Nearly a month has passed since Nvidia first unveiled DLSS 5 at GTC 2026 in March. All eyes were on the new neural rendering model featured in the fifth-generation tech, and it was met with fiercely mixed reactions. People were quick to call out the ‘AI filter’ visuals, though Nvidia has made it clear that developers have control over DLSS 5 to help mitigate and tweak this effect. CEO Jensen Huang also pointed out that neural rendering can generate “the opposite of photoreal” if you train it to do so.

Recently, we’ve been running a poll to gather our readers’ opinions on DLSS 5, and it’s clear that the majority aren’t a fan right now, though a decent portion of PC gamers seem to be open to it, to a certain extent. We’ll keep the poll up and running if you still want to have your say; keep in mind that DLSS 5 requires an RTX 50 series GPU for support.

More than half of respondents say they don’t like how DLSS 5 looks

54% of votes (561 responses at the time of writing) are a plain and simple ‘No’ for DLSS 5. In total, just under 30% of responses seem to be open to DLSS 5’s renderer, with 11% suggesting “the visuals are way better,” and a further 10% claiming it depends on the game. Much of the criticism we’ve seen has been heavily weighted towards how it interacts with facial features.

It’s worth pointing out that we’ve only had a limited number of previews of the technology so far, featuring the likes of Resident Evil Requiem, Hogwarts Legacy, and Starfield. A full list of DLSS 5 games so far is available, and we expect more titles to be announced as we get closer to the launch this Fall. Comments from a tech director of Samson suggested that it doesn’t seem “production-ready just yet,” and there’s little word on just how optimized neural rendering will be by the time it launches.

Nvidia was running the model on a machine with RTX 5090s for its showcase, but running on a single GPU is the aim. Along with fans, game devs have clashed over DLSS 5’s neural rendering, particularly when it comes to the argument of artist intent. Daniel Vávra of Warhorse Studios has been one supporter so far, saying, “This is just a little uncanny beginning”.

As we said earlier, there doesn’t have to be a hyperfixation on photorealism, though this is what Nvidia has shown us so far, so it’s all people have to base their opinion on right now. It’s also a completely optional feature, and DLSS 5 should still ship with the performance-boosting features it is currently known for. We don’t know when Nvidia will next show off DLSS 5, but we’re sure the company will consider the public’s response for the next round of reveals.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.