--- title: DLSS 5 is the new ray tracing, and it's going to be... description: Nvidia's DLSS 5, a neural rendering technology unveiled at GTC 2026, is following the same adoption playbook as ray tracing: launched as an RTX 50-exclusive... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/dlss-5-is-the-new-ray-tracing-and-it-s-going-to-be-inescapable-soon-4dlhyumul twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: DLSS 5 is the new ray tracing, and it's going to be inescapable soon | daily.dev og:description: Nvidia's DLSS 5, a neural rendering technology unveiled at GTC 2026, is following the same adoption playbook as ray tracing: launched as an RTX 50-exclusive... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/dlss-5-is-the-new-ray-tracing-and-it-s-going-to-be-inescapable-soon-4dlhyumul og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/4DLhyUMUL.png og:image:alt: DLSS 5 is the new ray tracing, and it's going to be inescapable soon og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # DLSS 5 is the new ray tracing, and it's going to be inescapable soon **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Nvidia's DLSS 5, a neural rendering technology unveiled at GTC 2026, is following the same adoption playbook as ray tracing: launched as an RTX 50-exclusive feature (starting September 3 in NBA 2K27 on GeForce Now) with promised but undated RTX 40 support and no commitment to RTX 30 or older. The piece argues that just as ray tracing went from optional to mandatory once DXR/Vulkan standardized it and consoles adopted RT hardware, neural rendering has its own equivalent moment via DirectX Shader Model 6.9's Cooperative Vectors, which lets shaders run inline neural networks across AMD, Nvidia, Intel, and Qualcomm hardware. DLSS 5 currently runs via FP8 format on Ada tensor cores, but a future heavier model could leave older cards technically capable yet officially unsupported, mirroring how RTX 2060 buyers were left behind once ray tracing became standard. Unlike ray tracing, DLSS 5 has a more polarizing reception due to its dramatic changes to facial rendering, which could slow its path to becoming mandatory. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Which GPUs support DLSS 5 right now and which ones are left out? DLSS 5 launched on September 3 exclusively for RTX 50 series GPUs, starting with NBA 2K27 on GeForce Now. Nvidia has said RTX 40 support is coming once RTX 50 performance is fully tuned, but has given no date, and has made no commitment at all to supporting RTX 30 or older cards. _daily.dev helps developers and gamers track GPU feature rollouts like DLSS 5 support tiers before buying hardware._ ### What is DirectX Shader Model 6.9 and why does it matter for neural rendering? Shader Model 6.9 introduces Cooperative Vectors, a feature that lets shaders run small neural networks inline, and it has been committed to by AMD, Nvidia, Intel, and Qualcomm. This creates a vendor-neutral foundation for baking neural rendering techniques like neural texturing, materials, and lighting caches directly into games, similar to how DXR standardized ray tracing. _developers evaluating cross-vendor neural rendering support can follow shader model changes like this on daily.dev._ ### Why might DLSS 5 eventually require newer GPU hardware even though it runs on RTX 40 cards today? DLSS 5 currently uses the FP8 format, which is why Ada (RTX 40) tensor cores can run it at all, but older cards reportedly rely on slower CUDA or compute shader paths to reach their tensor cores from inside shaders. A future version built on a newer number format or a heavier model leaning on shader-level tensor access could leave older cards technically capable but officially unsupported. _gamers timing a GPU purchase around neural rendering longevity can track hardware requirement shifts on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [DLSS 4.5 is phenomenal, but Nvidia left one big problem unsolved... until now](https://daily.dev/posts/dlss-4-5-is-phenomenal-but-nvidia-left-one-big-problem-unsolved-until-now-vawkflpve) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Nvidia, DLSS5 and breaking rendering.](https://daily.dev/posts/nvidia-dlss5-and-breaking-rendering--87gxvhdzx) · c0de517e's weblore · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#game-development](https://daily.dev/tags/game-development), [#gaming](https://daily.dev/tags/gaming), [#nvidia](https://daily.dev/tags/nvidia), [#gpu](https://daily.dev/tags/gpu), [#directx](https://daily.dev/tags/directx) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/dlss-5-is-the-new-ray-tracing-and-it-s-going-to-be-inescapable-soon-4dlhyumul) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"DLSS 5 is the new ray tracing, and it's going to be inescapable soon","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/dlss-5-is-the-new-ray-tracing-and-it-s-going-to-be-inescapable-soon-4dlhyumul","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/dlss-5-is-the-new-ray-tracing-and-it-s-going-to-be-inescapable-soon-4dlhyumul"},"datePublished":"2026-09-29T20:34:12.440Z","dateModified":"2026-09-29T20:34:41.029Z","description":"Nvidia's DLSS 5, a neural rendering technology unveiled at GTC 2026, is following the same adoption playbook as ray tracing: launched as an RTX 50-exclusive...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c330b3a3d76134db32e6e62a320b010d?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c330b3a3d76134db32e6e62a320b010d?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/dlss-5-is-the-new-ray-tracing-and-it-s-going-to-be-inescapable-soon-4dlhyumul","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"game-development,gaming,nvidia,gpu,directx","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"DLSS 5 is the new ray tracing, and it's going to be inescapable soon"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/dlss-5-is-the-new-ray-tracing-and-it-s-going-to-be-inescapable-soon-4dlhyumul#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Which GPUs support DLSS 5 right now and which ones are left out?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"DLSS 5 launched on September 3 exclusively for RTX 50 series GPUs, starting with NBA 2K27 on GeForce Now. Nvidia has said RTX 40 support is coming once RTX 50 performance is fully tuned, but has given no date, and has made no commitment at all to supporting RTX 30 or older cards. daily.dev helps developers and gamers track GPU feature rollouts like DLSS 5 support tiers before buying hardware."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is DirectX Shader Model 6.9 and why does it matter for neural rendering?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Shader Model 6.9 introduces Cooperative Vectors, a feature that lets shaders run small neural networks inline, and it has been committed to by AMD, Nvidia, Intel, and Qualcomm. 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