Is DLSS worth $300? (Nvidia vs AMD)

[haskell]

I am looking to upgrade and am looking at the mid-high range GPUs. I have decided on a 3080 TI or a 6800 XT. They both benchmark about the same in MSFS but the 6800 is about $300 cheaper. Some have reported smoother performance in FS with the 6800. So it is the logical choice for value. BUT, DLSS is Nvidia only. I hear mixed reviews on the quality vs. performance benefit of DLSS. I would hate to have a card that didn’t support it if it was a game-changer. Also, I have discovered VR and love it. That’s actually the primary reason for the upgrade. Thoughts?

Thanks! 

[Virtual-Chris]

One way to look at it is that DLSS is just another setting you can use to trade image quality for performance.  In the sim, you have several settings that do this already...

• Resolution - run at lower res for more FPS and lower image quality
• Scaling - render at a lower res and then upscale for more FPS and lower image quality
• LOD - use lower LOD for more FPS and lower image quality
• Other Graphic Settings for terrain, trees, objects, etc - trades FPS for image quality

DLSS2 is just another one of these settings that trades FPS for image quality... it's really just a new form of scaling which you already have, except it uses machine learning to try and fill in the gaps.

It comes down to, what image quality sacrifices are you willing to make and what FPS are you willing to live with?  No one can decide for you as you may be really bothered by blurry cockpit instruments, or LOD pop-in, or poor quality textures, etc. while others aren't.

When it comes to what GPU to buy, I would personally only ever buy Nvidia, but not because of DLSS, just because they seem to have the best overall solution from cards, to drivers, to game support. They are pushing tech forward though with DLSS and that's another good reason to buy Nvidia.  AMD makes the best processors right now (in my view) but Nvidia makes the best GPUs.