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NVIDIA DLSS 5 comes to NBA 2K27 September 3—but 370 FPS needs context
September 2, 2026NVIDIA will unlock DLSS 5 in NBA 2K27 for RTX 50-series users on September 3, but its 370 FPS figure combines neural rendering with upscaling and Multi Frame Generation.
NVIDIA says DLSS 5 will become available in NBA 2K27 on September 3, 2026, at 9 PM Pacific Time. Local PC support is limited to GeForce RTX 50-series desktop GPUs and laptops, while NVIDIA also lists availability through GeForce NOW. Players will need NVIDIA’s September 3 Game Ready Driver before the new in-game option appears.
The release time is only part of the story. NVIDIA is advertising up to 370 FPS on an RTX 5090, but that figure combines DLSS 5 with Super Resolution and Multi Frame Generation. Separately, PC Gamer reports that NVIDIA developers estimated DLSS 5 itself currently carries a performance cost of roughly 50–60%.
The timing falls immediately before the game’s listed September 4 worldwide launch. According to 2K’s release announcement, Deluxe and Ultra Edition owners received early access beginning August 28, meaning eligible PC players may already have access to the game when DLSS 5 unlocks. Our guide to NBA 2K27’s wider PC release and gameplay changes covers the rest of the game’s announced features.
Who can use DLSS 5 in NBA 2K27?
NVIDIA’s launch announcement lists all GeForce RTX 50-series desktop GPUs and laptops as supported local hardware. It does not announce local support for earlier RTX generations. NVIDIA also includes GeForce NOW in its availability list.
NVIDIA says the option will appear after players install its September 3 Game Ready Driver. The company has not provided a driver version in the cited announcement.
Once the driver is installed, NVIDIA gives the following activation steps:
- Open Video Settings in NBA 2K27.
- Find and enable DLSS Neural Rendering.
- Press F9 to toggle the feature during gameplay and replays.
DLSS 5 is optional. NVIDIA describes it as a neural-rendering stage that takes a frame’s colour and motion vectors as inputs. The company says it can operate alongside Super Resolution, Multi Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction, rather than replacing every other part of the DLSS suite.
Why NVIDIA’s 370 FPS figure is not a DLSS 5-only result
NVIDIA promotes performance of up to 370 FPS in NBA 2K27 at 4K Ultra with ray tracing on an RTX 5090. Its benchmark description says that result uses the full DLSS suite, including DLSS 5, Super Resolution and Multi Frame Generation.
That makes 370 FPS a combined-configuration result, not an isolated measurement of DLSS 5. NVIDIA’s announcement does not provide a clearly labelled DLSS 5-on versus DLSS 5-off table that would show the feature’s standalone cost. The total also should not be described as a native rendered frame rate because it includes upscaling and generated frames.
PC Gamer additionally reports that the NVIDIA charts shown during its briefing used up to 6x Multi Frame Generation and different upscaling levels. Those settings help explain how a substantial cost from the neural-rendering stage can coexist with a much higher final FPS total.
PC Gamer reports a 50–60% DLSS 5 performance cost
The estimate for DLSS 5’s isolated cost does not come from a public NVIDIA benchmark or testing by TheDashDouble. PC Gamer’s Andy Edser reported that NVIDIA developers he spoke with estimated a current performance reduction of approximately 50–60% when DLSS 5 is enabled. His report says the developers characterised that estimate as not varying on a game-by-game basis.
The distinction in attribution is important. The estimate is original reporting from PC Gamer’s NVIDIA briefing, not a result TheDashDouble has reproduced, and the available reports do not provide a complete public methodology covering different resolutions, scenes, ray-tracing settings or RTX 50-series GPUs.
It nevertheless provides relevant context for NVIDIA’s headline number. Players comparing settings should separate the rendering cost of enabling DLSS 5 from the subsequent FPS gains associated with Super Resolution and Multi Frame Generation.
What remains unknown before launch
NVIDIA says it plans further performance work, but its announcement does not provide per-GPU DLSS 5-only results. The retrieved source material also contains no independent testing of image quality in NBA 2K27, including during fast player movement, replays or close-up faces.
RTX 50-series owners should therefore treat DLSS 5 as an optional visual setting to compare for themselves, not assume that NVIDIA’s 370 FPS figure represents the feature’s standalone performance. Testing the same scene with DLSS Neural Rendering on and off—while keeping the resolution, upscaling and frame-generation settings consistent—will offer a more meaningful personal comparison once the driver and feature are available.
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