HelixSR
NVIDIA's DLSS Model E neural upscaler for AMD GPUs.
HelixSR runs NVIDIA's DLSS Model E network as standard Direct3D 12 compute shaders, without NVIDIA Tensor Cores, an NVIDIA driver, CUDA, or ROCm. It behaves like DLSS: no sharpening, every quality mode from native (DLAA) to Ultra Performance, dynamic resolution.
The goal is to help gamers get better image quality from the hardware they already own, particularly older and lower-end GPUs.
HelixSR is an independent, unofficial project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NVIDIA, AMD or the OptiScaler project.
Version 1.7.0. For AMD RDNA 1 and newer GPUs, on Linux (Proton) and Windows. Developed and tested on the AMD BC-250 (gfx1013, Linux, Mesa RADV); other GPUs and Windows are not tested by us.
If 1.7.0 does not work for you, use HelixSR 1.4.3 (and please open an issue with helixsr.log).
Install
- Download
HelixSR-1.7.0.zip and extract it into a folder you keep (for example C:\HelixSR or your home folder).
- Run the setup in that folder:
- Windows: double-click
helixsr-setup.bat
- Linux / Steam Deck:
./helixsr-setup.sh (in a terminal, or double-click and choose Run in terminal)
- The first time, it asks to download NVIDIA's DLSS DLL (press Enter) and builds HelixSR's network from it (about a minute).
- It then lists your Steam games and asks for each one: install HelixSR? [Y/n]. Close your games first.
- Start the game and select the upscaler the setup told you: DLSS for games that have DLSS, AMD FSR for games that only have FSR.
No launch options, no settings files.
Update: run the setup again. For games that have HelixSR it asks Update it? [Y/n, r = remove].
Uninstall: run helixsr-uninstall.bat (Windows) or ./helixsr-uninstall.sh (Linux). It removes HelixSR from the games you pick and puts back every file as it was; at the end it can also delete the built network files and the setup's downloads. A game you added by hand: drop its folder onto the uninstaller (Windows) or pass it (./helixsr-uninstall.sh /path/to/game).
How HelixSR gets into a game
The setup picks one of two ways per game:
| The game has |
What the setup does |
Select in the game |
| DLSS (or XeSS / FSR 2) |
Installs the official OptiScaler 0.9.4 next to the game's .exe and points its FSR 3.1 backend at HelixSR (a HelixSR folder next to it). The game's DLSS inputs reach HelixSR. |
DLSS |
| only FSR 3.1 |
Replaces the game's FSR 3.1 DLL with HelixSR, as in 1.4.3; the game's file is kept as *.original.dll. No OptiScaler. |
AMD FSR |
Everything the setup replaces is kept: in the game's HelixSR\backup folder (OptiScaler way) or as *.original.dll.
A game that is not listed (not from Steam, or not detected): see manual-install\README.txt, which the setup creates. It has the files and steps for both ways.
Updating HelixSR: extract the new version into a new folder, run its setup and answer yes to update your games.
Switching between HelixSR and AMD FSR / FSR 4
In games installed the OptiScaler way (games with DLSS):
- In the game, press Insert to open OptiScaler's menu.
- Upscaling tab → Upscalers → FFX Upscaler list.
- Pick FSR HelixSR (3.1.5) for HelixSR (the default), or AMD's FSR 3.1.5 / FSR 4.x. It switches right away.
FSR 4 is in that list only on GPUs AMD's DLL supports it on, or with your own FSR 4 DLL (below).
Games installed the direct way (FSR only) have no menu: HelixSR always runs there. To use the game's own FSR again, run the setup and remove HelixSR (r).
Your own FSR DLL (for example FSR 4):
- One game: put the DLL into the
my-fsr folder inside the game's HelixSR folder (next to the game's .exe) and start the game again. No setup needed. Delete it to go back.
- All games: put the DLL into the
my-fsr folder of this HelixSR download, run the setup again and press Enter for your games. Take it out and run the setup again to go back.
Either way it is listed in the FFX Upscaler list by its version (for example FSR 4.1.1), next to HelixSR.
Troubleshooting
- Red border around the image, low resolution, shaking image: HelixSR's network is not running.
helixsr.log (in the game's HelixSR folder, or next to the game's FSR DLL) says why. Run the setup again and let it download NVIDIA's DLL.
- DLSS is not offered in a game: select FSR or XeSS instead if the game has them (OptiScaler hands them to HelixSR too), or open an issue with
OptiScaler.log (next to the game's .exe).
- Something else looks wrong: open an issue with
helixsr.log and, for the OptiScaler way, OptiScaler.log.
Setup details
- The setup downloads NVIDIA's DLSS 310.7.0 DLL from NVIDIA's GitHub (github.com/NVIDIA/DLSS, NVIDIA's license applies) after asking, builds the network for your GPU (RDNA 3 and newer get extra 64-lane shaders;
--wave64 builds those too) into helixsr_weights.bin and helixsr_kernels.pak, and deletes NVIDIA's DLL again. Already have DLSS 310.7.0 (or 310.2) from a game? --dlss <path to nvngx_dlss.dll>.
- Windows: Python, numpy and the shader compiler are downloaded once into
%LOCALAPPDATA%\HelixSR. No admin rights.
- Linux: needs Python 3 with numpy (the setup uses your system's, offers to install them, or downloads a portable Python into
~/.local/share/HelixSR on read-only systems such as SteamOS and Bazzite). The shader compiler runs through Proton.
- Every download is pinned to an exact version and checked by SHA-256.
helixsr_weights.bin and helixsr_kernels.pak contain NVIDIA's network: they are for your own PC, do not share or upload them.
How it works
This is NVIDIA's network running on different hardware, not a newly trained model. HelixSR answers the game exactly as DLSS would: DLSS's camera jitter (8 × scale² Halton positions), DLSS's render sizes per quality mode, no sharpening (a game's FSR sharpening request is not applied), reactive masks ignored. In Ultra Performance the network outputs twice the render size and a final pass scales that to the screen (less shimmer, about 30% faster). Packed FP16 arithmetic makes the output close to, but not bit-identical with, NVIDIA's DLSS.
GPU time per upscaled frame on the BC-250 at 2000 MHz:
| Output |
Mode |
GPU time |
| 1920x1080 |
Quality (1280x720) |
1.13 ms |
| 1920x1080 |
Ultra Performance (640x360) |
0.75 ms |
| 2560x1440 |
Quality (1707x960) |
1.73 ms |
| 2560x1440 |
Ultra Performance (853x480) |
1.15 ms |
| 3840x2160 |
Performance (1920x1080) |
3.50 ms |
| 3840x2160 |
Ultra Performance (1280x720) |
2.16 ms |
Upscaling-pass timings, not total game frame times.
Limitations
- Direct3D 12 games only. Only super resolution, no frame generation of its own. FSR frame generation (the game's, or OptiScaler's) keeps working: the setup puts AMD's frame generation DLL next to HelixSR.
- AMD RDNA 1 and newer. Radeon Vega GPUs (Vega 56/64, Radeon VII, Vega graphics in Ryzen APUs) are not supported: they have no wave32.
- Steam games are found automatically; other games through
manual-install.
License and legal
HelixSR is free to use under the HelixSR Freeware License (LICENSE); its source code is not published. The setup scripts (helixsr-setup.*, helixsr-uninstall.* and the setup folder) are licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE-2.0). The optiscaler folder holds the official, unmodified OptiScaler 0.9.4 (GNU GPL 3.0) and fakenvapi (MIT); the amd-fsr folder holds AMD's FidelityFX upscaler and frame generation DLLs 4.1.1 under AMD's license (amd-fsr/FidelityFX_v2_LICENSE.md); see SOURCE.md. HelixSR contains a small amount of AMD FidelityFX material under the MIT license; see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.
DLSS and associated NVIDIA technologies are trademarks and intellectual property of NVIDIA Corporation. The HelixSR download contains none of NVIDIA's weights or code: the setup downloads NVIDIA's DLSS DLL from NVIDIA's own GitHub (under NVIDIA's license, after asking you) or uses a copy you already have, and builds the network from it on your PC. That network remains NVIDIA's property and is not covered by any license in this download; do not redistribute the network files.
HelixSR 通过把 NVIDIA 的 DLSS 神经网络（Model E）实现为纯 Direct3D 12 计算着色器，使其能在 AMD GPU 上运行，让 AMD GPU 用户无需 NVIDIA 硬件或驱动即可获得 DLSS 级别的超分辨率（包括 Ultra Performance 和 DLAA 模式）。