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Windows & Linux / Proton · Version 3.3.0 · HelixSR Freeware License

Modern AI upscaling for graphics cards that were left out of it.

HelixSR runs NVIDIA's DLSS networks and AMD's FSR 4 networks as ordinary GPU compute shaders, so they work on cards that have no Tensor Cores, no FP8 and no official support: older AMD Radeon cards, the AMD BC-250, NVIDIA GTX cards and more. No NVIDIA driver, CUDA or ROCm is needed. It works in DirectX 12, DirectX 11 and Vulkan games, on Windows and on Linux (Proton, Steam Deck).

You install it per game with HelixSR Desktop (an app) or the setup scripts. In the game you pick the game's own DLSS option, and switch between HelixSR's upscalers in an in-game menu (Insert).

HelixSR is an independent, unofficial project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NVIDIA or AMD.

Around them:

• HelixSR Scaler: HelixSR's version of OptiScaler (GPL-3.0, source). It turns the game's DLSS, FSR or XeSS option into HLX DLSS and lists HelixSR's other upscalers next to AMD FSR and Intel XeSS, including their frame generation.
• HelixSR Desktop: sets HelixSR up once, installs, updates and removes it per game, and has a speed test.

• HLX FSR 4 Full should work on more GPUs: the BC-250 and RDNA 1 on Windows too, and RDNA 2 (RX 6000), RDNA 3 (RX 7000) and the Steam Deck. Its BC-250 kernels are about 2.5% faster, and its files are half the size.
• HLX DLSS runs natively in Vulkan games instead of through a DirectX 12 bridge.
• HLX FSR 4 in Vulkan games through HelixSR Scaler.
• Preset K on Windows: all of its layers run as DirectX 12 shaders now, and a new Int8 setting uses 8-bit math on GPUs with fast 8-bit dot products.
• NVIDIA GTX 10: HLX DLSS and HLX FSR 4 are much faster under Linux / Proton (they now take the same 32-bit paths as on Windows), and HLX DLSS's faster Quality output kernel runs over a wider range of resolutions.
• HelixSR Scaler 2.3.0.

The full notes, including known issues, are in each release.

"Expected" means the GPU gets its own tuned path but we have not run it ourselves. Reports help: open an issue with helixsr.log, or send the results of HelixSR Desktop's speed test.

Download HelixSR Desktop from the latest release (Windows: the .exe installer; Linux / Steam Deck: the .AppImage or .deb) and run it. It sets HelixSR up on your PC once and then installs it into your games with one button each:

• HelixSR Scaler for most games: HLX DLSS through the game's own DLSS, FSR or XeSS option, HelixSR's other upscalers in its list, and an in-game menu (Insert).
• FSR drop-in for games with FSR 3.1 (under Advanced): only the game's FSR file is replaced with HLX FSR 4.

It also updates and removes HelixSR per game, shows each game's log for bug reports, puts back everything it replaced, and has a speed test (top bar).

1. Download HelixSR-3.3.0.zip and extract it into a folder you keep (for example C:\HelixSR or your home folder).
2. Close your games and 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)
3. The first time, it asks before each download and builds HLX DLSS on your PC from NVIDIA's DLSS DLL (downloaded from NVIDIA). It asks whether to build Preset K too. This takes a while; what it builds is kept, so later releases reuse it.
4. It lists your games (Steam, Epic, GOG, Xbox, Heroic, Lutris), numbered, with what each has (DLSS, FSR 3.1, XeSS) and what is installed. Type a game's number (or drag a game's folder into the window), then Enter to install it the recommended way, or s = HelixSR Scaler (pick DLSS in the game), f = FSR drop-in (games with FSR 3.1: pick AMD FSR in the game), r = remove. Pick as many games as you like; Enter on its own when done.
5. Start the game. Insert opens HelixSR Scaler's menu.

A game that is not listed: run ./helixsr-setup.sh /path/to/game, or drop the game's folder onto helixsr-setup.bat.

Run the setup once first (steps 1 to 3 above; at the game list press Enter on its own): it builds HLX DLSS into HelixSR\helixsr.dll. Then copy into the game's folder with its .exe (Unreal Engine games: Binaries\Win64):

1. From helixsr-scaler: OptiScaler.dll renamed to dxgi.dll (if the game already has a dxgi.dll, name it winmm.dll or version.dll instead), OptiScaler.ini, and the whole OptiScaler folder (it holds HLX FSR 4 and HLX FSR 4 Full; keep its files as they are).
2. The whole HelixSR folder, next to dxgi.dll.

Game\
  game.exe
  dxgi.dll            (OptiScaler.dll, renamed)
  OptiScaler.ini
  OptiScaler\         (HLX FSR 4, HLX FSR 4 Full, AMD FSR, XeSS, ...)
  HelixSR\            (helixsr.dll = HLX DLSS, helixsr.ini; k\ = Preset K if you built it)

On Linux, dxgi.dll needs no launch option; with winmm.dll or version.dll add WINEDLLOVERRIDES="winmm=n,b" %command% (or version=n,b) to the game's launch options. For one game at a time there are scripts in helixsr-scaler (setup_linux.sh), and on Windows the HelixSR Scaler release has setup_windows.bat.

• HelixSR Desktop: when a new version is out, the app shows Update HelixSR to x.y.z at the top; press it, then Update on each game.
• Setup scripts: extract the new ZIP and run the setup again; pick each game that has HelixSR (marked in the list) and press Enter.
• By hand: run the new setup, then copy the same files over the old ones. Keep the game's OptiScaler.ini if you changed it.

Your game settings are kept every way.

The upscaler and sharpening are picked in HelixSR Scaler's menu (Insert). Restart the game after changing a file.

• HLX DLSS: [HelixSR] in the game's OptiScaler.ini (copied to HelixSR\helixsr.ini when the game starts): Int8 = auto / on / off, WaveSize = auto / 64 / 32 (leave on auto unless the picture is broken).
• Preset K: HelixSR\k\helixsr.ini: Int8 = auto / on / off; DeepReuse = Exact (default), 1:2 or 1:4 (the deeper layers every second or fourth frame: faster, with some loss in motion).
• HLX FSR 4 Full: OptiScaler\custom\HLX FSR 4 Full\ffx\hlx_fsr4.ini: DeepReuse = exact (default), 1:2 or 1:4 (BC-250 and RDNA 1 only).

GPU time per frame on the BC-250 (about 2 GHz, Quality mode):

Preset K and HLX FSR 4 Full at their default Exact / exact.

On other GPUs: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (Windows): HLX DLSS, HLX FSR 4 and FSR 3.1.5 timed in a game, with side-by-side and slider comparisons.

These are NVIDIA's and AMD's own networks running on different hardware, not newly trained models. HelixSR answers the game exactly as DLSS would (its camera jitter, render sizes per quality mode, masks and exposure) and runs each network with its own compute kernels, written for GPUs without matrix hardware: packed 16-bit math where a GPU has it, 32-bit math where it doesn't, 8-bit dot products where they help. The output is close to, but not bit-identical with, NVIDIA's and AMD's own; HLX FSR 4 Full's 8-bit path on RDNA 2 / RDNA 3 gives the same picture as AMD's.

• Red border around the image, low resolution, shaking image: HLX DLSS's network is not running. HelixSR\helixsr.log in the game folder says why; run the setup again.
• HLX FSR 4 / HLX FSR 4 Full: they write to OptiScaler.log next to the game's .exe (as the FSR drop-in: HLX_FSR.log).
• The game no longer starts or crashes: remove HelixSR (app or uninstaller), or verify the game's files in Steam.
• Anything else: open an issue with helixsr.log and OptiScaler.log.

Run helixsr-uninstall.bat (Windows) or ./helixsr-uninstall.sh (Linux), or remove HelixSR in HelixSR Desktop. Every file is put back as it was; at the end the uninstaller can also delete what the setup built and its downloads.

Join our Discord for setup help, testing feedback, and release discussions.

For reproducible bugs, open a GitHub issue with your GPU, operating system, game, installation method, HelixSR version and helixsr.log. Check logs for personal information before posting them.

If HelixSR has helped you get more from your GPU, consider supporting its development and testing. Contributions are optional and appreciated.

Support HelixSR via PayPal

HelixSR is free to use under the HelixSR Freeware License (LICENSE); its source code is not published. The license covers HelixSR's DLLs, HLX FSR 4's and HLX FSR 4 Full's DLLs, their documentation and the setup scripts: you may use them free of charge and redistribute them only unmodified, complete as an official release and free of charge. HelixSR Scaler is a separate program under GPL-3.0. HelixSR contains AMD FidelityFX material under the MIT license; see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and SOURCE.md.

DLSS and associated NVIDIA technologies are trademarks and intellectual property of NVIDIA Corporation. The HelixSR download contains none of NVIDIA's network weights or translated kernels: the setup downloads NVIDIA's DLSS DLL from NVIDIA's GitHub (under NVIDIA's license, after asking you) or uses a copy you already have, and builds the network on your PC. The result remains NVIDIA's property and is not covered by HelixSR's license; do not redistribute what the setup builds. FSR is a trademark of AMD; HLX FSR 4 and HLX FSR 4 Full are built from AMD's FidelityFX SDK (MIT).