How to Improve ACC Graphics at Zero Performance Cost (RTX Tips)

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As you may have read from the title, the tips suggested in the following article apply only to RTX graphics card users using a 1080p or 1440p monitor.

I love Assetto Corsa Competizione. While I prefer classic and vintage race cars, with which I am much more skilled and competitive, I really appreciate the idea of having a simulation dedicated to a single series with all the benefits that come with it. It's more focused and I get a lot more out of my simulation time than if I was hopping costantly between wildly different vehicles. I can focus, practice, learn more about driving with the intention of improving my awareness and technique behind the wheel in real life.

Unfortunately, however, ACC really doesn't look that great unless you got a 4k monitor. Aside from scary aliasing, which has alway been a feature of all the Kunos games I have tried (NetKar Pro, Assetto Corsa/Competizione), as they never managed to properly implement efficient AA techniques into their titles, their latest sim also presents washed-out, blurry image quality at resolutions below 4k.
One way to solve this problem, if playing on a Full HD or 2K monitor, is to increase the image scaling in ACC's video options to at least 150%. This makes it much sharper, although at a significant cost in terms of performance.

It came to a point where spending consistent time with the sim was having a toll on my eyes, and I had to take some time off from ACC in order to avoid straining them excessively. I was at a loss about what to do to remedy the situation. Purely by chance, I found the solution.

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DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution)​

If you follow tech news, you may know that Nvidia introduced with the Maxwell (900 series) GPUs a new upscaling technique called DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution). In simple terms, this technique improved the resolution by a predetermined percentage that you could choose in the Nvidia control panel (henceforth referred to as NVCPL) and then scaled it according to the actual monitor output. All this was done by applying a Gaussian filter to attenuate any artifacts resulting from upscaling and subsequent downsampling of the image.

This technique has its downsides and, ultimately, is not much different from what can already be achieved in ACC using the in-game image scaling option mentioned earlier. Again, improved quality, but at a significant cost in terms of performance.

DLDSR (Deep-Learning Dynamic Super Resolution)​

What I wasn't aware of is that Nvidia recently introduced, through a driver update, a new technology called DLDSR (Deep-Learning Dynamic Super Resolution). It is still the old DSR but on artificial intelligence steroids. Taking advantage of the tensor cores on RTX cards, the upscaling process is now handled by AI, leading to massive improvements in both quality and performance cost. Applying a 2.25x filter from NVCPL now achieves the same 4k upscaling result, albeit with better results than the previous DSR, using half the GPU resources than before!

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Combine DLDSR with DLSS​

This on and by itself is already great but wait, there's more.
I learned in fact that you can combine DLDSR with DLSS, if the game supports it, to achieve better image quality at 0 performance cost. Fortunately, ACC has recently introduced DLSS support, which is now available in the video options.
What you want to do then is:
  • go into your NVCPL
  • navigate to "Manage 3d Setting" (or equivalent in your set language)
  • look for the "DSR - Factors" option and set it to "2.25x DL"
  • leave "DSR - Smoothness" to default 33% (more on that later)
  • go in game, open the ACC video options menu and change the video resolution to the new value that is gonna be now available; then navigate down to DLSS, set it on, leaving it on "Quality" with 0% "Sharpness".
That's it!
Go into a practice session and enjoy 4k quality at no performance cost.
Now, the image may look a little too sharp. No problem, this is due to the DLDSR smoothing option. This new technique actually makes the image much sharper than the old DSR, with which 0-10% smoothness was generally recommended. With DLDSR, it is recommended to use 40-60%. I personally use 40%.

I'll link a video from Digital Foundry where, as per usual, they take an in-depth look at this technology and its various options.


You don't need much "juice" to make this work; I have a simple RTX 2060, which is the stepping stone for Ray Tracing technology. However, it is damn effective, pardon the language, and has definitely solved my problems with the less-than-stellar image quality of ACC at lower resolutions. Sure, there's still some aliasing in places, but it's totally acceptable now.

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I hope this will come useful to you, and remember not to do anything out of the ordinary to avoid breaking stuff you're not supposed to touch. We do not take responsibility for it.

Have fun!
About author
Davide Nativo
Petrolhead and Simracer, passionate since the cradle about cars, motorsports and simracing. I read a lot, and I love to share what I've learned with others!

Comments

I had this problem with G9 and ACC, mentioned it here DLDSR/Better AA with Samsung G9.
The recommendation to match desktop to used DSR resolution was from reddit.
Thought it was my multi monitor setup specific, but could be that it's just ACC as I can play other titles at non desktop DSR resolutions just fine.
Refresh rate is unaffected though, I can still run at 120hz.
Thank you, I used your workthrough and it works. I does cost me around 30FPS, but maybe thats because I have a rtx 20 series card with less tensor cores
 
The best use for DSR are actually old sims like RBR, GTR2, GTL, rF1, Automobilista, etc... You can run them using DSR and it will look better than any mod you install. Give it a try and you wont regret it. Use at least 2.7x
 
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  • Deleted member 197115

The best use for DSR are actually old sims like RBR, GTR2, GTL, rF1, Automobilista, etc... You can run them using DSR and it will look better than any mod you install. Give it a try and you wont regret it. Use at least 2.7x
Without DLSS my 3080Ti can only stomach 1.78x DLSR, but it does clean up aliasing very nicely in AC.
 
Do you run the game dedicated full screen or borderless windowed (so you can use overlays? If you run borderless window you also have to set your desktop to the new resolution. If dedicated full screen, you can have your desktop in your "old" resolution
I had to change the desktop resolution as well even though ACC runs in fullscreen mode.

Kinda off-topic, but i used to run it in borderless window mode to be able to run Simhub overlays until i found out that i lost Gsync that way.
 
I'm trying to get this to work on my system.
I have Evga rtx 2080 ti ftw3 with an LG NanoCell 49SM86 @ 3840x2160
The game runs well with my present setup, hoping to get a little more performance.
When I select DSR, the options are 1.78x DL @ 5461 x 2366 or 2.25x DL @ 6144 x 3240
When I try to set it I get a loss in FPS that is unacceptable.
any thoughts.
I've tried this with and without changing the desktop resolution.
 
I'm trying to get this to work on my system.
I have Evga rtx 2080 ti ftw3 with an LG NanoCell 49SM86 @ 3840x2160
The game runs well with my present setup, hoping to get a little more performance.
When I select DSR, the options are 1.78x DL @ 5461 x 2366 or 2.25x DL @ 6144 x 3240
When I try to set it I get a loss in FPS that is unacceptable.
any thoughts.
I've tried this with and without changing the desktop resolution.
That's normal! Dldsr takes a lot of performance. The trick here is that using dlss instead of TAA will give you almost all fps back.

Were you using dlss before? Than dldsr will just take away the fps.

But if you were using TAA before, you can now change to dlss to gain a lot of fps, then take them away again with dldsr.
The end result will look a lot better than TAA with native resolution!
 
Do Windows resolution settings need to be changed in the OS? I tried this with my 2080 Super but had issues with video flashing and not sizing correctly in ACC.

Maybe a step by step guide would be handy?
 
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  • Deleted member 197115

There is also DLAA trick, essentially NVidia AI based antialiasing without upscaling.
From my tests it's on a blurry side, and nowhere as good as DLDSR + DLSS, but may be some massaging can make it work for some, like extra sharpness or changing base resolution.
 
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There is also DLAA trick, essentially NVidia AI based antialiasing without upscaling.
From my tests it's on a blurry side, and nowhere as good as DLDSR + DLSS, but may be some massaging can make it work for some, like extra sharpness or changing base resolution.
I tested this in VR. My observations: It gives a bit less ghosting compared to DLSS and it's sharper than DLSS alone. But it still gives to much ghosting and it's to demanding compared to TAA but the anti aliasing is a little bit nicer than the anti aliasing of TAA. So if Nvidia can get rid of the ghosting then DLAA can be a winner for ACC in VR when the 5090 is released. Until then it's not really an option for VR users.
 
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Absolutely amazing, I can actually enjoy playing ACC now. 3340 x 1440 ultrawide and 3080, finally looks so crisp and has doubled my FPS, all on Ultra. I had 100% given up on ACC due to the terrible visual quality and low FPS. Can't thank you enough, you absolute legend :thumbsup:
 
Help. I have a LG 45 inch ultrawide monitor with 3080TI. I cannot get DSR factors to show up in NVIDIA control panel. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I use HDMI 2.1 cable. I have tried changing refresh rate from 240 to 144 without success.
 
Help. I have a LG 45 inch ultrawide monitor with 3080TI. I cannot get DSR factors to show up in NVIDIA control panel. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I use HDMI 2.1 cable. I have tried changing refresh rate from 240 to 144 without success.
Are you using updated drivers?
 
Is it also good for a oled c2 with rtx 4090 card. Is it usefull to put this settings in nvcp dsll and dsr 2.25 33% and also dsll in acc for best picture quality
 
I tried DLDSR yesterday on the Nordschleife and I was impressed how good the game finally looks.
To me, native res + taa looks terrible, to the point I didn't like playing ACC. There are still some UE issues like ghosting or cable lines aa, but it's not that bad. With RTX3070, 5600x and 16gb DDR4 I got around 70 fps with 3440x1440 on high/ultra settings (2,25x DL + quality DLSS) while hotlaping though.
It is demanding for sure, but really worth a try.
 
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