00:00At this year's CES event, NVIDIA announced a new version of its AI-powered graphics technology
00:05suite DLSS 4.5, sporting updates to DLSS super-resolution and multi-frame generation.
00:12While the latter won't make an appearance until the spring, you can use the new upscaler
00:17right now.
00:18The AI Transformer model that NVIDIA introduced with DLSS 4 has been improved to reduce the
00:24amount of ghosting and flickering seen in upscaled frames, thanks to better training
00:28from a larger dataset and a lot more calculations behind the scenes.
00:32That does mean that DLSS 4.5 will push your GPU a fair bit harder, especially if it's
00:37a first- or second-generation RTX chip, which don't have the same hardware capabilities as
00:42Blackwell or Ada Lovelace processors.
00:45To use DLSS 4.5 in games, you need to download and install the 591.74 GeForce game-ready drivers,
00:53as well as the most recent version of the NVIDIA app.
00:56DLSS 4.5 has to be enabled on a per-game basis.
01:00So head to the Graphics section in the NVIDIA app, find the game you want to use DLSS 4.5
01:06in, and then scroll all the way down to Driver Settings.
01:10Select DLSS Override Model Preset, then click on Recommended in the row of options at the top.
01:16This will force the game to use the new upscaling model instead of whatever it was originally
01:21programmed to use.
01:22Now, just fire up the game and enjoy the improved upscaling.
01:26But wait!
01:28There's more!
01:28If you click on Custom instead of Recommended, you can choose a specific preset for DLSS
01:34to use, instead of letting the software use the default selection.
01:38Each preset tweaks how DLSS works, sometimes making it a little harder to run but giving
01:44you better results.
01:45While there's a big list of them, most are no longer used.
01:49Preset K is the default one enabled when you enable DLAA, DLSS Quality or DLSS Balanced
01:56in a game.
01:57With DLSS 4.5, NVIDIA has introduced two new presets, L and M.
02:05L is optimized to work best at 4K resolution, and with DLSS Ultra Performance, whereas Preset
02:11M is for any resolution, but specifically for DLSS Performance.
02:15To see what DLSS 4.5 is bringing to the table, we've compared it to DLSS 4 in a bunch
02:21of different
02:22games, testing them at 1080p with an RTX 3060 Ti graphics card and at 4K with an RTX 5090,
02:30both using DLSS Performance and DLSS Ultra Performance.
02:39First up is Cyberpunk 2077, a game that's usually first in-line to support NVIDIA's latest
02:44graphics technologies.
02:46We've set the graphics quality to the highest settings, including the use of path tracing.
02:51DLSS ray reconstruction has been disabled, because that system uses its own upscaler that
02:56doesn't use the new Transformer model, and it will just override whatever you select
03:00in the NVIDIA app.
03:02Starting with 4K Performance mode and Preset or Model M with an RTX 5090, you'll notice,
03:09or perhaps not notice, that there isn't a massive difference between DLSS 4 and DLSS 4.5
03:15in this game.
03:16However, look carefully at the performance figures in the top left-hand corner.
03:20The increased complexity of the new Transformer model in DLSS 4.5 works the GPU harder than
03:26DLSS 4 does, so the average and 1% low frame rates are both down.
03:31The GPU's power consumption is also slightly up.
03:35That might seem like bad news, but if you watch things carefully, you can see where the new
03:39upscaler is better.
03:41Distant edges shimmer less, and thin lines such as barbed wire on a fence are more stable.
03:46Sticking with 4K but changing the upscaling mode to Ultra Performance with Preset L, we see
03:52a similar result as from before.
03:53There's a bigger performance drop and a higher power consumption, but the overall quality
03:58of the visuals is better.
04:00Look at the background characters in the bar.
04:02Their bodies are more defined, and colours stand out more.
04:06There's also far less flickering of edges, which you can see as the camera travels down
04:10the alley.
04:15Now let's see how Cyberpunk 2077 runs and looks on an RTX 3060 Ti at 1080p.
04:22We're still maxed on the graphics settings, so DLSS has got its work cut out.
04:27Once again, there isn't a huge difference in performance mode, though DLSS 4.5 is generally
04:32a little better.
04:33The characters in the bar look more defined, though there's quite a bit of flickering going
04:37on once we head outside, and especially near the road.
04:42However, with Ultra Performance mode and Preset L, the differences between DLSS 4 and 4.5 are
04:48more pronounced.
04:49There's a small hit to the frame rates as well as a bump to the power consumption, but
04:53the RTX 3060 Ti is producing a cleaner and more stable output.
04:59There's much less random flickering going on, and the detail of objects is sharper.
05:04It's not perfect, but given the GPU is rendering at just 360p, the results of both DLSS models
05:10are pretty impressive.
05:19The next game we tested is Black Myth Wukong, and, just as with Cyberpunk 2077, we cranked
05:25up the graphics settings to use full ray tracing, aka path tracing.
05:30We'll start again at 4K on an RTX 5090, with Performance mode and Preset M.
05:36One of the reasons we chose to test Black Myth Wukong is that the game tends to produce an
05:40overly sharp image by default.
05:42This matters because DLSS is trained to favour sharpness when generating its output, and in
05:48the case of DLSS 4.5 and this game, it's actually too sharp.
05:52There is a slider in the game's graphics menu that you can use to reduce the sharpness,
05:56but unless you knock it all the way down, it always stands out a bit.
06:00It's especially noticeable when you use Ultra Performance mode and Preset L.
06:05Look how badly the leaves on the background trees flicker as the camera passes underneath
06:10the bridge.
06:11It's not all bad news though, as Black Myth Wukong looks less washed out with DLSS 4.5,
06:16and if you check out the foliage near the end of the benchmark run, you'll see that the
06:20leaves and the needles look fuller and with better definition.
06:24At 1080p on the RTX 3060 Ti, it's the same story again.
06:29With DLSS 4.5 the game is a bit too sharp, though there is less flickering on long, thin
06:34objects.
06:35Tree branches that can be seen with the sky directly behind them shimmer quite badly in
06:40DLSS 4, but not so in DLSS 4.5.
06:43The new upscaler is also better in Ultra Performance mode, with Preset L. There's less shimmering
06:49and flickering all around.
06:59For our next game, Stalker 2, Heart of Chernobyl, we've just focused on DLSS Performance mode.
07:05If you game at 1440p or 1080p, that's really the lowest quality of upscaler you should be
07:10using, as Ultra Performance takes away too much fine detail in this game.
07:14As Stalker 2 doesn't have a built-in benchmark, the comparison runs aren't like-for-like, but
07:19they're close enough to see the benefits that DLSS 4.5 brings to the table.
07:23At 4K with the RTX 5090, there's really nothing that stands out between the two DLSS versions,
07:29but if you look carefully at the telephone cables, you'll see that the second generation
07:33transformer model helps to make them look less pixelated.
07:37Leaves and branches on trees have more definition with DLSS 4.5, just as they do in BlackMyth
07:43Wukong, and while the GPU is clearly being worked harder, there's not enough of a performance
07:47drop to worry about.
07:49However, that's not the case with the RTX 3060 Ti at 1080p, as the 1% frame rate takes
07:55quite a beating, but at least there's less flickering on barbed wire, cables and trees.
08:13Some games show almost no discernible difference between DLSS 4 and 4.5, Doom the Dark Ages,
08:20Spider-Man Remastered and Baldur's Gate 3 all look virtually the same, regardless of which
08:25transformer model is used.
08:27You need to look very closely at these games to spot where DLSS 4.5 is better.
08:32For example, in Spider-Man, the new upscaler handles the wire mesh of gates better.
08:38In DLSS 4, these can flicker slightly depending on the camera angle, but it's far less apparent
08:43in DLSS 4.5.
08:45In actual gameplay, though, you're unlikely to notice such differences because you'll be
08:49too busy swinging around or blasting demons.
08:52What you might just notice is the drop in performance when using DLSS 4.5, especially
08:58if it was already borderline with the previous version of DLSS.
09:07So, what to make of NVIDIA's latest version of DLSS?
09:11The visual output is arguably better, but not massively so, and it heavily depends on what
09:16game you use it in.
09:17When it comes to objects and lines flickering about, and pixels shimmering on edges, these
09:22have all been reduced, though DLSS's fondness for sharpening images is now more apparent.
09:27The complexity of the new transformer model means the increased GPU workload will affect
09:33your frame rates and generate more heat.
09:35If you have an older RTX card like a 20 or 30 series, you might find DLSS 4.5 is
09:41a bit
09:41too hard work for your GPU, though our RTX 3060 Ti seem to cope for the most part.
09:48On the whole, though, DLSS 4.5 gets a thumbs up, and for one simple reason.
09:53The choice about using it is entirely in your hands.
09:57If the pros outweigh the cons in your favourite games, then, provided they already support
10:02DLSS upscaling, switching to the new transformer model is very straightforward.
10:07At least you won't have to buy another graphics card if you want to use NVIDIA's new AI-powered
10:11upscaler.
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