"This is super, super heavy" - Experts test Nvidia's divisive graphics-altering DLSS 5 tech and find it really does tank your game's frame-rate
Nvidia's gen-AI-powered, graphics-changing DLSS 5 tech has been tested and it really does take a heavy toll on a game's frame-rate. There was suspicion of this last week , ahead of DLSS 5's debut implementation in NBA 2K7, and now it's been properly tested, the performance toll has been confirmed. The experts at Digital Foundry declared it "super, super heavy" . Read more
Experts at Digital Foundry have found that Nvidia's controversial DLSS 5 technology significantly reduces a game's frame rate. After testing DLSS 5 in NBA 2K7, Digital Foundry founder Richard Leadbetter described it as "super, super heavy." The technology, which uses artificial intelligence to alter graphics, resulted in a frame rate drop ranging from 40-60% in NBA 2K7.
Even with the RTX 5090 card, frame rates dropped from 128.4 FPS to 62.7 FPS when running the game in Ultra settings at 4K resolution. Leadbetter noted that DLSS 5 primarily causes a fixed cost of 8.2ms to 13.7ms of processing time, which is quite expensive. Despite the initial criticism for using AI to change character appearances, Digital Foundry's John Linneman praised the subtle implementation in NBA 2K7, mainly affecting crowd lighting and jersey details.
Linneman stated that NBA 2K7's implementation was not as drastic as initially feared, though he admitted it still seemed like a costly way to add lighting detail. Overall, Digital Foundry sees DLSS 5 as the first attempt at a new approach for Nvidia's DLSS technology, which may improve in future iterations.
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