I Tested NBA 2K27 With DLSS 5 on an RTX 5070 — Here’s What Happened

NVIDIA DLSS has spent the last few years finding increasingly clever ways to make games run faster. DLSS 5 is doing something quite different. NBA 2K27 is the first game to put NVIDIA’s new 3D-Guided Neural Rendering technology into players’ hands, and after spending time toggling it on and off, the visual difference can be surprisingly dramatic. The performance hit, however, is just as hard to ignore.

I tested NBA 2K27 across 4K and 1440p using the High preset, while 4K was also tested at Medium. DLSS remained enabled throughout, with additional runs using 2x Frame Generation and DLSS 5 Neural Rendering to see exactly how much NVIDIA’s newest graphics trick changes both the image and the frame rate.

NBA 2K27 DLSS 5 Tested on RTX 5070: Here’s How It Performs

Photo Credit: NBA 2K27/ 2K Games

Testing Rig

For testing, I paired the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, running on the MSI Z890 Gaming Plus WiFi motherboard. The system also features 48GB of Kingston Fury Renegade DDR5 RAM clocked at 4800MT/s, a 2TB WD Black SN850X NVMe SSD, and an MSI MAG A1000GL 1000W power supply. This is the same test bench I've been using for my recent PC performance reviews.

There's one new addition to the setup this time around: the Acer Nitro XV275K P5 gaming monitor. It's a 27-inch 4K Mini LED display with a native 160Hz refresh rate, 1,152 local dimming zones, and VESA DisplayHDR 1000 support. It can also switch to 1080p at 320Hz through its dual-resolution mode, although for The Blood of Dawnwalker, I primarily took advantage of that native 4K panel for testing.

I've only just started putting the XV275K P5 through its paces, but it has been an interesting upgrade to the test bench, especially for games where HDR, dark scenes, and high-resolution visuals matter. I'll have a full review of it coming soon.

As for The Blood of Dawnwalker, I tested six configurations in total. The Ultra preset was tested at both 4K and 1440p, while Medium was tested at 4K. Each resolution and preset combination was tested natively as well as with DLSS and 2x Multi Frame Generation enabled.

One slightly annoying quirk I noticed during testing is that enabling DLSS and Frame Generation requires the game to restart. It isn't a deal-breaker, but when you're constantly jumping between settings to compare performance and image quality, those extra restarts quickly become tedious.

Photo Credit: NBA 2K27/ 2K Games

NBA 2K27 PC Performance at 4K and 1440p

Before getting into Neural Rendering, NBA 2K27 itself runs rather well on the RTX 5070 when the feature is switched off.

At 4K High with DLSS enabled, I recorded an average of 102 FPS, with a 1% low of 63 FPS. GPU utilisation sat at 95%, while the RTX 5070 stayed at 77 degrees Celsius and clocked around 2,745MHz.

4K Performance

Graphics Preset	DLSS	Neural Rendering	Frame Generation	Avg FPS	1% Low
High	On	Off	Off	102	63
High	On	On	Off	31	26
High	On	On	2x	54	31
Medium	On	Off	Off	144	79
Medium	On	On	Off	32	26
Medium	On	On	2x	56	39

Dropping to Medium gives the RTX 5070 considerably more breathing room. The same 4K test jumped to 144 FPS, with a 79 FPS 1% low. So if you simply want NBA 2K27 running at a high refresh rate without NVIDIA’s new Neural Rendering effects, this GPU has absolutely no trouble delivering it.

Photo Credit: NBA 2K27/ 2K Games

1440p is even easier to drive. High settings with Neural Rendering and Frame Generation disabled returned 131 FPS, alongside a healthy 79 FPS 1% low.

1440p Performance

Graphics Preset	DLSS	Neural Rendering	Frame Generation	Avg FPS	1% Low
High	On	Off	Off	131	79
High	On	On	2x	99	45

Interestingly, GPU utilisation in that 1440p run dropped to 81%, while CPU utilisation climbed to 44%. Switch Neural Rendering on with 2x Frame Generation and GPU utilisation shoots back up to 98%. That tells you quite a bit about just how GPU-heavy DLSS 5 Neural Rendering currently is. And those numbers bring us to the much more interesting part of this review.

DLSS 5: What Exactly Is Neural Rendering?

Despite sharing the DLSS name, DLSS 5 is not simply another version of Super Resolution.

Its headline feature is 3D-Guided Neural Rendering, which NVIDIA describes as a final stage in the graphics pipeline. Instead of replacing the game engine's work, the model takes the already-rendered frame and engine information such as colour, motion vectors, lighting and surface data, then uses that information to enhance how materials and lighting appear.

The distinction matters because it isn’t supposed to behave like an image generator deciding what LeBron James might look like every time he walks onto the court. NVIDIA says the system is deterministic, meaning the same underlying frame should produce a consistent result, while the original geometry and art remain the foundation.

Developers also have considerable control over where the effect is applied. DLSS 5 can recognise objects, materials and light sources, while semantic masking allows studios to change how strongly the neural enhancements affect characters and environments. Developers can even isolate individual asset groups such as glass, water or foliage.

In NBA 2K27, Visual Concepts is using that technology heavily on skin, hair, clothing, shadows, and lighting while retaining the scanned facial geometry of the real players.

DLSS 5 Neural Rendering Looks Great, But Performance Hit Is Brutal

There is no question that Neural Rendering can make NBA 2K27 look significantly better.

The difference is most obvious during the close-up sequences before matches. In locker-room conversations, player introductions, and shots that move across the audience, switching Neural Rendering on can almost feel like changing the lighting setup entirely.

Faces have more depth. Shadows around facial features and clothing are better defined, and skin doesn't look quite as flat under bright stadium lights. Tiny details stand out more, too. The veins along players' arms look surprisingly convincing, sweat has a more natural appearance, and the folds in jerseys and shorts respond much better to the surrounding light.

It doesn't stop at the players, either. The neural treatment extends into the stadium, audience, and basketball court, which gives the entire scene a more cohesive look instead of making enhanced player models feel pasted onto an older-looking environment. There are moments where the jump really is crazy. I could almost tell Neural Rendering was active without looking at the screen. The moment I hit F9 to enable it, my PC fans would start spinning noticeably faster. That became a surprisingly useful giveaway, because the current NBA 2K27 build doesn’t show a visible on-screen NR toggle or indicator; F9 simply switches the feature on and off.

Photo Credit: NBA 2K27/ 2K Games

But, that’s also when you start noticing stutters during the gameplay. At 4K High, simply enabling Neural Rendering dropped performance from 102 FPS to 31 FPS. That's roughly a 70% reduction in average frame rate. The 1% low also fell from 63 FPS to just 26 FPS. That rendered the game almost unplayable for me.

2x Frame Generation helps considerably, bringing the average back to 54 FPS, but even after generated frames are added, you're nowhere close to the 102 FPS achieved with Neural Rendering disabled.

Medium tells practically the same story. Without NR, the RTX 5070 delivered 144 FPS. Turning it on dropped that all the way to 32 FPS, a massive 78% reduction. Adding 2x Frame Generation pushed the result to 56 FPS.

In other words, lowering the graphics preset barely changes the underlying problem. Neural Rendering becomes the major GPU workload.

The utilisation figures reinforce that. Across my 4K NR tests, GPU usage remained around 98-99%, with temperatures generally sitting between 80 and 84 degrees Celsius. CPU utilisation, meanwhile, often dropped below 30%. The RTX 5070 is clearly being kept busy here.

1440p is where things become much easier to live with. High settings, Neural Rendering and 2x Frame Generation delivered 99 FPS, with a 45 FPS 1% low. I didn't test 1440p Neural Rendering without Frame Generation, so the 99 FPS result can't be used as a clean measurement of NR's individual performance cost, but it does show that 1440p gives the RTX 5070 enough headroom to actually enjoy the feature at a high frame rate.

Is DLSS 5 Worth Using in NBA 2K27?

Right now, I’d describe DLSS 5 as a feature for the rich kids.

That sounds harsh, but the numbers make the case. On an RTX 5070, dropping from 102 FPS to 31 FPS at 4K High just to enable Neural Rendering is an enormous ask. Yes, Frame Generation can claw some of that performance back, and the visual improvement can be fantastic, but you’re still paying a very steep price for something that isn’t always visible during actual gameplay.

NBA 2K27 may also not be the best game to demonstrate where this technology could eventually shine. Most of a basketball match is played from a relatively distant camera, where you’re far more concerned with spacing, defense, passing lanes, and getting a clean shot than whether the folds on LeBron James’ jersey are reacting perfectly to the arena lights.

But yes, NBA 2K27 also gives NVIDIA something of a controlled first outing. Visual Concepts is working with facial scans of real athletes, and NVIDIA says the technology is designed to preserve that underlying facial geometry rather than reinvent it.

That could also explain why some of the heavily discussed, almost “yassified” character faces associated with early DLSS 5 demonstrations don’t feel nearly as aggressively pushed here. We’ll really need to see the technology across more games — and very different art styles — before judging how well that balance holds up.

But imagine the same technology in something like 007 First Light, The Blood of Dawnwalker, Control, Cyberpunk 2077, or Crimson Desert — games where the camera spends much more time close to characters, environments, interiors, and dramatic lighting. That is where Neural Rendering could potentially make a much stronger case for itself. A technology that improves skin, clothing, materials, shadows, and lighting becomes far more meaningful when those details are constantly sitting right in front of you.

The bigger hurdle, though, is performance.

DLSS itself has gone through years of refinement, and graphics features that once required far more hardware horsepower have gradually become practical on a single GPU. I suspect Neural Rendering will follow a similar path. The first version is rarely the version that tells the whole story.

For now, DLSS 5 is still extremely expensive for what it gives you in terms of performance. But NBA 2K27 also shows that the technology itself already works remarkably well. The visual upgrade is obvious in the right moments.

The bigger question is how quickly NVIDIA can reduce that performance cost, and what happens when Neural Rendering arrives in games where those enhanced materials, shadows, faces, and lighting stay in view for much more of the experience. NBA 2K27 is already a strong first showcase. The next step is making that level of visual improvement easier to run — and useful across a much wider range of games.