Fingers on: Windows’ DLSS rival is not prepared to save lots of handheld gaming

Last week Microsoft introduced the arrival of Auto SR, its Windows-branded various to upscaling tech like DLSS, with nice fanfare. After being semi-exclusive to Snapdragon laptops, it got here to the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and… nothing else. Not even the non-X variant, because it wants an NPU to run. And additionally it solely works in docked mode, not handheld mode. Far from a terrific begin.

PCWorld video chief Adam Patrick Murray simply occurs to have an Xbox Ally X (the black one, once more, the one one which this works on) over in our labs. He was form sufficient to run just a few exams. And suffice it to say, between the poor visuals, added complications, and unusual limitations — solely engaged on one ROG Xbox Ally X mannequin, solely in docked mode, and solely at a 720p decision for upscaling — this isn’t the panacea for PC handhelds that Microsoft would love you to assume it’s.

Since Microsoft held up Borderlands 3 as a perfect take a look at mattress for Auto SR, that’s the place Adam began. At the medium preset, which is fairly okay for the Xbox Ally X’s built-in graphics working on the 35-watt “turbo mode,” AutoSR managed to spice up the framerate as much as 62. That’s higher than 57 frames per second on the advisable 1080p….however solely by about ten p.c. And you lose just a few frames versus working unenhanced on the identical 720p base decision.

Borderlands 3, DX12, fullscreen, medium preset

1080p native	57 FPS common
720p native	68 FPS common
Auto SR 720p	62 FPS common

But the numbers don’t inform the entire story. According to Adam, getting this to work requires greater than plugging in a dock and flipping a change in settings. In his phrases it seems a lot worse than native — no surprise these Microsoft screenshots had been so cropped. He says it’s far more costly by way of efficiency and appears worse than native, with different complications in addition. “Clunky as [bleep] and I had to restart the game sometimes to get it to take hold.”

While it’s solely formally supported on a handful of video games, Windows 11’s Auto SR tech ought to work with something working DirectX 10 or later. So he additionally tried a few benchmark staples, which give us the chance to check out different upscaling tech too.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider, DX12, fullscreen, highest preset, no RT, no AA

1080p native	46 FPS common
720p native	68 FPS common
Auto SR 720p	58 FPS common
XeSS 720p (high quality)	46 FPS common

In Tomb Raider Microsoft’s Auto SR outperformed Intel’s XeSS (which will also be used on AMD and Nvidia GPUs), and hit someplace between non-enhanced 720p and 1080p efficiency. But once more, the muddy graphics drag down the expertise. “For my money, 720p native looked way better than Auto SR, which was super swimmy,” Adam says.

Cyberpunk 2077, fullscreen, Steam Deck preset

1080p native	41 FPS common
720p native	63 FPS common
Auto SR 720p	54 FPS common
FSR 2.1 720p (high quality)	50 FPS common
FSR 3 720p (high quality)	53 FPS common
XeSS 2 720p (high quality)	sport crashed

Cyberpunk might be essentially the most related take a look at right here, because it’s a extra recent-ish sport with tons of visible aptitude, and lets us take a look at Microsoft, AMD, and Intel upscaling tech. It’s additionally a sport you’d need to play on a handheld, regardless of the compromises mandatory. Again, Auto SR falls in between 720p native and 1080p native by way of efficiency, however it’s working neck and neck with AMD’s FSR tech. And once more, not less than to Adam’s eyes on a docked show, the native graphics look a lot cleaner even when they’re working at decrease efficient resolutions.

Windows 11’s Auto SR brings alongside some complications, too. Disconnecting from the dock made Steam scale incorrectly, requiring a reboot…which brought on Windows to scale incorrectly. Between the extremely particular situations required to truly use it, the poor visible high quality of the tech itself, and the headache of switching again to handheld mode, it looks as if it simply isn’t well worth the hassle for the time being.

To be honest, that is very clearly labelled as a “Preview” by each Microsoft and Windows itself. But it’s clear that Auto SR has an extended strategy to go to compete with upscaling methods which were round for some time.