On the onset of this year's edition of CES, NVIDIA took advantage of one of the key tech shows of the year to introduce NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 which, in its early iteration, left pretty much everyone stunned, delivering in Quality mode better than native resolution quality in Red Dead Redemption 2 and close to native resolution image quality in Performance mode in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
The impressive image quality, however, comes at a performance cost on previous-generation RTX 20 and 30 series GPUs, as older-generation cards lack FP8 support, which NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 leverages to deliver its stunning results. However, the performance hit may not be as severe as expected on some older GPUs, such as the RTX 3080.
A new comparison video shared on YouTube by MxBenchmark PC compares Cyberpunk 2077 running at 4K, 1440p, and 1090p resolutions at Ultra Settings and with ray tracing with Ultra Performance mode at 4K resolution, Balanced mode at 1440p resolution, and Quality mode at 1080p resolution using the following presets:
- DLSS 3 - Preset E
- DLSS 4 - Preset K
- DLSS 4.5 - Preset L for Ultra Performance and Preset M for everything else
The results are, as YouTube user darknuance_ix put it, "not bad at all." While the performance hit is noticeable, it's, on average, lower than expected - in the 8, 12 FPS range at all resolutions from NVIDIA DLSS 3 to DLSS 4.5.
As such, the latest version of the upscaler powered by the 2nd-generation Transformer model may still be a viable option for those still rocking RTX 20 and 30 series cards, who also have the option of setting a lower base resolution and still enjoy excellent image quality to offset the performance loss, although how effective this will be will obviously vary depending on the game.
While NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 2nd-generation Transformer model was released this week to all users, the new Frame Generation features will take longer to launch. Later this Spring, NVIDIA will launch 6x MFG (Multi-Frame Generation), which will generate five frames for every rendered frame, further boosting FPS and delivering enhanced smoothness in supported games, and Dynamic Multi-Frame Generation, which will provide another option for users to hit their monitors' refresh rates.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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