NVIDIA DLSS 5 introduces neural rendering with high performance costs

NVIDIA’s new DLSS 5 technology, featuring 3D-guided neural rendering, is generating significant debate within the gaming community due to its impact on visual fidelity and hardware performance. While the technology significantly enhances realism in elements like skin, hair, and lighting, early benchmarks show a heavy performance cost. Tests on an RTX 5080 running NBA 2K27 reported frame rate drops of approximately 60% at 1440p and up to 73% at 4K.

To mitigate these performance hits, developers and modders are experimenting with various workarounds. One notable approach involves using a second GPU specifically to handle the neural rendering workload, effectively acting as a dedicated AI accelerator. Additionally, community-made mods like DLSS 5 Autopilot and MGPU Bridge aim to bring these capabilities to unsupported titles or optimize the execution order to improve efficiency.

Currently, DLSS 5 is optimized for the GeForce RTX 50 series, utilizing the Blackwell architecture's improved task management and AI capabilities. NVIDIA has indicated that support for the RTX 40 series may follow once tuning is complete. Hardware concerns have also surfaced, with reports of a power connector melting on an RTX 5090 during DLSS 5 testing, though the exact cause remains unverified.