NBA 2K27 Is the First Game With DLSS 5: How Does It Look?

NBA 2K27 debuts NVIDIA's DLSS 5 neural rendering, enhancing lighting and materials on RTX 50-series GPUs. We break down what's new and how it performs.

Another year, another NBA 2K. NBA 2K27 has arrived from Visual Concepts and 2K, and it's doing more than just tweaking the on-court action. For PC players, the headline feature isn't a new mode or a roster update — it's the fact that NBA 2K27 is the first game to officially support NVIDIA's DLSS 5.

If you've been following DLSS over the years, you know it started as a way to boost frame rates with AI upscaling. DLSS 5 flips that idea on its head. Its core tech is called 3D-Guided Neural Rendering, and instead of just reconstructing pixels, it uses engine data — color, motion vectors, surface albedo, normals, and lighting — to let a neural network enhance how light and materials actually look in the final image.

In NBA 2K27, that means better subsurface scattering on player skin, more realistic hair translucency, improved contact shadows, and more believable material responses to light. The best part? It still relies on the game's original geometry and player scan data, so it shouldn't mess with how your favorite stars actually look. DLSS is no longer just about performance reconstruction — it's now part of the final image pipeline.

But here's the catch: DLSS 5 doesn't replace DLSS 4.5. It's a separate, optional neural rendering feature that works alongside DLSS Super Resolution and Multi Frame Generation. And right now, in NBA 2K27, it's only available on GeForce RTX 50-series cards. That raises plenty of questions. How much does it actually improve the visuals? What's the performance cost of neural rendering? How does it scale across different resolutions?

We're digging into all of that using NBA 2K27 as our test bed. From image quality to frame rates, we're putting mainstream GPUs through their paces to see how DLSS 5 holds up in real gameplay. If you're rocking an RTX 50-series card and love basketball, this is one tech showcase you won't want to miss.

Of course, NBA 2K27 isn't just a graphics demo. The game continues to build on the ProPLAY foundation, with tweaked offense and defense, a new MyCAREER Eras mode, the series' first co-op MyCAREER, and a more complete MyNBA experience. But for PC enthusiasts, the DLSS 5 debut might be the real headline.

What do you think — is neural rendering the future of PC graphics, or just another buzzword? Let us know in the comments.