Can Nvidia’s RTX 5070 really deliver RTX 4090 performance for $549?

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a bold claim while introducing the next-generation RTX 50 series GPUs on the CES stage earlier this week. “The performance of RTX 5070, 4090 is $549,” Huang said. This is a claim that has echoed across YouTube, TikTok and social media networks, sparking debate about the multi-frame generation of the RTX 50 series and DLSS 4.

So can the $549 RTX 5070 actually deliver the same level of performance as the $15,999 RTX 4090? The answer is yes and no. This all comes down to the “fake frame” argument over DLSS frame generation, which may not even be a big deal to many PC gamers.

Nvidia’s massive RTX 5070 claims are all based on the latest generation of DLSS. After promising that the RTX 5070 could deliver RTX 4090 levels of performance, Huang admitted, “It’s not possible without artificial intelligence.” DLSS 4 has a new multi-frame generation technology that can generate up to three additional frames for each traditionally rendered frame.

Some PC gamers have long argued that this technology, which Nvidia originally introduced in DLSS 3, is simply “fake frames” and doesn’t reflect the true rasterization performance of the GPUs we’ve been using for decades.

“With neural rendering and DLSS 4, we can reach performance levels that were only possible with the RTX 4090 (on the RTX 5070),” Lars Weinand, Nvidia’s senior technical product manager, explains in a briefing. The Verge. “This doesn’t mean the RTX 5070 can outperform the RTX 4090 in every single way and in every single configuration.”

When Nvidia talks about performance levels, it means frame rates. This means not whether the moving image appears to be of the same quality, but rather the number of still images that can be sent to the screen that add up to the moving image. Nvidia has already demonstrated the capabilities of DLSS 4 in the following games: cyberpunk 2077Frame rate increases from 142fps in DLSS 3.5 to 243fps. This is a huge jump from 27fps without DLSS enabled.

“In the same game cyberpunk 2077 or alan wake 2, We can match the performance numbers of the RTX 5070 using DLSS 4 compared to the RTX 4090 using only DLSS 3.5 frame generation,” says Weinand. “This is the basis of the claim. You’ll see performance levels previously only possible with the RTX 4090, but of course that doesn’t mean you’ll get the best performance out of every single configuration and graphics setting you can choose. “Similar performance”

As expected, you won’t see RTX 4090 levels of pure rasterization performance on the RTX 5070. This ultimately comes down to seeing the difference in games that support DLSS 4. As a result, Nvidia’s claims brought back “fake frames.” ” discussion. It all started when Nvidia first announced DLSS 3 frame generation. It works by using an algorithm to insert an extra frame after two consecutive images to smooth out movement and increase frame rates in games. .

In DLSS 3, Nvidia uses frame generation to generate a new image each time a new image is rendered, so the GPU uses its full power to render regular frames, while DLSS leverages dedicated Tensor Cores to increase frame rates and image quality. there is.

With DLSS 4 multi-frame generation, Nvidia can now generate up to three additional frames per traditionally rendered frame. This means frame rates can be up to 8 times higher than traditional rendering. Nvidia also said it is switching to a new Transformer model for DLSS 4, which will make the frame generation model 40% faster and use 30% less VRAM.

There’s still a lot to learn about DLSS 4, but during a Q&A session at CES, Huang said DLSS 4 is “predicting the future” rather than “interpolating the past.” This means that the two extra frames generated by DLSS 4 won’t add a huge amount of latency to your experience.

digital foundry DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation has been shown to have smoother frame times compared to existing Frame Generation, despite adding two frames. Additionally, we found that multi-frame generation on the RTX 5080 adds approximately 6ms on top of the existing frame generation on the RTX 40 series.

“Adding multi-frame generation means latency is very low,” says Weinand. “The GPU speeds at which we perform ensure that frames are displayed at a very uniform rate.”

Input latency, or the way a game feels, is very important in many games, and the results of DLSS 4 depend on the input frame rate. DLSS 4 doesn’t seem to solve the problem of 27fps games still feeling sluggish when DLSS super-resolution is included, even though multi-frame generation can increase the frame rate by more than 8x to 243fps. This has been one of the main drawbacks of DLSS frame generation so far. While the extra frames may make the game appear visually smoother, it still feels slower than if it were actually rendering at a higher frame rate. Many people may not notice input latency, but if you’re used to the feeling of dropping from 240fps to 60fps or even 30fps, you probably are.

I think the “fake frames” argument only matters if these techniques affect latency and image quality, or if the game still feels slow despite the extra frames being created. More and more games are starting to get full ray tracing support, making them look dramatically different, but even on the best GPUs, games are difficult to play without DLSS frame generation. The trade-off here is that people might not mind the “fake frames” if they get a much better visual effect.

Most of the modern games are already “fake” and have been for many years. Rendering itself is about the tricks, shortcuts, and optimizations developers use to create something that looks realistic. DLSS 4 gives developers another tool to achieve image quality, lighting effects, or gameplay not thought possible until recently.

For years, we’ve been playing games on consoles at non-native resolutions, with developers using various rendering techniques to dynamically adjust resolution, image quality, and more. With DLSS 4, Nvidia has made it clear that the future of PC gaming will include AI-based rendering technology, something both Sony and AMD are hoping for through their PlayStation partnership and AMD’s latest FSR 4 upscaling. Some PC gamers may not like “fake frames”, but it’s clear that they are here to stay.