NVIDIA is expanding its AI graphics suite with the announcement of DLSS 5, which introduces a new feature called 3D-Guided Neural Rendering. Moving beyond standard upscaling and frame generation, DLSS 5 uses generative AI to enrich in-game lighting, skin subsurface scattering and complex material textures in real time, aiming to bridge the gap towards photorealistic rendering.
Unlike standard generative diffusion models that produce unpredictable results, DLSS 5 is deterministic and temporally stable. It uses the game engine’s base frame, including geometry, motion vectors and colour, as a strict foundation, ensuring that the visual output remains consistent from frame to frame without unwanted shimmering or drift during player movement. This specialised AI model runs locally on a single GPU, relying on the advanced Tensor Cores found within the GeForce RTX 50 series architecture to maintain smooth frame rates at up to 4K resolutions.
To ensure the technology does not override a studio’s creative vision, DLSS 5 includes granular artistic controls for developers. Studios can adjust “Structure Intensity” to control high-frequency details such as ambient occlusion and reflections, or use “Tone Intensity” to tweak broader colour and lighting responses. Furthermore, semantic AI masking allows developers to isolate specific assets, such as characters, foliage or glassware, and apply custom neural lighting exclusively to those elements.
The technology will make its official debut on September 3, 2026, at 9 PM PT in Visual Concepts’ NBA 2K27. According to NVIDIA, combining DLSS 5 with existing DLSS features allows the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 to run the game at up to 370 frames per second at 4K resolution on the Ultra preset with ray tracing enabled. At 1440p, the RTX 5090 reaches up to 590 FPS, the RTX 5080 hits up to 410 FPS, the RTX 5070 Ti achieves 350 FPS, and the RTX 5070 manages up to 260 FPS.
DLSS 5 will be supported across all GeForce RTX 50 series desktop and laptop GPUs. It will also be available for GeForce NOW Ultimate members who are streaming from NVIDIA’s RTX 5080-powered cloud rigs. To use the feature, players will need to download the September 3 Game Ready Driver via the NVIDIA website or the NVIDIA app, which will enable the “DLSS Neural Rendering” toggle in supported titles.
