips to the low 20s. What settings and resolution are you playing at? I also heard some areas are more demanding than others.

 

[loki1944]

I'd rather play a new Wing Commander game

 

[scavengerspc]

I am not planning to get Starfield . Not to my liking . it s more about the present than the future . Thus not interesting

Im not getting what you mean. The game itself takes place in 2330

I'd rather play a new Wing Commander game

Weren't the WC games more useful as a sleep aid?!

 

[nulll]

S

Sweet, if I recall the 2080 performs more or less than the 1080ti in the Gamers Nexus day 1 benchmarks, It shows the 1080ti getting an average of 35 fps at 1080p with dips to the low 20s. What settings and resolution are you playing at? I also heard some areas are more demanding than others.

Not sure if it's helpful or not but I'm about 12 hours in and so far the outdoor areas (with the exception of New Atlantis) are less demanding than the interiors. I'm on an RTX 3080 with everything turned to Ultra with FSR 2 doing an upscale from 1080p to 4K. The lowest it allows in Starfield is a 50% scale. This is a bigger step on graphically from Fallout 4 than that was from Skyrim and more importantly it is a much more fluid gameplay experience, it isn't quite where something like Destiny is but it's a lot closer to that than I would have expected from a Bethesda RPG.

I'm averaging around 20% CPU load with an i7 13700K even in the center of cities or combat and the like. I'd say they over estimated the CPU requirements and that there is plenty of low hanging fruit regarding performance refinements left for Nvidia cards. It certainly seems to be the most stable Bethesda game I've every played so far as the I've only dropped to windows once in 12 hours or so and that was a disconnect issue with my xbox controller.

Everything folks loved about Fallout 4 but on a whole different scale and at a slower pace due to sheer scale.

 

[FaTaL]

S

Sweet, if I recall the 2080 performs more or less than the 1080ti in the Gamers Nexus day 1 benchmarks, It shows the 1080ti getting an average of 35 fps at 1080p with dips to the low 20s. What settings and resolution are you playing at? I also heard some areas are more demanding than others.

2k resolution all settings maxxed. My framerate hasnt dipped below 50

 

[godrilla]

2k resolution all settings maxxed. My framerate hasnt dipped below 50

That's good is Fsr on? Hearing it's on by default.

 

[VcoreLeone]

Hopefully, Nvidia is coming with an improved performance driver, I'm hearing the performance is significantly better for team Red like brutally better.

1. no, it's isn't brutally better. it's pretty much the same. 8% difference.

2. they have a grd driver already, but early access (gamepass/ws) version only applies driver improvements for amd. gotta wait for steam version for the grd improvements to kick in on nvidia.

At the original date/time of this post, it appears that Starfield when installed and run from the PC GamePass/Windows Store may not apply all Nvidia's 537.13 driver level optimizations for 'Starfield' as the APPID (packageFamilyName) isn't present in the Nvidia Starfield driver profile.
The Steam version won't be impacted, only PC GamePass/Windows Store installations.

I'm fine with 3080 doing 41fps at 4K, with upscaling it'll do +60. I run 1920p dldsr + upscaling anyway for game like that, and 60 is enough on controller.

thee bigger problem is cpu, game drops well under 60 on 5800x3d. the only mid range cpu that seems to be able to keep it at 60+ is 13600k. piece of unoptimized trash. I bet they'll report record sales during 1st week tho, so we get what we deserve.

Starfield: 24 CPU-Benchmarks - Welcher Prozessor reicht aus?

Starfield ist da und PCGH prüft mit CPU-Benchmarks, welche Anforderungen das Spiel an den Prozessor stellt.

www.pcgameshardware.de

Someone's posted (gamegpu.com) some sort of comparo though it's suspect as many GPUs were 'tested' in a very short time but the Nvidia GPUs were performing about a tier down from typical games. Not 'brutal' but they should be faster.

gamegpu is fake to beging with. they're approxmations, not actual runs.
no one can run 40 gpus with 40 cpus at three resolutuion on day one.

 

[nnguy2]

1. no, it's isn't brutally better. it's pretty much the same. 8% difference.

2. they have a grd driver already, but early access (gamepass/ws) version only applies driver improvements for amd. gotta wait for steam version for the grd improvements to kick in on nvidia.



I'm fine with 3080 doing 41fps at 4K, with upscaling it'll do +60. I run 1920p dldsr + upscaling anyway for game like that, and 60 is enough on controller.

thee bigger problem is cpu, game drops well under 60 on 5800x3d. the only mid range cpu that seems to be able to keep it at 60+ is 13600k. piece of unoptimized trash. I bet they'll report record sales during 1st week tho, so we get what we deserve.

Starfield: 24 CPU-Benchmarks - Welcher Prozessor reicht aus?

Starfield ist da und PCGH prüft mit CPU-Benchmarks, welche Anforderungen das Spiel an den Prozessor stellt.

www.pcgameshardware.de

gamegpu is fake to beging with. they're approxmations, not actual runs.
no one can run 40 gpus with 40 cpus at three resolutuion on day one.

8% difference is at low fps is a big difference. Youre upset because amd performs better at a game than nvidia.

 

[Strawman]

8% difference is at low fps is a big difference. Youre upset because amd performs better at a game than nvidia.

It's an amd sponsored, ofc amd perfoms better than nvidia, as is the case with most amd sponsored games, unlike nvidia sponsored ones. Who would have thought, huh?

 

[nnguy2]

It's an amd sponsored, ofc amd perfoms better than nvidia, as is the case with most amd sponsored games, unlike nvidia sponsored ones. Who would have thought, huh?

And almost every single nvidia sponsored title runs faster on nvidia cards. Who would have thought.

 

[godrilla]

1. no, it's isn't brutally better. it's pretty much the same. 8% difference.

2. they have a grd driver already, but early access (gamepass/ws) version only applies driver improvements for amd. gotta wait for steam version for the grd improvements to kick in on nvidia.



I'm fine with 3080 doing 41fps at 4K, with upscaling it'll do +60. I run 1920p dldsr + upscaling anyway for game like that, and 60 is enough on controller.

thee bigger problem is cpu, game drops well under 60 on 5800x3d. the only mid range cpu that seems to be able to keep it at 60+ is 13600k. piece of unoptimized trash. I bet they'll report record sales during 1st week tho, so we get what we deserve.

Starfield: 24 CPU-Benchmarks - Welcher Prozessor reicht aus?

Starfield ist da und PCGH prüft mit CPU-Benchmarks, welche Anforderungen das Spiel an den Prozessor stellt.

www.pcgameshardware.de

gamegpu is fake to beging with. they're approxmations, not actual runs.
no one can run 40 gpus with 40 cpus at three resolutuion on day one.

Not sure if anyone is interested but Daniel Owen has a growing yt PC gaming channel that I consider exceptional as alternative to some other questionable channels lol.

A handful of gpus tested starting from current low end and working upwards.

& 3 cpus tested including the 7800X3D.

 

[VcoreLeone]

8% difference is at low fps is a big difference. Youre upset because amd performs better at a game than nvidia.

I have both cards.
44 vs 41 is no difference at all, both need upscaling or it'll be unplayable even on controller.
and picking 8% more at native fps over dlss would be silly anyway, when dlss2 balanced looks better than fsr2 quality, while performing 20% faster, and dldsr 1920p looks and runs better than 4K vsr too (I have a 1440 high refresh display, so need dldsr/vsr on both to get the IQ that I like, native 1440p is my #3 option these days). I have hopes for fsr3, when the fsr upscaler part will be updated with AA and frame generation will be available, that's why I didn't sell the amd card (that and 16gb vram too). But until then, for a person who wants best quality for performance, dldsr+dlss is the best option by a mile, 8% difference at native won't change it, especially when upscaling is required for both.
btw, a modder adding dlss in a day tells you how much "effort" is required to integrate it, and how desperate amd and bethesda are to find excuses.

Not sure if anyone is interested but Daniel Owen has a growing yt PC gaming channel that I consider exceptional as alternative to some other questionable channels lol.

A handful of gpus tested starting from current low end and working upwards.

& 3 cpus tested including the 7800X3D.

Yeah, I've seen his channel and liked it a lot.

I can recommend this one too, has excellent tests. this one for 5775c is especially interesting. A forgotten 4/8 ddr3 gem that still bulldozes 1st gen 8/16 ryzen in new, multithreaded games thanks to huge L4 cache. Had this little beast a few years ago.