Nvidia’s latest version of its Deep Learning Super Sampling technology, aka DLSS, hit the scene early Wednesday. With the latest update in tow comes a slightly redesigned upscaler that is now better than ever, at least for most games. If you were hoping that you would be able to push your frame rates to ludicrous levels, you’ll need to wait.
DLSS 4.5, which Nvidia announced back during CES 2026 last week, incorporates a new version of the existing transformer model upscaler. The original transformer model was a major part of the DLSS 4 update from 2025, which took an AI model trained on gameplay to generate the look you should see at higher resolution. Upscalers like DLSS take a frame at a lower resolution and massage it so it appears at a higher resolution, which enhances the visual resolution to the size your display supports while improving performance. With AMD and Intel nipping at its heels, Nvidia felt it needed to show up with even more frame generation software for 2026. Instead, the latest update proves that small enhancements make a bigger difference than the oft-touted “fake frames.”
The big update for DLSS 4.5 is only perceivable when glancing at small environmental details. Previous versions of DLSS had a hard time picking up on minute environmental effects, like sparks from a fire. DLSS 4.5 is supposed to bring those details back. Plus, 4.5 should help sharpen textures and eliminate ghosting around some environmental details, where an image would appear to bleed from frame to frame.
Small improvements make a big difference
I tested DLSS 4.5 on a Framework Laptop 16 packed with a GeForce RTX 5070 laptop GPU. This is one of Nvidia’s lower-end graphics cards with only 8GB of VRAM. DLSS makes more of a difference for players running cheaper gaming rigs than for platforms with higher-end specs. I used a 1440p monitor for my testing, as the RTX 5070, especially the laptop version, isn’t going to enable a quality experience at 4K resolution.
I compared DLSS 4 and DLSS 4.5 in games like Marvel’s Spider-Man II, Black Myth: Wukong, and The Outer Worlds II. The updated Nvidia app now allows players to override the DLSS model for supported games. The preset “L” and “M” models are both based on DLSS 4.5. “L” is for ultra-performance mode built for trying to hit 4K resolution, though “M” should fit more players’ needs who just want better performance in games at below 4K.
DLSS 4.5 is a big step up. In Black Myth: Wukong, I saw a bump up to around 50 fps and even 60 fps in some scenes with the same graphics settings using the model M preset compared to DLSS 4, which hovered between 45 and 48 with very high graphics settings and ray tracing set to medium. Those promised graphical effects, like sparks coming off of fires, are indeed real. Latency with frame generation is marginally better with the update as well. In Spider-Man 2, running at medium settings with ray tracing set to high, I saw few performance improvements, though foliage appeared slightly sharper running DLSS 4.5.
The one place I saw a drop in performance was in Outer Worlds II, which took a small hit looking at the same scene. However, I noticed that ground foliage and distant plants appeared sharper, even while using the same graphics settings. The small performance drop would necessitate some fine-tuning with DLSS settings to reach a higher standard frame rates, but I would take higher fidelity any day of the week.
Dynamic frame gen won’t be here until later
Small graphical enhancements are one thing, but Nvidia’s promising to maximize your monitor’s refresh rate with its new 6x frame gen capabilities. That will also spark a new “dynamic” frame gen mode, which will modify the frame gen between 4x and 6x to try and maximize your display’s refresh rate. Currently, you won’t find an override for 6x frame generation in the Nvidia app. In a message sent to Gizmodo, Nvidia said the dynamic frame gen plugin will be available to developers through the DLSS Multi Frame Generation Streamline Plugin this spring. For now, we’re stuck with the current 4x model.
Dynamic mode makes sense. It pushes the frame rate to what your monitor is technically capable of. The one thing that Nvidia constantly fails to mention is that players actually need playable frame rates before they enable frame gen. You can get by with around 50 fps, but for fewer visual hiccups, you want at or close to 60 fps. There’s a certain point where frame gen is a tradeoff between performance and latency.
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