A DLSS 5 file, which was made public unofficially, is being adapted by enthusiasts to work on older NVIDIA graphics cards, such as the RTX 20 GPUs of the “Turing” architecture. Even though we are three generations behind “Blackwell”, the most recent recommended by NVIDIA, the modder community has advanced in testing. Developer ShortFuse has made available updated versions of DLSS-NR, designed for previous generation RTX hardware, including an option optimized for the RTX 20 series that promises greater performance. However, compatibility varies: some titles run, while others glitch or fail to launch. Among the examples, Red Dead Redemption worked, but its sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2, did not; Hogwarts Legacy did not activate the function, and GTA 5 had the video signal interrupted after a few seconds.

The most recent advancement, as disclosed by user @DystopianSuns on platform X, reveals that the community has now managed to implement DLSS 5 on RTX 20 and RTX 30 GPUs through a method that uses the FP16 format. This technique proves to be more efficient for the Turing (RTX 20) and Ampere (RTX 30) architectures compared to FP8, which caused performance losses on these cards, as they do not optimize FP8 in the same way as the Blackwell architecture. With this new approach, several users reported positive experiences and adequate gaming performance, especially with RTX 30 series cards, in discussions on the RenoDX Discord server. One of the RenoDX testers demonstrated how DLSS 5 works in Manhunt, running on the PlayStation 2 emulator, PCSX2. Other users have also confirmed the mod’s compatibility with older titles developed for DirectX 9 and DirectX 11, expanding the use of DLSS 5 beyond the application programming interfaces originally envisioned by NVIDIA.

It is important to note that this version of DLSS 5 is in the early development phase and does not represent a finished product. The community’s interest began with the leak of a DLSS 5 component, found alongside the NBA 2K27 game, which prompted modders to test and expand its capabilities. Subsequently, the functionality was successfully applied to RTX 40 series cards, and has currently extended to a much greater scope than NVIDIA had officially communicated. The company has not yet announced which generations of GPUs will officially support DLSS 5 when it launches in the fall. Given the proactivity of modders, the expectation is that NVIDIA will consider extending official support, at least for RTX 40 series cards, exceeding initial expectations.