Upshift 1.3.0

A simpler game page, a new DLSS 5 build, uninstall that can undo Upshift's changes to games, HelixSR (experimental, still in testing), a warning for Capcom RE Engine games, and a more flexible Measure performance.

New

• Simpler. The game page has two tabs, Upscaling and Performance; Files and History are under Advanced. Upscaling shows the upscaler, frame generation and frame cap, with everything else under More options. Notes are one short line, with details in a tooltip; colour is kept for real warnings. The Library says what Upshift does: better upscaling in any game, one click, undo anytime.
• A page for each game. Picking a game opens its own page in place of the Library, with its art across the top, its name, store and graphics API, Install or Update, and Play. Back (or Esc, or the mouse's back button) returns to the Library at the same place.
  • Warnings first on the Upscaling tab: anti-cheat, needs repair, a damaged record, Battle.net and REFramework.
  • Capcom RE Engine games get the REFramework notice: where to get it, which file to copy where, and Check again. If OptiScaler is already there without REFramework, the notice offers to remove it.
• A new DLSS 5 build for NVIDIA cards: Upshift now uses Skynizz's OptiScaler DLSS 5 build (v1.2.1) in place of Dagherbou's OptiScaler_DLSSNR, which it no longer installs or updates. Official OptiScaler doesn't include Neural Rendering yet. The new build goes on top of the regular OptiScaler already in the game: only its OptiScaler.dll, OptiScaler.ini and its small forwarder DLL are added, never its own installer or tools, and "Switch back" still returns the game to the regular OptiScaler exactly. You still add your own nvngx_dlssnr.dll in Settings.
  • Games already on Dagherbou's build show "Move to the new DLSS 5 build" in their DLSS 5 section. It switches back to the regular OptiScaler exactly, then to the new build, and keeps Neural Rendering on or off, the hotkey and the sliders.
• Uninstalling Upshift can undo what it did to your games. The uninstaller asks "Also remove OptiScaler and Upshift's changes from your games?" (Yes by default). Yes removes OptiScaler and everything Upshift added from every game, puts back the game's own DLSS, FSR and XeSS files Upshift replaced. It works from each game's own record, so REFramework, saves, other mods and the files you supply in Settings stay where they are, and so does any file that changed since Upshift's change (listed). A game that's running, or has a file in use, is skipped and listed, and the rest carry on. Your OptiScaler settings are saved for a later reinstall unless you also delete Upshift's data. Updating Upshift never does this.
  • Portable version: Settings > "Remove Upshift from all games" does the same.
• "Get FSR 4.1.1b" in Settings, beside the FSR 4.1.1b file: it opens the release page on GitHub (Upshift still never downloads the file). When you choose the file, Upshift checks it against the release download you saved (found in Downloads, on the Desktop or next to the file) and says whether it's that release's file. A different file gets a warning, and you can keep it.
• Measure records frame-time spikes (frames that took more than twice the usual frame time) with each new result.
• Battle.net games get a warning on their game page and before OptiScaler is installed: most are played online, where changed game files can get players banned, so check that the game allows mods first.
• Sharing results. Each measurement can carry a note (resolution and in-game settings, which Upshift can't read), and can be copied as text or saved as an image with the game, the frame rates, the verdict, and the PC's processor, graphics card, memory and Windows version. "Export all results" saves every game's results as a CSV file to combine with other PCs. Shared results never include your Windows user name, the PC's name or a folder path.
• HelixSR (experimental, still in testing), for AMD RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 cards (RX 5000 and RX 6000 series, and Radeon 680M-class graphics): HelixSR is an unofficial project, not affiliated with NVIDIA or AMD, that runs NVIDIA's DLSS 3.7 network on Radeon cards without FSR 4. It's off by default. On those cards, the Updates page has a HelixSR row with "Set up". After you accept a notice (what HelixSR is, everything its setup downloads and from where, that its source code isn't published and nothing it ships is signed, and how long it takes), Upshift runs the HelixSR author's own setup once. It downloads only the HelixSR release Upshift has checked, verifies it and its scripts against pinned SHA-256 values, and stops with the real error if anything goes wrong, leaving nothing half-installed.
• Setup progress you can leave: the setup keeps running if you switch to another page, and the HelixSR row picks it up again when you come back. The time keeps counting through the last step (compiling shaders), which takes several minutes and prints nothing while it works. If the setup ends for any reason, including being closed from outside, Upshift notices and shows the result.
• "DLSS 3.7 via HelixSR (experimental, still in testing)" is then an upscaler choice in Direct3D 12 games with OptiScaler installed by Upshift. Choosing it points OptiScaler at HelixSR's files in Upshift's data folder; nothing is added to the game folder, and choosing another upscaler or uninstalling puts OptiScaler.ini back exactly. HelixSR and FSR 4 both use OptiScaler's FSR slot, so turning one on turns the other off, and Upshift says so.
• Safety net: if Upshift didn't close properly last time and a game is set to HelixSR, Upshift switches that game back to its previous upscaler at start-up and offers "Turn HelixSR back on".
• Which option to pick in the game's own menu: once OptiScaler is installed, its options say which upscaler to choose in the game's graphics menu: the OptiScaler wiki's advice for that game when it has some, otherwise DLSS when the game offers it, otherwise FSR 3.1, then XeSS. The same line shows when HelixSR is selected.
• Capcom RE Engine games: OptiScaler's wiki says these games need REFramework before OptiScaler works. Upshift recognises them by the engine's own files, not by name, and asks before installing OptiScaler into one without REFramework in its folder:
  • Games the wiki confirms (Resident Evil 2, 3, 4, 7, Village and Requiem, Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Wilds, Monster Hunter Stories 3, Dragon's Dogma 2, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, PRAGMATA): "This game crashes with OptiScaler unless REFramework is installed first."
  • Any other RE Engine game: "Capcom RE Engine games usually need REFramework before OptiScaler will work. Check that REFramework supports this game."
  • Games the wiki says don't need it, such as Monster Hunter Rise, get no warning.
  • Both lists are in Upshift's online catalog, so they can change without an app update. Upshift never downloads or installs REFramework, and games with anti-cheat stay blocked as before.
• Measure performance:
  • Choose how long to measure, from 10 seconds to 30 minutes (60 seconds by default); Upshift remembers your choice.
  • Press the hotkey again during a measurement to stop early and keep the result.
  • Each result shows how long it really ran.
  • New: Max FPS, the best one-second average (not the single fastest frame), in results, history and the comparison. Older results show a dash.
  • New: what held the frame rate back. Each result says "Limited by your graphics card", "Limited by your processor", "Balanced" or "Limited by your frame cap" (when Upshift's frame cap or VSync sets the pace), with one line of advice: a lower upscaler quality when it's the card, frame generation when it's the processor. With frame generation on, the verdict is marked less certain.
  • The details behind it: how long the graphics card and the processor were busy and waiting per frame (from PresentMon's recording), GPU usage, processor usage and its busiest core, and peak video memory against what the card has (from Windows' own counters, no extra download). They're saved with each result and shown in the comparison and history; older results, or a counter a PC doesn't have, show a dash.
  • While waiting, Upshift says "Waiting for you to press F10 in the game" instead of just spinning.
  • The hotkey works in more games. Some games keep keys to themselves, so F10 never reached Upshift (for example Resident Evil Requiem). Upshift now also watches the key the way overlays do; the key still goes to the game as before.
  • "Start in 10 seconds" for games where no key works: press it in Upshift's window, switch to the game, and measuring starts by itself. "Stop and keep result" ends it early.
• "Which upscaler should I pick?" on RX 6000 cards compares HelixSR with FSR 4.1.1b and suggests trying both with Measure performance.
• "Is it working?" also reads HelixSR's own log and says whether its DLSS network actually ran. "Report a problem" includes that log, never HelixSR's network files.
• Safe if something's missing: if a game is set to HelixSR and HelixSR's files are gone, Upshift switches the game back to the upscaler it had before and tells you. "Remove HelixSR" switches every game using it back first, then deletes its files, and offers to delete the setup's tools too. If HelixSR's files are incomplete or can't be read (a setup that didn't finish, a damaged record), it shows as "Not set up" with the reason and a "Remove what's there" link; HelixSR's state can never stop Upshift from starting.

Where HelixSR stands:

• HelixSR's setup has completed once, on a Radeon RX 6600.
• HelixSR has never been run in a game.
• A crash of Upshift after that setup was hardened against, but it isn't confirmed fixed.

If you have an RX 5000 or RX 6000 card and try it, please tell us how it went, good or bad, with Report a problem (About page, or in the game's panel). On other cards the HelixSR row explains why it isn't needed.

Not tested yet

These were tested only on test folders, copies or made-up data, not in a real game or a real install:

• The new DLSS 5 build running in a game, and "Move to the new DLSS 5 build" on a real game.
• Measure's hotkey in a game that keeps keys to itself (such as Resident Evil Requiem), and "Start in 10 seconds" with a real measurement.
• Removing Upshift from games through a real uninstall, and games in protected folders that need Windows' permission.
• The FSR 4.1.1b check with the real release file (Upshift never downloads it).
• HelixSR in a game (see above).

Fixes

• The Measure length box no longer shows arrows that float over the text below while typing.
• A small "Esc" hint no longer pops up at random places on a game's page. Esc still goes back to the Library.
• Frame cap: the X clears the cap, and an empty box (or 0) means no cap; neither turns into 1 fps any more. The lowest cap is 10 fps. Clearing now always writes OptiScaler's "off" value (0) to OptiScaler.ini: before, a cap that was already in the file when Upshift first changed it (for example 40, set in OptiScaler's menu or restored with your settings) came back after saving.
• "Is it working?" before the game's first run now says "Run the game once, then press Check again."
• The PresentMon row on the Updates page showed a greyed-out "No download" when PresentMon wasn't on the PC; it's a working Download button again.
• Restoring your previous OptiScaler settings after a reinstall no longer brings back settings that pointed at HelixSR's files.

SHA-256

• Upshift-Setup-x64.exe: bfd19759099bfe7b0d585f3160d35f5f5ee5a59ead98455a4f3bf5559b059c33
• Upshift-Portable-x64.zip: c8a117a34da5a7785d3b15bcfeca62497aa2664f01ef642a6f85ca0212d7c674