NBA 2K27 Debuts NVIDIA DLSS 5 With Frame Rate Trade-Off
NBA 2K27 has launched as the first game to feature NVIDIA's DLSS 5 AI upscaling technology, bringing visual enhancements alongside significant hardware demands. Testing reveals that the new technology impacts both frame rates and power consumption on high-end graphics cards.
NBA 2K27 has officially arrived as the very first video game to utilize NVIDIA's cutting-edge DLSS 5 AI upscaling technology. This newly released title showcases how advanced neural rendering techniques can be applied to modern sports simulations to enhance overall visual fidelity during gameplay.
When enabled in NBA 2K27, DLSS 5 actively adds intricate details to both player and crowd models within the game. Specifically, this technology gives player skin significantly more texture and introduces slightly more realistic shadows across the virtual basketball court.
However, these visual improvements come with a noticeable performance cost during active gameplay sessions. Recent testing of NBA 2K27 utilizing an RTX 5090 GPU at a 4K resolution demonstrated that DLSS 5 cut the overall frame rate down substantially from 240fps to 150fps.
In addition to the frame rate reduction, the technology also places a heavier burden on computer hardware components in terms of electricity usage. Without DLSS 5 active, an RTX 5090 GPU typically draws around 400 watts of power during operation.
Once DLSS 5 is switched on, that power draw immediately jumps to 525 watts on the same hardware setup. Furthermore, community reports highlight even higher demands, with one HardOCP forum member noting that their RTX 5090 drew over 600W while utilizing DLSS 5 in NBA 2K27.
Looking ahead, NVIDIA has officially announced that DLSS 5 will eventually receive support on last-generation RTX 4000 GPUs in addition to current RTX 5000 hardware. Meanwhile, major industry players including Capcom, Tencent, and Ubisoft have already committed to supporting DLSS 5 technology in their own future game titles.
