Nvidia‘s RTX 40 series GPUs feature the new DLSS 3 technology, but will it also be available for Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards? Nvidia’s AI continues to get better every year, allowing gamers to benefit from new advancements in the technology. If DLSS 3 is as good as Nvidia is claiming, it could change how people use their RTX GPUs.
DLSS is an acronym for Deep Learning Super Sampling and is Nvidia’s AI technology that outputs higher resolution frames from lower resolution input to increase performance while playing a game. This technology has been vital in allowing high FPS gaming while also using ray tracing and maintaining good quality images. The technology was first introduced on the RTX 20 series graphics cards from Nvidia and continued to be improved on with the RTX 30 series cards that use DLSS 2.
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Unfortunately, DLSS 3 is only available for Nvidia’s new RTX 40 series GPUs since the previous RTX 30 series cards lack the required hardware to use DLSS 3. Being a hardware limitation rather than simply a software one means that DLSS 3 may not ever come to the RTX 30 series unless Nvidia finds a way to use the new DLSS Frame Generation without the hardware from the RTX 40 series cards. DLSS 2 will continue to be supported on earlier generations of hardware and since DLSS 3 still uses DLSS 2, current owners of RTX GPUs will see the benefits from DLSS 3 advancements over time.
The Advantages Of DLSS 3
So what exactly is DLSS 3’s advantage over DLSS 2? Well, to start with, DLSS 3 will continue offering all the features of DLSS 2, including DLSS Super Resolution (DLSS 2) and NVIDIA Reflex. The new feature DLSS 3 brings is Optical Multi Frame Generation which generates new frames, not just new pixels, using AI with the new fourth-generation Tensor cores and Optical Flow Accelerator hardware coming to the RTX 40 series GPUs. This allows the RTX 40 cards to potentially increase frame rates by up to 4x, according to Nvidia.
If everything Nvidia has shown us so far with the new DLSS 3 technology is accurate, this new technology could change the way gamers use ray tracing and bring massive performance boosts while maintaining a good quality gaming experience. The RTX 40 series GPUs will release on Oct. 12, 2022, with over 35 games adding DLSS 3 such as Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and a new official ray tracing upgrade to Portal. Until reviewers can get their hands on these new GPUs and benchmarks, users will have to take Nvidia’s word on its claims. That said, the RTX 30 series brought massive performance boosts over the previous generation, so if that’s anything to go on, Nvidia may impress yet again with its new DLSS 3 technology.
