DLSS 5 release date confirmed, but be ready for a massive performance loss

Nvidia has confirmed that its latest iteration of DLSS will officially launch in a couple of days. We’ve been seeing the technology in action thanks to various modders who have been able to implement the leaked file from NBA 2K27 in many other games. But the company has now confirmed that enabling DLSS 5 will come at a huge performance loss.

As per the official announcement, DLSS 5 with neural rendering will be officially available to RTX 50 series GPUs and GeForce Now users starting September 3. NBA 2K27 will be the first game to get this tech, which launches the same day for some regions and a day later for others. Speaking with PC Gamer, while Nvidia did not give clarification on DLSS 5 support on RTX 20, 30, or 40 series GPUs, it did state that using it will reduce FPS by 50% to 60%. And that’s independent of the game.

That’s a huge performance drop, and the news is certainly bittersweet for PC gaming enthusiasts. As has always been the case with most PC gaming setups, barring those with RTX 5080s or RTX 5090s, it seems players will have to make a choice between realistic visuals and high FPS. That said, frame generation or multi-frame generation should help pick that FPS back up, though we know that frame generation introduces latency and is not the cleanest gaming experience.

Nvidia first introduced DLSS 5 back in March, and at the time, it received a lot of hate from the community due to its reliance on AI and how it seemingly changed in-game characters. Nvidia has assured developers and gamers that DLSS 5 and neural rendering preserve the artist's original intent. Furthermore, the company says developers will have full creative control over the extent to which DLSS 5 is implemented.