The topic You don’t need a 4K monitor to make DLSS 4.5 worth it is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
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I totally understand why many people think enabling DLSS makes the most sense on a 4K monitor. At native 4K, you’re almost always GPU-bound even if you have a flagship card like the RTX 5090, so DLSS is a great way to avoid paying the performance tax that comes with maxed-out settings and ray tracing. But here’s the thing. Most people aren’t using flagship cards, so they’re GPU-bound even at 1440p, especially in newer AAA titles.
I can say that from experience because I have an RTX 4090, and I’m still GPU-bound while playing AAA releases on my 1440p ultrawide monitor. I used to avoid DLSS at 1440p because I couldn’t deal with the softer-looking image. However, with DLSS 4.5’s second-gen transformer model, I can confidently say image reconstruction has improved to a point where I struggle to notice any difference unless I compare it side by side with native. Sure, 4K still benefits the most from DLSS, but I don’t think 1440p gamers should avoid it either.
DLSS 4.5 introduced two new model presets in the Nvidia app’s DLSS Override setting: Preset L and Preset M. Nvidia recommends Preset M for Performance mode and Preset L for Ultra Performance mode. But if you use the Quality mode, it defaults to Preset K, which still uses DLSS 4’s first-gen transformer model. I prefer Quality because I want my internal resolution to be higher than 720p, and while the image did look better after manually switching to Preset M in the Nvidia app, the end result was an over-sharpened look that I wasn’t a fan of.
Preset L, on the other hand, is more demanding on the GPU, so I know my FPS uplift isn’t going to be as high as using Preset M or K. But I’m gaming at 1440p on a 4090, so I have enough headroom that I’d prioritize a slight edge in quality. This preset gives me exactly that. The image looks noticeably cleaner in motion without the over-sharpened look that bothers me with Preset M. Foliage is more stable, and shimmering isn’t a problem unless I’m actively looking for it. I even tried Preset L with Balanced mode, and I genuinely struggled to notice the difference compared to native 1440p. That’s why I think Preset L is perfect for 1440p. You still get a meaningful FPS uplift, but without sacrificing as much quality in motion.
Now that you know Preset L is the best looking option I’ve tried for DLSS 4.5 at 1440p, the next question is whether the performance tradeoff is actually worth it. For me, yes, because I love playing AAA games on my Alienware AW3423DW ultrawide for that cinematic feel. And I can tell you with confidence that my RTX 4090 struggles in some titles like Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and Black Myth: Wukong. I average around 60-70FPS at native 1440p, but with Preset L at Balanced, I can actually play them at around 100FPS, which is still a solid uplift considering the image looks almost exactly the same.
You don’t have to stick to Preset L, though. It’s just what I prefer, because I don’t want to compromise image quality. But if you’d rather chase a higher FPS, I’d say Preset M or K makes more sense. Either way, my point is that even at 1440p, you can get a smoother experience no matter what GPU you have, as long as you know you’re GPU-bound. Of course, you can always enable frame generation to get much higher numbers, but if your base frame rate isn’t decent, the game won’t feel as responsive as the number you see on the screen.
There’s a reason why DLSS makes more sense at 4K besides games being GPU-bound. The higher the output resolution, the higher the base render resolution is going to be across all modes. This gives DLSS more pixel data to work with for image reconstruction, which is why DLSS Performance mode at 4K can still look good despite internally rendering the game at 1080p. At 1440p though, the base render resolution for Performance mode would be 720p, which isn’t a great starting point.
However, Nvidia recommends Preset L for Ultra Performance 4K upscaling, so that’d mean it’s ideal for a 720p base render resolution. Theoretically, if the preset is better suited for lower render resolutions, it should produce even better results when given more data for reconstruction, right? That’s why I prefer this preset with Balanced and Quality modes, since the internal resolutions are 835p and 960p respectively on a 1440p monitor. Yes, Preset M looks almost as good and can edge out L in some scenarios, but I’d rather have a natural-looking image than an over-sharpened one.
A couple of years ago, I would’ve recommended against using DLSS at 1440p unless you really wanted those extra frames, because that loss of sharpness compared to native rendering was hard to overlook. But after spending time with DLSS 4.5, especially Preset L, I don’t think you’re compromising anything quality-wise, at least in Balanced and Quality modes. If anything, you’re not getting the FPS boost you’d get with Preset K or M, but I believe that’s a tradeoff most of you would happily make for a cleaner and more stable image.