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It's technically a day late, but Nvidia is now rolling out DLSS 4.5 to RTX graphics cards. Yes, that's right, it's not just the 50-series getting this update, as everything from 2018 rigs to my RTX 3070 laptop that makes concerning cries for help whenever I open too many Chrome tabs is getting the AI upscaling suite.
Announced during CES 2026, the update should now be available to more than just the best graphics cards of today in the Nvidia App. What I'm saying is that as long as you've got an "RTX" GPU, you should now be able to tap into AI upscaling that will attempt to improve lighting, texture edges, and motion clarity. Just keep in mind that while you're technically getting access to "DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution," that doesn't include fps-boosting features like Frame Generation, as the old Tensor cores of pre RTX 40-series GPUs lack FP8/FP4 support (the AI floating-point tricks).
On that note, Nvidia does caveat that due to the lack of FP8 elements in RTX 20 and 30-series GPUs, DLSS 4.5's Super Resolution models will come with greater performance consequences. Simply put, while AI upscaling can be an fps saving grace, trying to use the latest version could end up with undesirable results. The solution? The green team suggests perhaps sticking with the 4.0 "Model K" by selecting the override in the app. But hey, at least the option is there.
This latest update could be considered another chapter in Nvidia's quest to make AI in PC gaming a thing. Make no mistake, it has been pushing DLSS since way before the technology started invading other aspects of our lives. But, since it now considers itself more of an Artificial Intelligence company than a gaming GPU creator, and decided to use the feature as its big CES announcement, rather than any new graphics cards, it's safe to say it has specific priorities within the scene.
DLSS has the potential to help players with aging hardware achieve playable frame rates across their Steam library, and 4.5 support across previous generations is a good thing. That said, there is still unrest among some gaming PC players who class the results as "fake frames," drawing on the idea of AI pairing natively generated images with artificial panels to fill in the blanks, in turn providing a perceived fps boost.
Like it or not, all the big dogs of the gaming scene are using AI tools like DLSS, and even the Nintendo Switch 2 is using a version of the upscaler to hit 4K. On the flipside, Sony and AMD are in a partnership of sorts, with the PS5 gradually relying more on PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) to deliver a performance boost not unlike the FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) upscaling suite included with Radeon GPUs.
Is the lurch to using AI upscaling by default a bad thing? Well, it certainly comes with surface-level benefits, and the fact that even my aging RTX 3070 gaming laptop is getting the latest updates means it'll theoretically benefit when running compatible games. Is that worth the environmental impact of the industry responsible for such developments, and even more specific issues like RAM prices reaching levels that could make PC upgrades impossible for us mere mortals? Absolutely not, but the way these tools are being woven into GPUs and consoles means they're harder than ever to avoid.
Putting together your own rig? Swing by the best CPUs for gaming and the best gaming RAM for our top component picks. You'll also want to peek at the best gaming handheld options if you'd rather play on the go.
