Steam Deck DLSS sounded impossible, so I tested HelixSR and here's what happened

Up until now, the idea of running Nvidia's DLSS technology on a Steam Deck's AMD AP processor seemed impossible. However, a mod called HelixSR has made this a reality by allowing users to swap in DLSS 3.7 instead of AMD's own FSR. I decided to put this mod to the test on my Steam Deck and document the results. Setting up HelixSR was straightforward; all I had to do was download a zip file from GitHub and run the included script.

Once installed, the mod effectively fakes the Steam Deck as an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, thanks to the dlss.dll that it installs. Upon installation, I noticed that some previous mods like Optiscaler needed to be removed first. After launching the mod, I tested Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, two games known for their visual fidelity.

In my tests, there wasn't much of a noticeable difference between the stock upscalers and HelixSR. Both versions of the mod ran at a frame rate of around 3.1 to 3.9 milliseconds per frame, with the latter being $3 more costly on average. Despite the small performance difference, the overall experience wasn't drastically altered.

While HelixSR's DLSS looked a little rougher around sharp edges compared to FSR or XeSS, it wasn't enough to be noticeable during gameplay. Both games used more CPU resources before they hit their GPU limits, suggesting that upscaling technology has its limits on a power-starved device like the Steam Deck. In the future, I plan to test this mod on other handheld devices I have on hand, but I don't expect significant improvements.

Upscaling can only go so far, and even on a larger screen, the games will likely still appear blurry and pixelated. Nonetheless, I think it's impressive that Nvidia's DLSS technology can run on a device with no Tensor cores. Although frame generation is currently stuck at the 2.0.0 release of HelixSR, it's worth testing for curiosity's sake, but only if you don't have anti-cheat software installed.