I was an Nvidia DLSS 5 sceptic but here are 5 reasons why I'm now hopeful
that it'll revolutionize graphics in PC games

Date:
Sun, 06 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Description:
It's been a big week for Nvidia's next instalment of DLSS, with the tech seemingly reaching a major turning point.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Following the leak of the tech and a raft of unofficial mods, this week saw Nvidia 's official launch of
DLSS 5, with the company showing it off in NBA 2K27 at Gamescom 2026 and providing some further illuminating details.

Before, after Nvidia's initial DLSS 5 reveal in March, I was skeptical on
some points, but I wasn't tearing holes in the idea like some gamers were . However, this week, we've seen a rapid shift in opinions and the general online sentiment around DLSS 5 and I'm a good deal more excited about this
AI trickery myself. Indeed, I think there are a number of reasons to be hopeful that DLSS 5 could prove to be a compelling step forward for PC
gaming, from Nvidia's clarification on support for GPUs, through to what modders have shown that the tech can achieve since it was leaked some of which is truly eye-opening. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

Here are my five reasons why Nvidia's incoming neural rendering model could turn out to be a very literal game-changer. 1. Nvidia has clarified that DLSS 5 won't just be for RTX 5000 GPUs (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)
While DLSS 5 is currently only supported by RTX 5000 graphics cards the tech went live this week in NBA 2K27 Nvidia has confirmed that it will come to older GeForce GPUs. Indeed, we won't have to wait that long before wider support is ushered in, which is good news. You may like Nvidia DLSS 5 leak sparks a major turnaround in the opinions of PC gamers Nvidia tries again to get gamers to like DLSS 5, but doesn't quite succeed Nvidia's DLSS 5 isn't what you think it is, and I tested it at Gamescom

VideoCardz spotted an update from an Nvidia rep on Reddit which stated: "Our current focus is on optimizing performance for the GeForce RTX 50 Series with model updates expected later this fall. Once RTX 50 Series performance is
more fully tuned, we plan to work on expanding official support to the
GeForce RTX 40 Series."

So, we could be looking at early 2027 for work to begin on bringing DLSS 5 to RTX 4000 models and possibly previous generations of GPUs will be in line
for the same treatment. Modders have already got the tech working on RTX 3000 and 2000 models, after all although the performance levels could well be the sticking point here. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
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At any rate, this puts paid to fears that DLSS 5 could remain locked to just the latest Nvidia RTX 5000 graphics cards. 2. Continual optimization should improve performance a good deal (Image credit: Nvidia / 2K) I just touched on performance, and this is the area which has proved to be the biggest downer with the mentioned unofficial experiments that have been conducted with DLSS 5.

As Tom's Hardware observes , the performance hit with DLSS 5 is a nasty one, and it's generally causing a 40% to 50% drop in frame rates. In some reports, it's less than this (more like 30%), and what we have to remember is that all these unofficial figures are based on a pre-release version of DLSS 5 being fudged into play by modders. What to read next AI-powered upscaling is the future, whether we like it or not Control Resonant's ray tracing is a feast for the eyes on an RTX 5090 Nvidia RTX Spark is on my gaming radar after my hands-on at Gamescom 2026

The final version of DLSS 5 will likely provide better performance, and in
any case, optimization is going to be high on Nvidia's list of priorities.
I'd be surprised if there weren't major strides taken in this department as 2027 rolls around and more games are supported. 3. Experimental results with DLSS 5 are pretty incredible Image 1 of 2 Starfield with DLSS 5 off (Image credit: Valuable_End1 on Reddit / Bethesda) Starfield with DLSS 5 on via modding (Image credit: Valuable_End1 on Reddit / Bethesda) Image 1 of 2 View Original Image 2 of 2 View Original Those modders playing with the leaked version of DLSS 5 have clearly shown us that this tech can be used to produce seriously impressive results. Of course, on the official front, the demo of NBA 2K27 at Gamescom 2026 proved the case that this AI-powered graphics
uplift can work wonders, too.

That said, the benefits of DLSS 5 are situational to an extent, and it's not
a silver bullet for making all graphics better. It really shines in certain use cases, though. For example, even if you don't want the main character models in a game to have the tech applied because you hate that idea, it can still make a huge difference to background details, and the likes of the
faces of NPCs in the lurking atmospheric crowds which are the backdrop for open world games.

As one Redditor points out : "NPC crowd faces are one of the best use cases for it [DLSS 5]. It sometimes takes you out of the game when you're talking
to a character model that's clearly been hand crafted with a lot of effort, and as you said then there's some janky smooth skinned ghoul walking by you lol. Watching an LTT [Linus Tech Tips] vid where they showed the difference
in random NPCs was actually super impressive."

DLSS 5 can also transform lighting and shadows to make graphics look far more realistic, including character models some of the results shared by modders in a megathread on Reddit make that crystal clear. I was blown away by some
of these examples, frankly. When it works, DLSS 5 works really well although it doesn't always come off.

That said, some of the wonkier examples that have been aired are down to modders being daft with the sliders and options on offer, which brings me
onto my next point. 4. Tuning options are key for DLSS 5 DLSS 5 in NBA 2K27 | Inside the Dev Studio - YouTube Watch On As noted, some of the more stomach-churning moments from the various modders messing around with DLSS 5 have come from those folks ramping up the intensity of the sliders sometimes intentionally just to provoke an anti-AI reaction.

There's a decent level of granular control over various aspects of what DLSS
5 does (including intensity, tone, and structure), and when a game developer properly tunes the tech for their particular release, the effect is going to be more subtle, appropriate, and in line with the overall art direction. (Well, hopefully you'd assume this will be the case, anyway).

Used judiciously, it's clear enough that DLSS 5 can really enhance the
visuals of a game modders have proved that in some cases, and NBA 2K27 is a great official example of how this works, too.

Yes, it is very possible to get 'uncanny valley' kind of effects with character models if you're extravagantly flinging sliders up towards their maximum limits and not every game's art or graphics style suits DLSS 5, by any means. But we come back to the last point when it works, it really does work. 5. DLSS 5 will probably age like a fine wine (ahem) (Image credit: Shutterstock) My final point is a simple but important one. And okay, I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating. Rewind time back to when Nvidia revealed the original DLSS, the very first take on this tech that was purely about upscaling, and it had some quite pronounced flaws. Problems like blurriness, ghosting and artifacts proved a blight on the upscaled graphics, but these were issues that Nvidia resolved with the next iteration of the tech.

I'd expect there will be examples of DLSS 5 which show the visuals going off the rails in a similar kind of way, although it already looks off to a far better start than DLSS 1. The point being that whatever we think now, at launch, may change quite drastically in a year or two, and there's a genuine potential for DLSS 5 to be revolutionary in polishing up gaming graphics albeit that caveats around its misuse and situational nature aren't going to go away. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. The best graphics cards for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best graphics card 1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 2. Best budget: Intel Arc B580 3. Best Nvidia: Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti 4. Best AMD: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX



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