Intel XeSS anti-aliasing discussion

[Jay]

I am doing these videos because the Iris Xe( 11th Generation) uses a driver-based dp4a solution that is likely more performant than non-Intel GPUs that use shader model 6.4 for dp4a.

Thanks @Dr. Nick, this is one of the things I'm most interested in that you seem to be the only one covering. Much appreciated.

At least in this game, XeSS looks slightly better than native, has a 6 to 7 frame-rate advantage over native

That's a very positive result. To actually be faster and look better than native.
With such low dp4a performance I only expected better IQ with same framerate or slightly lower at quality setting.

and is usually 1 to 2 frames faster than FSR 2 in Quality modes. Textures look much better in FSR 2

This is the total opposite to what I expected.
Expected XeSS to look better but be slower.
1 to 2 frames is margin if error, but still to be close to fsr is an achievement
Wonder if textures is due to lack of sharpening especially at low resolution?

 

[Kaotik]

I am doing these videos because the Iris Xe( 11th Generation) uses a driver-based dp4a solution that is likely more performant than non-Intel GPUs that use shader model 6.4 for dp4a.

Intel already confirmed that other GPUs get to use DP4a acceleration too if they support it, SM6.4 is for those who don't (as in, it should be same as Xe iGPU)

 

[Jay]

Intel already confirmed that other GPUs get to use DP4a acceleration too if they support it, SM6.4 is for those who don't (as in, it should be same as Xe iGPU)

I believe that dp4a is used via SM6.4 if not ran on a supported Intel apu.

There could easily be overhead going via SM6.4.

 

[Kaotik]

I believe that dp4a is used via SM6.4 if not ran on a supported Intel apu.

There could easily be overhead going via SM6.4.

Have to dig it up where they said it, but IIRC the wording was pretty clear that everything supporting DP4a should be the same and SM6.4 would be just a fallback option for those not supporting DP4a (and this was after they had shown the slides putting Xe iGPUs in different bracket than non-Intel GPUs)

 

[Jay]

Have to dig it up where they said it, but IIRC the wording was pretty clear that everything supporting DP4a should be the same and SM6.4 would be just a fallback option for those not supporting DP4a (and this was after they had shown the slides putting Xe iGPUs in different bracket than non-Intel GPUs)

It did get a bit confusing but I think @Dictator got the actual situation out of Intel.

But I think the only place that will use DP4a directly is Intel's iGPU's.

There's 2 dp4a models 1 for arc, another lower quality one for dp4a and shader.
SM6.4 is the interface for compatibility mode regardless if its being done with dp4a or shaders.

 

[Dr. Nick]

Have to dig it up where they said it, but IIRC the wording was pretty clear that everything supporting DP4a should be the same and SM6.4 would be just a fallback option for those not supporting DP4a (and this was after they had shown the slides putting Xe iGPUs in different bracket than non-Intel GPUs)

It did get a bit confusing but I think @Dictator got the actual situation out of Intel.

But I think the only place that will use DP4a directly is Intel's iGPU's.

There's 2 dp4a models 1 for arc, another lower quality one for dp4a and shader.
SM6.4 is the interface for compatibility mode regardless if its being done with dp4a or shaders.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1570060784717250560

https://twitter.com/x/status/1570065937428279296

Turned out later on we found that SM6.4 would use Dp4a if the GPU supports dp4a but it would not be as good as what iGPUs are using because it is not optimized for any non-intel GPU.

 

[Cyan]

Textures look much better in FSR 2, but certain particles disappear like the moths at the beginning of the video.

my experience with the game tells me that textures wise both look more or less about the same. The main difference between FSR 2 and XeSS, at least in my view (I shared some screengrabs some time ago), is that at medium to long distance from the camera FSR 2 starts to break (the rowboat and the dock in the very first scene with the camera, looks more defined with XeSS). Other than that there isn't much of a difference, save a couple of textures that looked a bit more blurry with XeSS but the extra detail in the distance compensated for that.

 

[Cyan]

Imho, the game or games where XeSS shine the most, are Shadow of the Tomb Raider -the best one where sometimes in a couple of instances it is vying DLSS for the best graphics-, CoD MW2, Redout 2 and I still have 8 other games to try in deep. Gotham Knighst does an okay job but it is more flawed, so is Martha is Dead's implementation for now.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider look like a disney movie to me sometimes. So clean. Could it be because I suffer from (not chronic) migraines? Dunno, but I found this video by sheer chance and the author has a 3060Ti, and uses XeSS in MW2 instead of DLSS, which I don't understand tbh. He explains in the comments that this might be due to him having chronic migraine and he prefers the look of XeSS. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Cyan]

NFS Unbound tested today. No XeSS for now, sigh. I can only use FSR 2. The game run well at 60fps, 120fps could be achieved at times, but I didn't test it much. The game is fun, and there are times where the game manages to get ingame graphics mixed up for reality.

 

[Cyan]

So...., I purchased A Plague Tale Requiem when it was launched -PC Gamepass version- and it's on hold, while I wait for RT to be implemented. It turns out that the game only supports DLSS, buuuuuuuuuuuut you can use FSR 2 Unlocker.

https://www.nexusmods.com/aplaguetalerequiem/mods/9

And now comes the best part. If you read the instructions from the link above, with the main FSR 2 Unlocker files installed, you can use XeSS Unlocker, which is included with the download files

DLSS Unlocker for all GPUs including AMD Radeon

Drop-in DLSS replacement with FSR 2.1.2 for various games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Rise of Tomb Raider, Red Dead Redemption 2, No Man's Sky, etc.

www.nexusmods.com

, copy the files where you installed FSR 2 Unlocker and replace those what must be replaced, and there you go, you can play A Plague Tale Requiem using XeSS.

(this is the link to the original XeSS unlocker)
https://www.nexusmods.com/marvelsspidermanremastered/mods/2479?tab=description

I wonder if I can do the same with Doom Eternal's... FSR 2 mod, 'cos I am getting between 110 to 135-140fps at native 1440p -without FSR 2 nor XeSS- with RT on. If I can use XeSS on Doom Eternal it's a total win.

DLSS Unlocker for all GPUs including AMD Radeon

Drop-in DLSS replacement with FSR 2.1 for various games such as Cyberpunk 2077, DOOM Eternal, Red Dead Redemption 2, etc.

www.nexusmods.com

 

[Cyan]

followed the instructions and set everything to High save for disabling DoF and Motion Blur -I didn't bother now with optimised settings by DF 'cos it might take me some time and I gotta sleep-. I am not sure it's XeSS 'cos of the good things and flaws (most easy to see in Gotham Knights, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is almost flawless by comparison) typical of XeSS are not present. How certain details break -i.e, when the ship in fire falls to the ground in the main screen-, or the branches, how they disappear, none of that is happens usually with XeSS. I set it the upscaler to Ultra Quality.

Maybe, this FSR 2 and XeSS wrapper were implemented before a new patch was published, 'cos now the game seems to be smart and it overwrites the Enginesettings file if you set it to DLSS, it returns to TAA. So I converted the file into a Read-only file and well, the game launched and so on, but I am pretty sure it's either the internal game's TAA (most likely, details disappear everywhere) or FSR 2. In fact, whether I set the file to Read-only (and DLSS written there instead of TAA) or not, the IQ and performance is exactly the same, so yeah, something is not working.

It could also be that this mod only works well with the Steam version of the game, but I am not risking buying the game once again 'cos I am not rich and might wait for official support when they add RT.

At High settings I get 42 to 50fps, frametime is solid.

This is the content of Enginesettings Read-only file for anyone interested.

Version 66
{Video
Adapter "Intel(R) Arc(TM) A770 Graphics"
Monitor 0
Windowed 1
FullscreenBorderless 1
WindowActive 0
Resolution 2560 1440
FullScreenResolution 2560 1440
PosX 0
PosY 0
AntiAliasing DLSS (here the game automatically switches to TAA if I don't set the file to Read-only)
DLSSMode QUALITY
DLSSG 0
Reflex OFF
PrimaryScaling 1.000000
SecondaryScaling 1.000000
SharpenAmount 1.000000
VSync 1
HDR10 1
Raytracing 0 (I set it to 1 just out of curiosity, but it does nothing atm, the framerate and lighting remain the same)
PreferD3D12 1
FrameLimiter 60
}
{Graphics
Version 1.1.0
Preset Custom
{Texture
MaxAnisotropy 8
Quality 0
}
{DrawDistance
DrawDistanceMultiplierLod 3.000000
DrawDistanceMultiplierFade 3.000000
MIDrawDistanceMultiplierLod 1.500000
MIDrawDistanceMultiplierFade 1.500000
}
{MassInstancing
TrimRatio 0.700000
}
{Terrain
LoDFactor 1.000000
POMMaxDist 25.000000
POMSubsplitsMaxDist 7.500000
}
{Shadows
MaxSliceCount 4
Size 1536
DLightContributionCullingThresholdS0 0.100000
DLightContributionCullingThresholdS1 0.100000
DLightContributionCullingThresholdS2 0.100000
DLightContributionCullingThresholdS3 0.100000
OmniContributionCullingThreshold 0.020000
}
{SSRaytracedShadows
Enabled 1
Quality 2
}
{Water
FFTSize 512
}
{VolumetricLights
Enabled 1
Quality 2
}
{VolumetricFog
Enabled 1
Quality 2
}
{RaytracedShadows
Enabled 0
}
{LightShafts
Enabled 1
Quality 2
}
{SSR
Enabled 1
HalfRes 0
Quality 2
}
{SSAO
Enabled 1
Quality 2
}
{SSSSS
Enabled 1
Quality 2
}
{DOF
Enabled 1
Quality 0
}
{MotionBlur
Enabled 0
Quality 0
}
{PostProcess
Enabled 1
EyeAdaptation 1
ColorGrading 1
Sharpen 1
Fringe 0
LensDistortion 0
Dirt 1
LensFlare 1
FilmGrain 1
Vignette 1
LensBlurMultiplier 1.000000
FringeMultiplier 0.500000
}
}
InstalledPackagesPath ""

 

[Cyan]

it turns out that the mod's author needs certain files from the PC Gamepass version of A Plague Tale Requiem for it to work with FSR 2 and XeSS, that's why I couldn't enable it, like he explains in the mod's comments -link below-. It works fine in the Steam version.

DLSS Unlocker for all GPUs including AMD Radeon

Drop-in DLSS replacement with FSR 2.1.2 for various games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Rise of Tomb Raider, Red Dead Redemption 2, No Man's Sky, etc.

www.nexusmods.com

 

[Cyan]

Doom Eternal running with XeSS.

That's the equivalent setting to DLSS Quality on a native 1440p monitor, RT on. Maybe at DLSS Balanced 165fps -max framerate of my monitor- can be achieved with RT on.

The mod has the base files with the FSR 2 mod and there is an additional file with the XeSS mod.

DLSS Unlocker for all GPUs including AMD Radeon

Drop-in DLSS replacement with FSR 2.1 for various games such as Cyberpunk 2077, DOOM Eternal, Red Dead Redemption 2, etc.

www.nexusmods.com

The mod's author includes a imsgli image in which he shows how it does compare to native DLSS in this game.

Slayer - Imgsli

 

[PSman1700]

Eternal is one of the best looking last gen games for sure.

 

[BRiT]

Eternal is one of the best looking last gen games for sure.

Indeed. It's even on the Nintendo Switch and looks great there too!

 

[PSman1700]

Indeed. It's even on the Nintendo Switch and looks great there too!

Cross platform and scaling can, do and will deliver! You just need capable studios.

 

[Cyan]

teary eyes....

Skyrim Upscaler mod has been published with XeSS support.

Skyrim Upscaler - DLSS FSR2 XeSS

SKSE Plugin to use DLSS/FSR2/XeSS in Skyrim, also supports DLAA.

www.nexusmods.com

 

[Cyan]

more excellent news today. FSR 2 and XeSS mod work now on the PC Gamepass version of A Plague Tale Requiem.

DLSS Unlocker for all GPUs including AMD Radeon

Drop-in DLSS replacement with FSR 2.1.2 for various games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Rise of Tomb Raider, Red Dead Redemption 2, No Man's Sky, etc.

www.nexusmods.com

 

[Cyan]

it took a while, but I managed to get Skyrim Special Edition working with the Skyrim Upscaler mod.

Important: if you, like me, don't have the Anniversary Edition, it doesn't matter, one of the mods you MUST have installed MUST be from the Anniversary Edition regardless of the fact that there is a Special Edition version of it.

These are the mods that you must install -the Address Library is the one whose version is the Anniversary Edition version). I used the native app from Nexus Mods, called Vortex, to install mods. Makes our miserable life easier.

And this mod where I downloaded the Anniversary Edition too.

http://skse.silverlock.org/

For the mod to work I had to launch the game with the executable file skse64_loader.exe instead of the game's native launcher.

d3dcompiler_47.dll must be at the game's root directory where the main exe of the game is.

 

[Cyan]

Results from Skyrim SE maxed out: the difference with native looks huge to me -FSR 2 and XeSS look better hands down-.

Perhaps the best of the three is FSR 2 in this game, in still images, specially close to the camera.

As usual though, XeSS resolve more detail in the distance -look at the top of both trees behind the mill, or the foliage's definition of the tree behind the mill in the 4K image, or the distant trees in the 1440p image-, and also from experience it doesn't break as easily in thin geometry, for instance, with electricity wires -say in Forza Horizon 5 where FSR 2 works great but the detail on wires is easily lost-.

With this, I am done with my amateur testing, I just want to play.

The Elder Scrolls Skyrim Special Edition played on a 1440p monitor.

Skyrim Native TAA vs XeSS Quality vs FSR2 Quality - Imgsli

The Elder Scrolls Skyrim Special Edition played on a 4K TV.

Skyrim 4K Native TAA vs XeSS Quality vs FSR 2 Quality - Imgsli

Can't wait for the Resident Evil 2 Remake (and Village) version of this mod. Interlaced rendering looks good in that game, but it doesn't get close to normal rendering in any way.