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Nvidia DLSS 5

GPU upscaler in Games & consoles

Recommended for boosting frame rates and image quality, especially older games. Most common caveat: DLSS 5's changes to faces and lighting look overprocessed and demand heavy GPU resources.

Recommended for boosting frame rates and image quality, especially older games. Most common caveat: DLSS 5's changes to faces and lighting look overprocessed and demand heavy GPU resources.

73 people gave an opinion

recommend it
27
criticize it
46
approval share
37%
Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

Recommended in 9 of 13 months

  1. November 2025: recommended
  2. December 2025: recommended
  3. January 2026: not recommended
  4. February 2026: not recommended
  5. March 2026: recommended
  6. April 2026: recommended
  7. May 2026: recommended
  8. June 2026: recommended
  9. July 2026: recommended
  10. August 2026: not recommended
  11. September 2026: recommended
  12. October 2026: recommended
  13. November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)

Why it doesn’t carry the badge

  • 27 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
  • 0.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
  • Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.

The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works

What people say about it

The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.

Why people recommend it

Each mark is one comment

  • Improves realism and graphics detail

    “For me, still find it impressive, and think the level detail in the faces and clothing is a full step up in capability.”

    Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

    “I was particularly impressed by the Starfield footage, I like the more realistic look.”

    Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

    “DLSS 5 clearly improves the graphics most of the time.”

    Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”
  • Boosts frame rates with little quality loss

    “I get 2x perf without visual degradation or any notable latency at all”

    Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

    “DLSS can greatly reduce the bandwidth requirements for 4K gaming.”

    Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “Nvidia is proposing a beast of a CPU system for Windows PCs”

    “Not sure why anyone would want this, either on the consumer or producer side.”

    Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”
  • Makes older games and machines better

    “I like neural rendering ideas in the sense DLSS can make certain things happen on older machines”

    Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “OpenDLSS: A Vulkan Reimplementation of Nvidia's DLSS 5 Neural Rendering Network”

    “It's really good at making older gen games look remade/remastered.”

    Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “OpenDLSS: A Vulkan Reimplementation of Nvidia's DLSS 5 Neural Rendering Network”

    “It's an excellent option to have, especially with older titles”

    Comment from 9 Sep 2026 in “PS1 Games with DLSS 5 [video]”
  • Optional, users can turn it off

    “almost all new games support it and despite the widespread complaints, very few people actually disable these features.”

    Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “Every GPU That Mattered”

    “its really good, but it does have its _requirements_ which you can avoid”

    Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “John Carmack on Aliasing (2016)”

    “Seems like an easy win, use it or dont use it.”

    Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

What people warn about

Each mark is one comment

  • Alters lighting, shadows and contrast

    “it completely upends and ruins the dynamic lighting that the developers spend a huge amount of time perfecting”

    Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

    “Look at how it completely deletes the shadow of the steeple on the right hand side”

    Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

    “They all have unfitting high contrast lighting that doesn't match the environment”

    Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”
  • Faces and skin look artificial

    “how are they going to keep the randomly generated sexy new AI face for the characters consistent between shots?”

    Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

    “For faces, skin, and hair (so everything human) I personally dislike the direction.”

    Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

    “I imagine in the future devs wont bother creating detailed faces anymore”

    Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”
  • Artificial, overprocessed filter look

    “This prnified AI filter "touch-up" is not the upgrade you AI evangelists think it is.”

    Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

    “Artificially changing graphics to make them 'look better' is similar to my feelings”

    Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

    “I don't like the Netflix CGI slop movie style filter look it gives everything”

    Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”
  • Heavy compute and GPU cost

    “I question the feasibility of fixing the issues while running the model on a consumer GPU in realtime”

    Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

    “it makes sense to me that it would increase compute demand instead of reduce it”

    Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Memory has grown to nearly two-thirds of AI chip component costs”

    “it looks bad and uses an unreasonable amount of resources to do its thing”

    Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

What people said

40 of the 87 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“they provide a far superior way of native AA”

RecommendsComment from 5 Oct 2026 in “The work by Valve's Timur Kristóf on improving old AMD GPUs on Linux”

“This sounds like a legit use case for DLSS 5.”

RecommendsComment from 4 Oct 2026 in “City building games have a Soul Problem pt.2”

“It's really good at making older gen games look remade/remastered.”

MixedComment from 1 Oct 2026 in “OpenDLSS: A Vulkan Reimplementation of Nvidia's DLSS 5 Neural Rendering Network”

“its really good, but it does have its _requirements_ which you can avoid”

MixedComment from 1 Oct 2026 in “John Carmack on Aliasing (2016)”

“I like neural rendering ideas in the sense DLSS can make certain things happen on older machines”

MixedComment from 1 Oct 2026 in “OpenDLSS: A Vulkan Reimplementation of Nvidia's DLSS 5 Neural Rendering Network”

“It's an excellent option to have, especially with older titles”

RecommendsComment from 9 Sep 2026 in “PS1 Games with DLSS 5 [video]”

“this one is perhaps a bit over-the-top though”

MixedComment from 2 Sep 2026 in “Games look real now. We're in the future”

“DLSS 4 Balanced looks excellent and renders at less than 720p for 1080p output.”

RecommendsComment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Nvidia is proposing a beast of a CPU system for Windows PCs”

“DLSS can greatly reduce the bandwidth requirements for 4K gaming.”

RecommendsComment from 7 Jun 2026 in “Nvidia is proposing a beast of a CPU system for Windows PCs”

“if you look at the improved quality of upscalers (DLLS 4.5 for example), gaming is now more affordable than ever”

RecommendsComment from 24 May 2026 in “Memory has grown to nearly two-thirds of AI chip component costs”

“it makes sense to me that it would increase compute demand instead of reduce it”

CriticizesComment from 24 May 2026 in “Memory has grown to nearly two-thirds of AI chip component costs”

“almost all new games support it and despite the widespread complaints, very few people actually disable these features.”

RecommendsComment from 8 Apr 2026 in “Every GPU That Mattered”

“directionally interesting but executed poorly”

MixedComment from 23 Mar 2026 in “Some Things Just Take Time”

“I question the feasibility of fixing the issues while running the model on a consumer GPU in realtime”

CriticizesComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“For me, still find it impressive, and think the level detail in the faces and clothing is a full step up in capability.”

MixedComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“there's nothing intrinsically expensive about DLSS to cause such a latency”

RecommendsComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“Look at how it completely deletes the shadow of the steeple on the right hand side”

CriticizesComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“they look more realistic than with dlss 5 turned off”

RecommendsComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“it absolutely blasts contrast and crushes shadows to reduce dynamic range”

CriticizesComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 – AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games [video]”

“I imagine in the future devs wont bother creating detailed faces anymore”

CriticizesComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“This prnified AI filter "touch-up" is not the upgrade you AI evangelists think it is.”

CriticizesComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“I get 2x perf without visual degradation or any notable latency at all”

RecommendsComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“DLSS 5 clearly improves the graphics most of the time.”

RecommendsComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“They are literally upgrading graphics by a generation with software.”

RecommendsComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“how are they going to keep the randomly generated sexy new AI face for the characters consistent between shots?”

CriticizesComment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“it looks bad and uses an unreasonable amount of resources to do its thing”

CriticizesComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“Artificially changing graphics to make them 'look better' is similar to my feelings”

CriticizesComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“Seems like an easy win, use it or dont use it.”

RecommendsComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“It is really tragic because DLSS has been pretty great so far.”

RecommendsComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“I don't like the Netflix CGI slop movie style filter look it gives everything”

CriticizesComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia's DLSS 5 uses generative AI to boost photorealism in video games”

“For faces, skin, and hair (so everything human) I personally dislike the direction.”

MixedComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“which magically doubles perf while maintaining visual quality”

RecommendsComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“Not sure why anyone would want this, either on the consumer or producer side.”

CriticizesComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“As it stands, it's horrible and the reaction has been rightly negative.”

MixedComment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“I was particularly impressed by the Starfield footage, I like the more realistic look.”

RecommendsComment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“It will, and everyone's pipelines will end up adjusted and optimized to having this stuff bolted on the end of the rendering.”

RecommendsComment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“it completely upends and ruins the dynamic lighting that the developers spend a huge amount of time perfecting”

CriticizesComment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“They all have unfitting high contrast lighting that doesn't match the environment”

CriticizesComment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Nvidia DLSS 5 Delivers AI-Powered Breakthrough in Visual Fidelity for Games”

“If RTX and DLSS are accomplishing that, who cares how it is done?”

RecommendsComment from 28 Nov 2025 in “Technical Deflation”

“The existence of Nvidia DLSS (upscaling and frame generation) alone is a huge advantage over the Steam Deck”

RecommendsComment from 22 Nov 2025 in “Helping Valve to power up Steam devices”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.