NVIDIAs controversial DLSS 5 is coming to RTX Remix to enhance older games – Engadget

In case you’ve been hibernating under a boulder for the past six months, you probably know that the internet utterly hates DLSS 5 with a flaming passion. NVIDIA’s DLSS 5 launched with NBA 2K27, and people really aren’t feeling Team Green’s latest tech breakthrough. Not that public opinion is overly swaying the company that loves to champion AI/occasional GPU manufacturer’s passion for Neural Rendering techniques.

With DLSS 5 now hitting its RTX Remix software, NVIDIA clearly wants modders to start injecting the tech into older games. Is this a good thing? The internet would tell you that it alters the original artistic intent of a game to a wholly objectionable degree. As a reluctant defender of DLSS 5, I can see both sides. Let’s get into the latest DLSS 5 announcements, before breaking down how you can install it into almost any game through third-party apps, and the performance price you can expect to pay once it’s enabled.

NVIDIA’s RTX Remix tool has been available for free since early 2024. This modding platform allows users/programmers to add ray tracing and AI-upscaled textures to older titles, and DLSS 5 is being added to this software on October 23. Before that on October 16, the technology is coming to RTX Spark, Team Green’s new SoC (system-on-a-chip). We’ve found RTX Spark is good for Windows, even if you don’t need local AI.

The tech, which radically alters in-game character lighting, will also be officially added to Hogwarts Legacy on November 5. From the screens that NVIDIA have shown off so far, DLSS 5 seems to have been toned down slightly, with the students within those wizarding walls no longer looking quite as yassified as they were in the initial reveal footage.

Whether DLSS coming to RTX Remix and RTX Spark is actually a good thing is an entirely different matter. Unlike every previous generation of DLSS, it negatively impacts frame rates, it doesn’t boost them. If you’re curious about the tech, but don’t want to wait for NVIDIA to officially inject the tech into some of your favorite games, there’s an easy way you can get DLSS 5 working in pretty much any game.

Thanks to an early build of NBA 2K27 beingleaked, modders quickly gained access to DLSS 5’s Neural Rendering, and now community built apps let you inject the tech into almost any PC game (providing you own an NVIDIA RTX GPU). Software like DLSS 5 Manager and DLSS 5 Swapper allow you to insert advanced lighting techniques into all manner of Vulkan and DirectX titles (with the latter spanning DX9, DX10, DX11 and DX12 generations). I’ve been using DLSS 5 Swapper for a little while now, and although the neural rendered results are obviously going to be subjective, at least this app is a doddle to use.

Installation is a breeze. Once you download and install the software from the link above, it will automatically scan your drives and game libraries for titles it can inject DLSS 5 into. After you select a game you want to insert Neural Rendering into, simply click “Install DLSS 5” and the necessary DLL files and Reshade will be installed within a few seconds. DLSS 5 Swapper instantly detects the correct rendering API, so there’s really no work for you to do. And if you don’t like the results, a simple click of “Restore originals” will remove the NR files and restore the game to its original state.

One word of caution: DLSS 5 mods generally don’t play nicely with games that use anti-cheat software. As much as I wanted to see DLSS 5 injected into GTA V: Enhanced Edition, the mandatory BattlEye software required to run the Los Santos classic prevented the game from launching. Once NVIDIA starts officially supporting DLSS 5 in more games, I’d imagine this current anti-cheat roadblock will become a non-issue.

DLSS 5 has been met with all the enthusiasm of a vegan turning up to an all-you–can-eat panda buffet. But why is the internet so upset about NVIDIA’s DLSS 5? Many gamers feel that rather than adding greater visual fidelity, the technology is fundamentally betraying the artistic integrity of titles. Now that the mods mentioned above allow you to get DLSS 5 working in pretty much any game, the lighting in thousands of titles can be drastically altered at the touch of a button.

I totally get the vitriol aimed at DLSS 5. I really do. Slashing performance by 50 percent or more in certain games, it’s incredibly expensive to run. All the talk about its 3D-Guided Neural Rendering being nothing more than an AI slop-inspired beauty filter has dominated online debates since NVIDIA first revealed the tech. While I understand this criticism, I’ve actually had a pretty good time messing around with DLSS 5.

I’ve mainly used Team Green’s new tech in Cyberpunk 2077, Control, and the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes. In all four of these games I honestly prefer the overall look when DLSS 5 is enabled. Put away your pitchforks, please! In Remedy’s 2019 action-adventure, the tech has a transformative effect on Jesse Faden’s face, as it does with the mugs of Leon and Claire in Resi 2 and Jill Valentine in Resi 3.

While DLSS 5 can have a huge impact on characters, changes to overly lightning are relatively minimal based on my testing. Shadows perhaps looking a little deeper, but the changes to the look of environments is pretty subtle. For that reason, considering the hefty hit DLSS 5 normally causes, I suggest you only enable it in games where you’re regularly seeing your character’s face.

When the first third-party DLSS 5 apps launched, the performance hit was pretty brutal. 30-60 percent FPS drops were the order of the day once Neural Rendering was enabled through Reshade. Thankfully, a recent update has boosted performance in NBA 2K27 (as reported by PC Gamer), with frame rates “merely” dropping 25 percent at 1440p.

After installing the update via an NVIDIA app beta driver, I’ve definitely seen performance boosts in several games I’ve be using DLSS 5 in. In Control at 4K and with max settings enabled, I went from around 80 FPS with DLSS 5 enabled to close to 100 FPS. For context, I am privileged enough to be playing games on an NVIDIA RTX 5090 (my bank balance hates me). With the recent remaster of Metal Gear Solid 4, I’d drop to sub 55 FPS levels before the update at 4K, but now I can squeak out an average performance of 70 FPS. Without DLSS 5 in either of those games? I’d comfortably be well north of 120 FPS.

DLSS 5 is clearly still punishing to run. Unless you own (at least) an RTX 5070 or AMD Radeon RX 9070, there’s no way you should enable this burgeoning tech. Considering the lighting effects are so divisive and GPU-intensive, NVIDIA’s Neural Rendering is likely going to remain a feature only the most hardcore PC gamers with cutting edge rigs can comfortably run. I like DLSS 5 more than most, but the yassification factor isn’t worth buying a new graphics card for.