Nvidia’s DLSS 4.5 is a welcome addition for RTX GPU users, but it falls short of the major improvements I expected from CES.
It’s hard to believe a year has passed since Jensen Huang took the stage at last year’s CES to unveil the RTX 50 Series GPUs. The gaming community has voiced significant concerns over the AI-centric direction of this graphics generation, particularly with the emphasis on AI frame generation—now often referred to as “fake frames”—over delivering genuine hardware performance that gamers can truly utilize in their rigs.
This year at CES, gamers didn’t have to endure another AI-heavy keynote to catch the latest graphics card news. Instead, a community update from the gaming division was shared on YouTube, highlighting a quality-of-life enhancement for all RTX GPU users.
The spotlight this year is on the new DLSS 4.5, which is now available and promises to enhance visual fidelity while boosting frame rates in games.
Bryan Catanzaro, VP of Applied Deep Learning Research at Nvidia, stated, “We have dramatically improved super resolution with a new second-gen transformer model, and we’ve expanded the capabilities of Multi Frame Generation.” He added, “These improvements make super resolution performance and ultra performance mode so much better. It has superior anti-aliasing for smoother edges, clearer gameplay even with fast-moving objects, and improved temporal stability from frame to frame.”
In essence, the image quality with these DLSS settings is expected to show less noise, fewer jagged edges, and an overall more appealing look.
The fact that this update is accessible to all RTX GPU owners feels reminiscent of AMD’s approach with FSR, which is available across various GPUs and even on a driver level for unsupported titles. While this is a fantastic enhancement for users with older GPUs relying on performance and ultra performance DLSS settings, it may not fully satisfy the expectations of many frustrated PC gamers.
As DLSS 4.5 also significantly boosts multi-frame generation with dynamic frame generation that aligns your enhanced frame rate with your display, it’s a bit disappointing that Nvidia hasn’t addressed the challenges associated with this upscaling technology more thoroughly.
In my experience with higher 4x frame-gen settings, not only does the image quality suffer, but a noticeable latency can creep in, creating a floaty and uncomfortable gaming experience. This is particularly concerning given that reducing latency was one of the key selling points of Nvidia’s 50 Series GPUs, which explains the dissatisfaction among users.
Nvidia Reflex, designed to tackle the latency issues that come with upscaling, seems to be overshadowed by the focus on frame-boosting technology. Originally launched in 2020, Reflex feels more crucial than ever for RTX owners, especially with the new 6x multi-frame generation to manage, which may struggle to keep pace.
While every gaming setup has unique demands, I would have preferred a DLSS 4.5 update from CES 2026 that prioritized minimizing system latency with the latest upscaling features, rather than this iteration, which might exacerbate the issue.
In a side-by-side comparison Nvidia showcased of Black Myth Wukong, DLSS 4 achieved 185fps using MFG 4x, while DLSS 4.5 with MFG 6x hit 245fps but introduced 53ms of latency. While that may not seem like much in real-time, it underscores my point. It feels like Nvidia isn’t fully addressing why this advanced AI upscaling technology doesn’t deliver the same satisfaction as natively rendered frames.
I haven’t had the chance to test the latest DLSS updates myself yet, but I’m hopeful that the experience with MFG has improved now that Nvidia has had another year to refine the upscaler.
Dynamic Frame Gen is also set to launch later this year, complementing the new 6x total multiplier for MFG. I hope this will help smooth out the larger spikes in frame rates and latency, but it’s puzzling that a new version of Reflex hasn’t been introduced to counteract the negative perceptions surrounding Nvidia’s “fake frames” over the past year.
