DLSS 5 Tested on Hogwarts Legacy: 4K FPS Drops Up to 38%

A new test with the RTX 5080 shows DLSS 5 actually lowers frame rates in Hogwarts Legacy by 20-38%, despite improving image clarity. Here's what's going on.

Well, this is a twist. DLSS 5 is supposed to be the next big thing in AI upscaling, but a new test suggests it might actually make your game run slower. GameGPU put the tech through its paces in Hogwarts Legacy using an RTX 5080, and the results are... not what you'd expect.

In the Hogsmeade village scene, frame rates dropped from 49 FPS to 39 FPS with DLSS 5 enabled. The castle courtyard went from 48 FPS down to 34 FPS, and dialogue scenes took a hit too, falling from 71 FPS to 44 FPS. Overall, that's a 20-38% drop. GPU power draw hit 364.3W and temps reached 68°C, so the card is definitely working harder.

So why the slowdown? DLSS 5 isn't just another upscaler. It's built on something NVIDIA calls 3D-guided neural rendering, which works as a generative co-processing module on top of an already-rendered frame. Unlike traditional super resolution or frame generation, this tech actually reprocesses the image in a much more compute-heavy way. The system uses motion vectors and frame geometry to do its thing, putting extra strain on GDDR7 memory and Tensor Cores.

The test rig was no slouch either: an Intel Core i7-14700F, ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5080 OC 16GB, 32GB DDR4 3600MHz RAM, ASUS PRIME B760-PLUS D4 motherboard, Kingston NV1 1TB SSD, be quiet! Power Zone 2 850W PSU, and a be quiet! Dark Rock 5 cooler. Tests ran at 4K and 1440p with Ultra settings and ray tracing on, using DLSS 4.5 quality and balanced presets plus multi-frame generation up to 6x.

But hey, it's not all bad news. The frame rate hit comes with a noticeable bump in image stability and clarity. In Hogsmeade, the generative rendering engine reworks indirect lighting and creates deeper, more physically accurate shadows under eaves. Wall stone textures look sharper and more three-dimensional. In open castle areas, pixel grid and aliasing on complex objects are reduced—look at the armillary sphere, for example—and sub-pixel shimmer on grass and vegetation is suppressed.

Dialogue scenes benefit too. Rasterization artifacts are reduced, fabric textures at robe seams are more visible, and hair stays stable during movement with less visual noise. So DLSS 5 is trading frames for fidelity, at least in this early test. Whether that's a worthwhile trade will depend on your setup and what you value more. What do you think—would you sacrifice 38% of your frame rate for cleaner visuals? Let us know in the comments.