Performance
Marvel Rivals Render Scale: Lower Render Resolution, Any GPU
Lower Render Resolution is a switch on the Quality tab of the RIVALSFPS.GG app. It lowers Marvel Rivals' render scale: the game draws each frame at a lower resolution and the upscaler scales it back up to your screen, and it works on any graphics card. This is what it changes, what the four strengths mean, the one game setting it depends on, and when it will not help much.
The app's own description is short: it renders the game smaller and scales it back up, and it is the biggest FPS lever on the Quality tab. The cost is a softer picture. How much softer depends on the strength you pick, and how much you gain depends on where your settings started.
What is Super Resolution Mode in Marvel Rivals?
Super Resolution Mode is the game's own setting, the dropdown under the upscaler in the game's Display settings. It decides how much of your resolution the game draws before the upscaler rebuilds the full picture. Lower Render Resolution writes that setting for you, which is why its four strengths, Ultra Performance, Performance, Balanced and Quality, carry the mode names the game uses. The number the app prints beside each name is that render scale, not an FPS figure.
Marvel Rivals only reads Super Resolution Mode when Anti-Aliasing and Super Resolution Type is set to DLSS, TSR, FSR or XeSS. While the switch is on it writes the Mode on every launch from the app, so a Mode you pick in the game will not stick. Each upscaler also has its own cost, and switching upscalers can cost more than the lower resolution saves, so if you already lowered your render scale, you may be better off staying where you are.
What Lower Render Resolution changes
When you start the game from the app, Lower Render Resolution writes Super Resolution Mode into the game's settings file, so the game draws fewer pixels and the upscaler rebuilds the picture at your display resolution. Your in-game render scale is left where you put it, and your own Mode is put back when the game closes.
Because it is a game setting and not a driver setting, it does not care who made your graphics card. It also adds nothing to your mods folder, so it does not depend on the Signature Bypass the way mods and graphic packs do.
The four strengths
The dropdown beside the switch offers four strengths, harshest first. The lower the render scale, the softer the picture.
| Strength | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Ultra Performance | The lowest render scale and the softest picture. |
| Performance | The default when you first switch it on. |
| Balanced | A step sharper than Performance. |
| Quality | The gentlest strength and the closest to your normal picture. |
The harsher strengths look noticeably soft, and that is the feature working rather than something going wrong. The dropdown is grayed out while the switch is off.
Fix: Lower Render Resolution does nothing
Check the upscaler before anything else, because it decides whether the switch does anything. On TAAU, None, SMAA or TAA the game ignores Super Resolution Mode and renders exactly as it did before.
The app checks for this. With the switch on and the game on a mode that ignores it, the Quality tab shows a notice that names your current upscaler when it can. The dialog the tab shows before you first turn anything on makes the same point. To fix it:
- In Marvel Rivals, open the Display settings and set Anti-Aliasing and Super Resolution Type to DLSS, TSR, FSR or XeSS.
- Close the game completely.
- Start it again with the Launch button in the app.
If the Quality tab instead says Marvel Rivals hasn't written its render-resolution setting yet, open the game's Display settings, set Anti-Aliasing and Super Resolution Type and Super Resolution Mode once, close the game completely, then start it with the app's Launch button. On a PC where the game has never run, start it once to the main menu and close it first.
Fix: Super Resolution Mode keeps changing back
Lower Render Resolution owns the Super Resolution Mode dropdown while the switch is on. A Mode you pick in the game comes back as the switch's strength the next time you launch from the app. That is the feature working as designed, but it looks like the game forgetting your settings unless you know. Pick the Type in the game, and pick the strength in the app.
When it will not help much
You already lowered your render scale
If you have already turned your render scale down in the game, there may be little left to gain. The feature does the same kind of thing, so a PC that is already rendering small has less room to go.
Switching upscaler has its own cost
Every upscaler costs something to run. If you are on TAAU and switch to another mode only to use this feature, the new upscaler can cost more than the lower resolution saves. In one test, TSR ran slower than TAAU even while drawing fewer pixels. If you already play on TAAU with a lowered render scale, you may be better off staying there.
How to turn it on
- Open Quality in the app's left rail. The page heading reads Quality Settings.
- Flip the Lower Render Resolution switch. If you have not used the Quality tab before, a dialog first explains what it does and what it needs; confirm it to continue.
- Pick a strength in the dropdown. Performance is the default.
- Start the game with the Launch button. The switch cannot be changed while Marvel Rivals is running.
Only for launches from the app
Lower Render Resolution is launch-scoped. It applies when you start the game with the app's Launch button, and your own setting is put back when the game closes. Start Marvel Rivals from Steam or anywhere else and it runs with whatever you had. The Quick-launch desktop shortcut, an opt-in setting added in 5.2.0, counts as pressing Launch.
If anything ever looks stuck, Reset Quality at the top right of the tab resets both halves of the tab: the render setting in the game's own settings file and, on NVIDIA, the driver settings. It asks before doing anything.
How it relates to the Quality presets (NVIDIA only)
The Quality tab holds two separate features. Lower Render Resolution is the one that works on any graphics card. The other is the Preset Library: Ultra Potato, Potato and Standard, NVIDIA-only driver settings that turn the game's texture detail right down, the classic potato look, and pin the GPU to maximum performance.
On an AMD or Intel card each preset row reads "Not available for your GPU." and its Activate button is disabled, because the presets are NVIDIA only, while Lower Render Resolution keeps working. The first time you activate a preset, map compatibility files are added to your mods folder so maps still look right, which is why the presets need the Signature Bypass.
On an NVIDIA card you can use both at once. Both are launch-scoped, both are put back when the game closes, and they change different things: one lowers the resolution the game renders at, the other lowers texture detail through the driver. Marvel Rivals potato graphics (NVIDIA only) shows all three presets before and after, and Ultra Potato vs Potato vs Standard helps you pick one.
For the in-game settings worth checking alongside this, see the best settings for a low-end PC and how to increase FPS in Marvel Rivals. If you would rather keep your resolution and give up detail in the world instead, the Max FPS preset in Graphic Pack Settings is the other route.
Common questions
Does Lower Render Resolution work on AMD and Intel graphics cards?
Yes. It changes a setting in Marvel Rivals' own settings file rather than going through a graphics driver, so it works on NVIDIA, AMD and Intel cards alike. The Quality presets on the same tab are the part that is NVIDIA only.
Why does nothing change when I turn Lower Render Resolution on?
Check the upscaler first. Marvel Rivals only reads this setting when Anti-Aliasing and Super Resolution Type is set to DLSS, TSR, FSR or XeSS. On TAAU, None, SMAA or TAA the game ignores it. Change the Type in the game's Display settings, close the game completely, then start it with the app's Launch button. If the Quality tab says the game hasn't written its render-resolution setting yet, set Anti-Aliasing and Super Resolution Type and Super Resolution Mode once in the game's Display settings, close the game, then launch from the app.
What do the numbers next to each strength mean?
They are the render scale: how much of your resolution the game draws before the upscaler brings it back to full size. They describe resolution, not frame rate.
Why does my Super Resolution Mode keep changing back?
Lower Render Resolution writes Super Resolution Mode on every launch from the app, so a Mode you pick in the game will not stick while the switch is on. Choose the Anti-Aliasing and Super Resolution Type yourself and leave the Mode to the switch.
Can I use Lower Render Resolution with an NVIDIA Quality preset?
Yes. They are separate features on the same tab and both apply when you launch from the app. The Quality presets are NVIDIA only, so on an AMD or Intel card Lower Render Resolution is the feature on that tab you can use.
