How to add a 1080p-class 3:2 resolution to Surface Laptop Ultra

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra will run games, but its 15-inch panel is 3270×2180, and that is a lot of pixels for a chip with shared memory to upscale into. The fix costs nothing: add a 3:2 resolution that matches the pixel count of 1920×1080, then tell your games to use it. Tom’s Hardware published the idea this week, and this guide turns it into steps you can follow, with the troubleshooting you’ll probably need.

The same method works on any laptop or monitor where Windows doesn’t offer the mode you want, though the menus differ. I’ve included the classic Nvidia Control Panel route for desktop and x86 machines further down.

What you need and how long it takes

Set aside about 10 minutes, plus a few more to test in a game. Nothing here is permanent; you can delete the mode afterwards.

A Surface Laptop Ultra with RTX Spark (or another Nvidia system where the Nvidia App controls the display).
The Nvidia App, updated. The newest build I could verify is 11.0.9.565, dated 13 October 2026. TechSpot’s changelog notes that this branch added native RTX Spark support and manual GPU memory allocation.
Windows 11 fully patched. As of Microsoft’s 13 October 2026 updates, version 26H2 is at build 26300.9711 and version 25H2 at 26200.9711. Version 26H1, which Microsoft scopes to new devices with select new silicon, is at build 28000.3231. I couldn’t confirm which of these a retail Surface Laptop Ultra ships with, so check yours under Settings, System, About.
A game that lets you pick a resolution and a DLSS mode. A windowed or borderless mode is fine, but the custom resolution has to appear in the game’s own list.

One caveat on the menu names. They come from Tom’s Hardware’s walkthrough, published the same day I’m writing this, and the site doesn’t say which app build it used. The labels below are what that testing found; if your build differs slightly, look for the nearest equivalent under the System tab.

Why the built-in modes fall short

DLSS isn’t free. Tom’s Hardware points out that its computation grows with the output resolution, and the Surface’s panel has only 14% fewer pixels than a 16:9 4K display. Rendering a game at a fraction of that and upscaling to native is the whole point of DLSS, but on this laptop the upscale target is enormous.

Microsoft’s own low-resolution option is 1600×1024, which is slightly under half of native on each axis. At roughly 1.6 megapixels it has fewer pixels than a plain 1920×1080 screen, so the image looks soft even before DLSS touches it. Tom’s Hardware wanted a 3:2 mode close to the 2.07 megapixels of 1920×1080, and rounding to whole numbers gave 1764×1176.

Mode	Resolution	Megapixels	Where it comes from
Microsoft’s low preset	1600×1024	1.6	Listed by default
1080p equivalent	1764×1176	2.07	Custom, you add it
1440p equivalent	2352×1568	3.7	Custom, optional
Native panel	3270×2180	7.1	Listed by default

The optional 2352×1568 mode is Tom’s Hardware’s suggestion for matching the 3.7 megapixels of 2560×1440. The native figure is my arithmetic from the panel’s stated resolution.

Step by step: create the custom resolution

Nvidia’s classic Control Panel doesn’t work on Windows on Arm, which is what the RTX Spark platform runs. The Nvidia App is the only route, and it does include a custom resolution editor.

Close any running games, then open the Nvidia App from the Start menu. If it offers an update, install it and restart the app first.
Click the System tab.
Expand the Display Properties pane. Make sure the laptop’s built-in panel is the selected display if you have a monitor attached.
Click Customize Resolution. An editor opens.
Enter 1764 for width and 1176 for height, and set the refresh rate to 120 Hz, the same figure Tom’s Hardware used. The panel’s range is 24 to 120 Hz, according to the Tom’s Hardware review specs.
Click the test button. The screen will flicker briefly. If the picture is fine, confirm and save the mode.
Repeat with 2352 x 1568 if you want the 1440p-class option.

Tom’s Hardware tested its mode after creating it and confirmed it worked as a supported display mode. You should do the same before trusting it in a game.

Make Windows aware of it

The new mode should show up in Windows too. Press Windows + I, go to System, then Display, and look under Scale & layout at the Display resolution drop-down. You don’t need to switch the desktop to 1764×1176; text will look better at native. The point is that games can now see the mode when they enumerate resolutions.

Use it in a game

Launch the game and open its video or graphics settings.
Set the display or output resolution to 1764×1176. Use fullscreen or borderless if the game offers it.
Turn on DLSS Super Resolution and choose Quality as a starting point. At this output size Quality renders internally at 1176×874.
Add frame generation only after you’ve seen the base frame rate. If you enable it, check the game’s latency readout or just trust your hands.
Play for ten minutes in a busy scene, not a menu. Frame rate on this chip varies with how much memory bandwidth the scene demands.

Surface Laptop Ultra gaming frame rate by setting

Tom’s Hardware measured an average of 83.4 fps, 1% lows of 42.9 fps and an average input latency of 67.8 ms with the custom mode, DLSS Quality and 2X frame generation. It called that “a fine experience”. The other two bars in the chart are the figures WindowsForum relayed from the same Tom’s Hardware piece: native 3270×2180 with DLSS Ultra Performance and 2X frame generation, and the custom mode with 3X multi frame generation. I couldn’t pull those two rows from the original page, so treat them as secondhand.

The 1% lows are the number to watch. Average frame rate improved by roughly 20 fps over native in that comparison, but the dips are still visible at 42.9 fps. Frame generation hides some of that; it doesn’t remove it.

Tom’s Hardware’s separate RTX Spark review found a different workaround in one game: windowed mode at 2560×1440 with DLSS Performance, the High preset and 3X multi frame generation. It also saw GPU utilisation only reach an average of 85% at a near-1080p render resolution (1908×1272), and one hang during a map transition. The platform is still finding its feet, so expect to tune each game individually.

Control how other content fits the screen

If a 16:9 or 16:10 game stretches to fill the 3:2 panel, or you’d rather have black bars, open the Scaling pane in the Nvidia App (it lives under System, Display, according to the app’s 11.0.3 release notes). Choose Aspect Ratio scaling. It letterboxes 16:9 and 16:10 content when you set the display resolution to match. The same pane lets you pick between integer scaling and other modes, and decide whether the GPU or the screen does the scaling.

Common problems and fixes

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
No “Customize Resolution” button	Old Nvidia App build; custom resolutions were a missing feature at the app’s launch	Update to the current build (11.0.9.565 was the newest I verified), restart, and check System, then Display Properties again
Screen goes black during the test	The panel rejected the mode or refresh rate	Wait a few seconds; Nvidia’s support page says the picture should return. Retry at 120 Hz or lower
Mode saved but missing in the game	Game read its resolution list at launch, or runs only in windowed mode	Quit and relaunch the game; try fullscreen or borderless
Image stretched or squashed	Scaling set to fill the screen	Open the Scaling pane in the Nvidia App and choose Aspect Ratio
Image still soft	DLSS mode too aggressive for the render size	Move from Performance to Quality, or use the 2352×1568 mode
Frame rate fine, input feels laggy	Frame generation adding latency	Drop multi frame generation to 2X or switch it off; compare against the 67.8 ms Tom’s Hardware measured
Nvidia Control Panel won’t open	It doesn’t run on Windows on Arm	Use the Nvidia App for every step above
Not enough GPU memory in big games	Unified memory split set too low	The Nvidia App can adjust how much unified memory the GPU gets; raise it, then reboot

The desktop route: Nvidia Control Panel

If you have a regular GeForce desktop or an x86 laptop, the old Control Panel still handles custom modes. Nvidia’s own help pages describe the path.

Right-click the desktop and choose NVIDIA Control Panel.
Under Display, click Change resolution.
Select the display you want, then click Customize.
Click Create Custom Resolution and accept the legal disclaimer.
Type the width, height and refresh rate, then click Test.
If the test passes and you want to keep the mode, click Save.

If the button is greyed out, the Windows Club’s older guide suggests three things: update the graphics driver, set scaling to be performed by the GPU under Adjust desktop size and position, and tick Enable resolutions not exposed by the display in the Customize window. That guide is from 2023, so treat the exact wording as approximate on current drivers.

Nvidia’s documentation also warns that custom timings are meant for people who know what they’re doing, and that unsupported refresh rates can blank the screen. On a laptop panel, stick to the refresh rate the screen already runs at.

What this means for you

If you own a Surface Laptop Ultra and play anything demanding, add the 1764×1176 mode today. It takes minutes, and the evidence so far says it gives DLSS an easier job without the softness of Microsoft’s 1600×1024 preset.

Start with DLSS Quality at 1764×1176, check the 1% lows, and only then try frame generation. If a specific game struggles, try the 2352×1568 mode with DLSS Performance, or the windowed 2560×1440 recipe from Tom’s Hardware’s review.

Thinking of buying one? PCWorld lists the Surface Laptop Ultra from $2,599 for the 18-core configuration and $3,699 for the 20-core one (US prices; I didn’t find an EU figure). Several reviewers describe it as a creative and local-compute machine that can game, not a dedicated gaming laptop. Fix the resolution list, and it gets closer.