NVIDIA’s new DLSS 4.5 update is turning heads for one big reason: it noticeably sharpens image quality thanks to its upgraded 2nd-gen Transformer model. But there’s a catch—if you’re using an older RTX graphics card, that visual boost can come with a steep performance cost and significantly higher VRAM usage.
DLSS 4.5 builds on the AI-powered upscaling NVIDIA has been refining for years, using Tensor cores to reconstruct a higher-quality image from a lower-resolution render. The latest Transformer model focuses heavily on visual fidelity, aiming for cleaner detail, improved texture clarity, and better overall stability in challenging scenes. Despite being designed with newer RTX 40 and RTX 50 GPUs in mind, DLSS 4.5 still supports every RTX generation, including RTX 20 and RTX 30 series cards—just like earlier DLSS 4 releases.
Early testing shows the new model is more demanding than DLSS 4.0, especially on older hardware. In one widely shared benchmark, an RTX 3080 Ti running Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K with RT Ultra settings and DLSS Quality reportedly took a major hit. With DLSS 4.0, framerates averaged above 40 FPS, but switching to DLSS 4.5 dropped performance to roughly 32 FPS—about a 24% decline. At 1440p using the same RT-heavy settings, the decline was smaller at around 14%. Interestingly, tests also suggest that even without ray tracing, performance loss can climb again, with some results showing roughly a 20% regression.
Other users are reporting similar drops. One example mentioned an RTX 4060 laptop GPU seeing close to a 16% performance hit, reinforcing the idea that the newer Transformer model has a real compute cost—especially when compared to earlier DLSS versions.
A major reason comes down to how different RTX generations handle math precision for AI workloads. Newer GPUs have better support for low-precision formats used for AI acceleration (RTX 40 supports FP8, while RTX 50 goes further), which helps efficiency when running these advanced models. Older RTX 20 and RTX 30 cards don’t get the same native advantage, which can contribute to lower performance when the AI model becomes more complex.
VRAM usage is another big issue—and potentially the dealbreaker for many gamers. Reports suggest DLSS 4.5 can require substantially more video memory than previous versions. While the RTX 40 and RTX 50 series may see roughly 40% to 53% higher VRAM demand, the RTX 20 and RTX 30 series could see an even bigger jump, around 87% to 103%. In practical terms, that means the Transformer-based DLSS 4.5 model may need close to double the VRAM on older RTX hardware compared to earlier implementations.
That matters a lot if you’re gaming on an 8GB graphics card, where modern titles are already pushing memory limits—especially at 1440p and 4K, and even more so with ray tracing enabled. When VRAM runs short, performance can fall off a cliff due to streaming, swapping, and stuttering, making the overall experience worse even if the image is technically sharper.
Still, if you have an RTX GPU with higher VRAM capacity—like an RTX 2080 Ti or RTX 3080 Ti—DLSS 4.5 can deliver a clear image-quality upgrade. Users comparing DLSS 4.5 to earlier models are highlighting improved sharpness across fine details such as foliage, rocks, ground textures, and character edges, giving scenes a more detailed and crisp look.
The takeaway is simple: DLSS 4.5 looks like a real step forward for visual clarity, but older RTX 20 and RTX 30 GPUs may pay for it with lower frame rates and far higher VRAM pressure. For players chasing the sharpest image, it could be worth enabling—especially on higher-VRAM cards. But if smooth performance is your priority, sticking with an earlier DLSS model may be the better option until further optimizations arrive.
