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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →NVIDIA said its GeForce RTX 4090 exceeded 120 frames per second in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl at 4K with maximum settings and DLSS 3 enabled. That headline result came from NVIDIA’s own pre-release testing and combined DLSS Super Resolution with Frame Generation; it was not an independent benchmark and does not mean the game renders 120 native frames per second.
NVIDIA published its initial S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 DLSS announcement on November 12, 2024, ahead of the game’s November 20 release. A launch-week update on November 19 reiterated the performance claims. The announcement covered GeForce RTX 40-series desktop and laptop GPUs, NVIDIA Reflex, DLSS Super Resolution, DLSS Frame Generation, and a Game Ready driver.
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What NVIDIA claimed
Across its RTX 40-series results, NVIDIA reported an average 2.4× performance increase at 4K maximum settings with DLSS 3 enabled. At 1080p, it claimed an average 1.9× uplift and said every RTX 40-series desktop GPU exceeded 60 FPS at maximum settings with DLSS 3. At 1440p, NVIDIA said the fastest configurations reached up to 145 FPS.
| GPU | Resolution and settings | NVIDIA-reported result |
|---|---|---|
| RTX 4070 | 4K, maximum | About 30 FPS without DLSS 3; about 70 FPS with DLSS 3 |
| RTX 4070 SUPER | 4K, maximum | About 87 FPS with DLSS 3 |
| RTX 4070 Ti SUPER | 4K, maximum | About 100 FPS with DLSS 3 |
| RTX 4080 SUPER | 4K, maximum | About 112.7 FPS with DLSS 3, according to NVIDIA chart reporting |
| RTX 4090 | 4K, maximum | More than 120 FPS with DLSS 3; about 52 FPS without it, according to reported chart data |
The 4080 SUPER and approximately 52-to-123-FPS RTX 4090 comparison were reported from NVIDIA’s chart by PC Gamer and TweakTown. They should be treated as reported NVIDIA figures, not independent measurements.
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1440p and 1080p results
TweakTown’s transcription of NVIDIA’s chart put the RTX 4090 at approximately 145 FPS at 1440p with DLSS 3. The RTX 4060 Ti reportedly rose from roughly 34 FPS to 73 FPS with Frame Generation enabled. At 1080p, the RTX 4060 was reported at approximately 43 FPS without DLSS 3 and 85 FPS with it, while the RTX 4070 SUPER rose from about 76 FPS to 141 FPS.
NVIDIA also published laptop figures. TweakTown reported approximately 62-to-123 FPS for the RTX 4090 Laptop at 1440p, 56-to-110 FPS for the RTX 4080 Laptop, and 37-to-76 FPS for the RTX 4070 Laptop. At 1080p, its reported figures were about 46-to-93 FPS for the RTX 4060 Laptop and 36-to-73 FPS for the RTX 4050 Laptop. Laptop results vary substantially with power limits, cooling, CPU choice, and memory configuration.
“DLSS 3” is more than an upscaling preset
NVIDIA’s headline results used a combination of:
- DLSS Super Resolution: the game renders internally below the output resolution and reconstructs the image.
- DLSS Frame Generation: AI-assisted additional frames are inserted between traditionally rendered frames.
- NVIDIA Reflex: latency-reduction technology intended to improve responsiveness, which is particularly relevant when generated frames are enabled.
Therefore, “DLSS 3 doubled performance” is an incomplete description. NVIDIA’s 4K figures specifically refer to DLSS Super Resolution and Frame Generation working together. A 120-FPS counter can include many generated frames, while input response remains more closely tied to the lower base frame rate produced by the game engine and GPU.
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The hardware limitation behind the headline
The advertised Frame Generation figures applied to GeForce RTX 40-series cards. They should not be generalized automatically to RTX 20-series or RTX 30-series GPUs. Older RTX cards may support DLSS Super Resolution in the game, but that is separate from the RTX 40-series Frame Generation results shown by NVIDIA.
NVIDIA’s published material did not provide a complete methodology in its main text. TweakTown reported a test system using an Intel Core i9-14900K, 64GB of RAM, Windows 11, maximum game settings, and 1080p, 1440p, and 4K testing. The published information did not clearly establish the exact DLSS mode at every resolution, the test scene and run length, average-FPS calculation method, 1% lows, frame-time consistency, shader-compilation state, or whether every result used a pre-release game build.
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Those details matter. An average can conceal traversal stutter, shader-compilation hitches, CPU limitations, or inconsistent frame pacing. The results also came from testing before the game’s release, so they should not be treated as a guarantee for every driver, patch, CPU, or current game version.
Independent testing was much less spectacular at native 4K
TechSpot’s independent testing used the Epic preset and examined native resolution and quality upscaling without Frame Generation in its main analysis. It found the RTX 4090 at about 60 FPS at native 4K and about 79 FPS at 4K with quality upscaling. The RTX 4080 SUPER reached about 65 FPS at 4K with quality upscaling.
At native 1440p Epic, TechSpot measured roughly 88 FPS on the RTX 4090. It also observed CPU-limited behavior in portions of the test, even with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform. PC Gamer similarly noted that NVIDIA’s chart appeared to flatten at lower resolutions as faster GPUs delivered smaller gains, suggesting a CPU limit in some scenarios. That does not prove the entire game is CPU-bound everywhere, but it shows why a faster graphics card cannot guarantee proportional scaling.
TechSpot also found serious problems on 8GB graphics cards at 1440p Epic, even with upscaling. VRAM pressure produced substantial performance variance and could lead to poor frame times despite an apparently acceptable average. Players with 8GB cards should lower texture or overall quality settings rather than assuming a more aggressive upscaler will solve every problem.
What performance target should you expect?
- 1080p/60: NVIDIA’s chart suggests that RTX 40-series desktop cards can reach this target at maximum settings with DLSS 3. Independent results and current patches can differ.
- 1440p/60: A modern midrange or high-end GPU with upscaling is a more realistic starting point than native rendering at maximum settings. VRAM capacity and frame-time consistency still matter.
- 1440p/100 or higher: NVIDIA’s figures indicate that Frame Generation can push faster RTX 40-series systems beyond 100 FPS, but check the underlying rendered frame rate and CPU utilization.
- 4K/60: Upscaling should be considered effectively necessary for most systems at maximum settings. Native 4K is extremely demanding even for an RTX 4090.
- 4K/120: The RTX 4090 is the clearest match for NVIDIA’s advertised result, but only under its test conditions with DLSS Super Resolution and Frame Generation. It is not a native 4K/120 guarantee.
How the official requirements fit in
The game’s Steam listing gives a different baseline from NVIDIA’s maximum-settings showcase. The listed minimum configuration targets 1080p/30 on Low and includes 16GB of RAM, a GTX 1060 6GB, RX 580 8GB, or Arc A750, plus 160GB of storage on an SSD. The recommended configuration targets 1440p/60 on High and lists 32GB of RAM, an RTX 3070 Ti or RTX 4070, or an RX 6800 XT.
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Those targets use TSR or comparable reconstruction technologies in the requirements notes and should not be compared directly with NVIDIA’s maximum-settings DLSS 3 figures. They describe different presets, resolutions, and performance goals.
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Install the relevant driver before troubleshooting performance
NVIDIA directed users to install the game’s Game Ready driver through the NVIDIA App or the official GeForce driver page. A current driver cannot eliminate CPU limits or VRAM constraints, but it is a sensible first step before comparing performance with NVIDIA’s launch claims.
Bottom line
NVIDIA’s STALKER 2 benchmark was a credible demonstration of how dramatically DLSS 3 could raise the displayed frame rate in a demanding game, especially at 4K. Its RTX 4090 result above 120 FPS was achieved with both Super Resolution and Frame Generation in NVIDIA’s own pre-release test conditions. Independent testing without Frame Generation found much lower native-4K performance and exposed CPU, VRAM, and frame-time limitations that the headline average did not show.
Use NVIDIA’s chart to understand the feature’s potential, not as a universal performance guarantee. For a buying or settings decision, prioritize the base frame rate, 1% lows, frame pacing, VRAM capacity, CPU performance, and the resolution and preset you actually intend to use.
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