Upscaling Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure RPG set in the dark future of Night City — a dangerous megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour, and ceaseless body modification. You play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality. Cyberpunk 2077 supports up to DLSS 4 scaling and the latest Frame Gen technologies.
Cyberpunk 2077 follows a similar trend to what we saw in Alan Wake II, with each level of upscaling delivering improved performance and reduced latency compared to native rendering. Enabling DLSS on both the Transformer and CNN models provided substantial gains, with latency nearly halved at the base DLSS setting before climbing slightly with each level of frame generation. Interestingly, while Alan Wake II showed consistent performance scaling with advanced settings, Cyberpunk adds a twist—CNN consistently outperforms the Transformer model in both frame rate and latency, with around 6% more frames and slightly faster response times.
This deviation highlights a potential focus of the Transformer model on better visuals rather than raw performance, something that we’ll explore further when comparing image quality. Nevertheless, both models maintain the pattern we’ve come to expect from NVIDIA’s upscaling technologies, delivering massive performance gains across all settings, all while keeping latency improvements below native rendering. The choice here ultimately comes down to whether gamers prioritize responsiveness or visual fidelity, but the underlying trend aligns closely with what we observed in Alan Wake II.
With ray tracing enabled, Cyberpunk 2077 shows the same consistent trend we’ve seen before, with each upscaling and frame generation setting delivering higher frame rates and gradually increasing latency. The CNN model continues to outperform the Transformer model, offering both better frame rates and lower latency, likely due to its focus on raw performance over visual enhancements. Regardless of the model used, the gains are substantial—DLSS alone cuts latency by more than half compared to native rendering, and each frame generation level pushes performance significantly higher. Whether you prioritize the responsiveness of CNN or the potential visual fidelity of the Transformer model, enabling upscaling provides a massive boost, ensuring a smoother experience even with ray tracing turned on.
Path tracing in Cyberpunk 2077 shows a significant uplift across all upscaling and frame generation settings, making an otherwise unplayable experience viable. Interestingly, while the CNN model generally performs well in terms of latency, the Transformer model pulls ahead in overall performance at the highest settings. For example, DLSS CNN cuts latency dramatically, from 153.23ms at native to 51.98ms, while boosting performance by 300%. However, at Frame Generation X4, the Transformer model delivers the best result, achieving 132 FPS compared to CNN’s 128 FPS, with slightly lower latency at 69.25ms versus CNN’s 71.54ms. This highlights how the Transformer model can balance higher performance with improved latency, particularly at the top settings, while CNN maintains a strong showing overall. Regardless of the chosen model, the impact of upscaling on path tracing performance can turn Cyberpunk into a playable and visually stunning experience.
