Nvidia’s controversial DLSS 5 just got a lot faster. The company has rolled out a new neural rendering model for NBA 2K27 that it claims is twice as fast as the September version, with 24% fewer parameters and 20% lower VRAM usage at 4K — cutting the GPU overhead in half while supposedly maintaining the same visual quality.
That is a massive turnaround for a technology that launched with a brutal performance tax. In TechSpot’s original testing, even the mighty (and overpriced) RTX 5090 dropped from 192 fps to just 76 fps at 4K maximum settings in NBA 2K27 when DLSS 5 neural rendering was enabled — a whopping 60% performance hit.
DLSS 5 in action (Credits: How-To Geek)
Why DLSS 5 Was So Controversial at Launch
DLSS 5, introduced in March 2026 and launched in September 2026 with NBA 2K27, is fundamentally different from the DLSS PC gamers knew. Instead of upscaling, it uses 3D-guided neural rendering — AI that enhances lighting, materials, and other visual details in games.
That ambition is exactly what drew fire. Critics quickly dubbed some of its output “AI slop” — the AI would change how games looked, sometimes rendering characters nearly unrecognizable. As How-To Geek’s Monica J. White put it, some implementations looked “less than stellar, to put it mildly.”
Then came the performance tax. Putting this under the DLSS umbrella felt misleading to many, because unlike classic DLSS it never gave you extra performance — it took away what you already had. Worse, lowering graphics settings barely helped: DLSS 5 demanded its price regardless of how you configured the game.
What the New DLSS 5 Model Changes for Gamers
With the October 2026 update, Nvidia says the neural rendering model is twice as fast, with 24% fewer parameters and 20% lower VRAM usage at 4K. The company also claims up to 1.4 times higher in-game frame rates versus the original model.
Independent benchmarks are reportedly impressive — though the full picture includes caveats, and whether the same visual quality truly holds depends on which side of the AI-slop fence you stand on. Still, for the first time since launch, DLSS 5 looks like a technology moving in the right direction rather than a tax on your GPU.
If you own an RTX card and were waiting out the DLSS 5 storm, this update is your signal to check it out. Fire up NBA 2K27, grab the latest driver, and see whether the new model finally makes neural rendering worth the cost.
Also Read: We’re Entering the Post-GPU Era of PC Gaming, But It May Not Save You Any Money
Source: How-To Geek — read the full story there.
