The Finals DLSS, FSR, and Frame Generation Best Settings

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The Finals gives you several ways to trade image quality for more FPS, but the best choice depends on whether you care more about competitive responsiveness or raw smoothness. This guide breaks down when to use DLSS, FSR, and frame generation without wrecking visibility or input feel.

The Finals upscaling comparison showing native, quality, balanced, and performance settings.

Higher FPS is useful only if the image still stays readable and the game still feels responsive.

Best The Finals upscaling settings

Option	Competitive recommendation
DLSS	Off if native FPS is already stable, otherwise start with Quality
FSR	Use Quality first, then Balanced if you still need more FPS
Frame Generation	Off for competitive play
NVIDIA Reflex	On
Resolution Scale	Native first, then upscale only when needed

If your goal is ranked or tournament-style play, treat clarity and latency as more important than inflated frame numbers.

When DLSS makes sense

DLSS is usually the better starting point for NVIDIA users because it can improve performance without crushing image quality as hard as aggressive scaling modes.

Best DLSS approach

Stay at native resolution if your FPS is already stable.
Use DLSS Quality first if you need extra headroom.
Move to Balanced only if Quality still is not enough.
Avoid Performance unless your hardware is genuinely struggling.

For competitive play, DLSS Quality is usually the safest option when native is too heavy.

When to use FSR

FSR is the practical fallback for AMD users and for systems where DLSS is not available.

Best FSR approach

start with Quality
use Balanced if your FPS target still is not met
avoid the most aggressive presets unless you accept a softer image

The more aggressive the scaling, the harder it becomes to keep distant targets and small movement cues clean during busy fights.

Should you use frame generation?

For pure competitive play, no. Frame generation can make the game look smoother, but it is usually not the best trade if you care about fast mouse feel and immediate reactions.

Why many competitive players keep it off

it can add extra latency
camera movement can feel less direct
the extra smoothness can hide the fact that your real input response is worse

If you play more casually or you are testing a single-player style benchmark pass, frame generation is easier to justify. For ranked-focused play, leave it off and improve the base frame rate first.

Best settings by goal

If you want the cleanest competitive setup

native resolution if possible
DLSS Off or DLSS Quality
Frame Generation Off
Reflex On
lower heavy graphics settings instead of forcing aggressive scaling

If you need more FPS on weaker hardware

use DLSS Quality or FSR Quality first
move to Balanced only if you still need more headroom
keep ray tracing off
lower shadows, effects, and post processing before crushing image clarity

Upscaling versus lowering normal settings

Players often jump to upscaling too early when the smarter move is simply reducing the most expensive graphics options first.

Lower these before you lean hard on upscaling:

shadows
effects
post processing
ray tracing
blur-heavy image effects

That keeps the image cleaner while still improving performance.

Reflex and frame pacing

If you are using an NVIDIA GPU, keep NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency on. It is one of the simplest ways to reduce latency while you optimize the rest of the setup.

Also remember:

cap FPS slightly below refresh if uncapped play feels unstable
use Fullscreen
keep V-Sync off

These changes often matter as much as the upscaler choice itself.

What to test if the image looks too soft

If The Finals becomes blurry or harder to read after turning on DLSS or FSR:

move from Balanced back to Quality
sharpen the image only if the game offers a clean sharpening control
lower shadows or effects instead of pushing a more aggressive upscale mode
return to native if your system can hold the target FPS

If your performance problem is more about hitching than low FPS, go straight to The Finals Stuttering Fix: Stop FPS Drops and Frame Time Spikes on PC.

Pair this with the main settings guide

Use this article with:

The best The Finals DLSS, FSR, and frame generation settings depend on what you actually want from the game. For competitive play, keep the image clean, keep Reflex on, and use the lightest upscale mode that still helps instead of chasing fake smoothness with frame generation.