DLSS vs Native: Higher Frame Rates Without Upscaling?

CPU: AMD 7900X
GPU: NVIDIA 4090 FE
MOBO: GIGABYTE B650 AORUS Elite AX
RAM: 32GB

The results were gathered while moving around in my hideout, staying approximately in the same location.

All settings use borderless window mode at 3840x2160 resolution, DirectX12, RTX HDR enabled, and VSYNC turned off in the game options (enabled through the Nvidia app for VRR).

Edit: Forgot to include Detailed and Advance Settings.

DETAIL SETTINGS
All Maxed

Advanced Settings
NVIDIA REFLEX: ON
FOREGROUND FPS CAP: UNCHECKED
BACKGROUND FPS CAP: UNCHECKED
TRIPLE-BUFFERING: CHECKED
DYNAMIC CULLING: UNCHECKED
TARGET FRAMERATE: MAXED (The max is 120. Does this have any impact on anything? Why is the max only 120?
ENGINE MULTITHREADING: CHECKED


Setting 1
Upscale Mode: Off
Render Resolution: No Upscale
FPS: 165-171

Setting 2
Upscale Mode: NIS
Render Resolution: No Upscale
FPS: 164-169

Setting 3
Upscale Mode: DLSS
Image Quality: DLAA
FPS: 154-156
FPS (Dynamic Res. checked): 153-157

Setting 4
Upscale Mode: DLSS
Image Quality: Quality
FPS: 157-159
FPS (Dynamic Res. checked): 158-161

Setting 4
Upscale Mode: DLSS
Image Quality: Ultra Performance
FPS: 178-186
FPS (Dynamic Res. checked): 176-183

Are the game's graphics settings broken? I'm noticing little to no variation in frame rate regardless of the settings. What surprises me the most is that DLSS yields a lower frame rate than native resolution.

I also have a 4090 PC and overall performance is terrible.

It seems to be underutilizing a lot of hardware resources, not just NVIDIA's DLSS.
I've been feeling this since POE1, and while I agree that GGG loves games and makes them fun, I question their development skills.
They don't seem to have the ability to fix critical or outdated issues.
I really hope they get over that technical hurdle in POE2.