DLSS 3 explained: How Nvidia’s AI-infused RTX tech turbocharges PC gaming

You might spend top dollar for fancy new graphics card hardware, but one of the key components to gaming performance is actually software. While the brute force of the hardware gets most of the glory (and is indeed essential), the software side is the magic that pieces it together. Without good software, even the ferocious Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is reduced to a fancy paperweight—especially when running Cyberpunk 2077‘s glorious new path traced Overdrive mode. 

Software can also substantially improve the hardware performance. Enter Nvidia’s DLSS 3.0, or Deep Learning Super Sampling. Including both AI-powered frame generation and Nvidia’s wondrous latency-reducing Reflex technology, DLSS 3.0 makes for a potent recipe. And with the unveiling of affordable new GeForce RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti graphics cards, this fantastic technology is about to become a lot more accessible.

This isn’t the same old DLSS upsampling you’re used to, however. We’re going to go over some basics of what DLSS 3.0 is, and its application to Nvidia’s RTX 40-series GPUs. We’ll let you know how to use this feature, and tell you about optimal settings on some popular supported games. Let’s get cracking.

Further reading: The best graphics cards for PC gaming

How does DLSS 3 work?

DLSS 3 greatly accelerates gaming frame rates using a mixture of AI tasks running on dedicated tensor cores. It has three components that make it tick. 

Super Resolution (a.k.a. DLSS 2)

Also known as super sampling, DLSS 3’s core “upscaler” functionality is actually the DLSS 2 technology already integrated into countless games. DLSS renders game imagery at a lower resolution than your monitor runs at to increase raw gaming frame rates, then uses AI tensor cores to reconfigure the image with machine learning so that it looks sharp on your screen. This bypasses the performance penalty that your higher resolution would impose, while keeping graphics fidelity high. 

Frame generation

The novel element to DLSS 3 is in the “Optical Multiframe Generation” AI technology. After analyzing two images from a game back-to-back, DLSS 3 uses this information to insert an extra AI-created frame that does not have to be rendered by the game itself. This result is in even higher frame rates than standard DLSS 2. It can also help dramatically increase the smoothness in CPU bottlenecked games. 

Nvidia Reflex low latency

The third piece of the puzzle is in Nvidia’s Reflex technology. Frame generation is not free. Those AI-generated frames aren’t controlled by the player, since the game isn’t rendering them, so it can actually add latency (read: reduce responsiveness) in games. To combat this, Nvidia Reflex helps harmonize the GPU and CPU so that latency is reduced. It helps to bypass the traditional bottlenecks presented by both the GPU and CPU by deeper integration into the game engine itself. Reflex was created years ago to improve performance in esports games to amazing effect, but Nvidia now requires it in games that support DLSS 3.

Speaking of…  

What do you need to run DLSS 3?

Thiago Trevisan

An RTX 40-series graphics card

DLSS 3 is exclusive to Nvidia’s “Ada Lovelace” RTX 40-series graphics cards. It is available for both desktop and laptop offerings, but not any RTX 30-series or prior GPUs. 

Nvidia says that’s because the new Lovelace GPU architecture includes more powerful AI tensor cores and, more critically, a new “Optical Flow Accelerator” that provides scene movement info critical to creating those AI frames. Performance on RTX 30 or older GPUs would not provide a good experience, so for now this technology is limited to the more powerful hardware. Currently, four RTX 40-series graphics cards are available that meet those requirements:

• The $1,600 RTX 4090
• The $1,200 RTX 4080
• The $800 RTX 4070 Ti
• The $600 RTX 4070
• The $399 RTX 4060 Ti 8GB (coming May 24) or $499 RTX 4060 Ti 16GB (July 2023)
• The $299 RTX 4060 (coming July 2023)

DLSS 3 is not supported on rival AMD Radeon or Intel Arc graphics cards.

Certain Windows settings need to be active

You’ll also need to turn on “Hardware Accelerated GPU” in your Windows display settings. (Settings > System > Display > Related Sections > Graphics > Change Default Graphics Settings > Toggle Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling on)

Certain in-game settings need to be active

Only specific games directly support DLSS 3. You’ll have to turn on “Frame Generation” settings after activating DLSS upscaling. This will also necessitate “Nvidia Reflex” being turned on, and most (but not all) games will do this by default. You’ll further have the option to set Reflex to additional “Boost.” 

Supported DLSS 3 games

There are currently over 25 games that are playable now, with many more coming. High profile titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 5 have recently received DLSS 3 updates, along with new releases such as Hogwarts Legacy. Rock Paper Shotgun maintains a helpful guide to all available and upcoming DLSS 3 games (they’re after the ray traced and DLSS games in the list).

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What are DLSS 3’s drawbacks?

DLSS 3 is fantastic for increasing overall visual smoothness, but as it develops during its early days, it also has a few potential issues to be aware of. 

Latency

While Nvidia Reflex addresses a lot of DLSS 3’s latency concerns, it’s also not the rapid response some users may expect from esports titles. That’s why DLSS 3 is better suited for single player games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Plague Tale Requiem, Microsoft Flight Simulator, etc. Even with Reflex on, DLSS 3 can play a sort of trick on your mind if you’re especially sensitive to how fast frame rates and responsiveness are intertwined, as PCWorld’s Brad Chacos explained during his review of the RTX 4090:

“While the DLSS 3 experience shines, it doesn’t always feel more responsive in your hands. Running Cyberpunk 2077 at 138fps with every possible bell and whistle active thanks to DLSS 3 looks absolutely stunning, full stop. But one of the perks of faster frame rates is increased responsiveness, and while Reflex greatly helps with that, Cyberpunk 2077 running at 138fps doesn’t feel substantially more responsive than running it at the 77fps or so it hits in native 4K. Having twice as many frames looks fantastic but those AI frames aren’t responding to your controls in the actual moment, though it’s close.

This is not a negative. This is not a drawback. It can’t be after running Flight Sim at 120fps, and Cyberpunk 2077 with ultra ray tracing at 138fps (the RTX 3090 tops out at 48fps). But it’s worth highlighting.”

Visual artifacts

Most of the DLSS 3 gaming experience looks fantastic. You won’t notice any visual issues or quirks. That said, there are some games that showcase some onscreen “artifacts” or abnormalities. UI elements can also not be displayed properly in some titles, all areas that are undergoing improvement. The good news is that software updates can remedy these issues as gamers age. The Hardware Unboxed deep dive embedded below does a great job of walking through DLSS 3’s visual quality, including highlighting potential quirks.

Needs powerful hardware

DLSS 3 shows some of its best results on already powerful hardware, like the Nvidia RTX 4080 or 4090. It also seems to do better when it’s boosting an already-okay frame rate to a higher one, such as 60 FPS to 120 FPS. Time will tell if upcoming weaker GPUs such as the RTX 4060 will still have the same impressive results, but it should be promising. 

Settings overload

Console gamers have it easy without as much customization sometimes! PC games not only have dozens of graphics settings, but it also has different levels for each one. Add to that DLSS 3, which now has its own hierarchy of graphic settings to learn.

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DLSS 3 settings explained 

Dozens more settings variations have entered the fray – making it confusing for gamers when choosing your graphics settings. After activating DLSS, Frame Generation, and Reflex, you have a few more choices to make.

DLSS feature options

• DLSS Auto: This will try and keep the frames as best it can to your monitor’s refresh rate
• DLSS Quality: The best visual performance, with modest or not much FPS uplift 
• DLSS Balanced: A good combination of higher frames and maintaining graphical fidelity. 
• DLSS Performance: You’ll notice somewhat less impressive visuals, but FPS frames are considerably higher. 
• DLSS Ultra-performance: Better FPS, but worse visuals – typically when you really want to overreach existing hardware or to hit a specific FPS at a higher resolution. (8K Gamers, you’ll want to learn this one!) 
• DLSS Frame Generation: This setting will just be a simple “On or Off” toggle in your game settings. Remember, you’ll need Ada Lovelace RTX 40 series GPUs to work. 

Nvidia Reflex and Boost

These are often found near DLSS options, but may be elsewhere in a video menu as well (as in Cyberpunk 2077). Nvidia Reflex will often be turned on automatically in most games with Frame Generation being active. That’s not always true, however, and many games let you disable Reflex manually even when running DLSS 3 Frame Gen. (We don’t recommend doing that.) You’ll also have the option for a “Boost” feature in many games. Reflex Boost overclocks your GPU so it can help in CPU limited scenarios even more. 

Even more options

To make matters a bit more complicated, some games even allow you to select only Nvidia’s DLAA along with Frame Generation and Reflex. Plague Tale’s Requiem is one such title. DLAA basically runs DLSS at your native monitor resolution for enhanced visual sharpness and clarity. When given this option, it offers the highest possible graphical setting you can achieve, balanced out by the obvious performance cost. You can usually choose DLSS instead if the DLAA performance is too low. 

In most games, such as Hogwarts Legacy, DLAA will automatically be grayed out when you select DLSS. 

The best DLSS 3 settings

The most powerful gpu is a dlss 3 monster

GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition

Read our review

Here’s how we use DLSS 3 settings in our own rigs. For the most powerful hardware, such as the RTX 4080 and 4090, DLSS Quality should keep respectable frames in most games, even at 4K, and doubly so with DLSS Frame Generation enabled.  If you prefer a bit more pep in perf