NVIDIA's new DLSS 5 AI upscaling technology has made its debut in NBA 2K27, and according to Engadget's hands-on testing, its visual improvements are subtle rather than transformative. Unlike leaked footage from other games showing overcooked, unnatural results, the feature adds modest texture detail to player skin and slightly improves shadow realism, though the difference is mainly noticeable up close rather than during typical wide-angle gameplay. This matters because DLSS 5 comes at a significant cost in performance and power consumption, raising questions about whether the trade-off is worthwhile for most players.

Testing with an RTX 5090 at 4K, enabling DLSS 5 cut the frame rate from 240fps to 150fps and pushed power draw from around 400 watts to 525 watts. One forum user reportedly saw their RTX 5090 draw over 600 watts with the feature enabled, which led to a melted power cable, raising concerns about potential GPU damage. NVIDIA has said DLSS 5 will eventually extend support to older RTX 4000-series cards, having initially limited it to RTX 5000 hardware, and firms including Capcom, Tencent and Ubisoft have pledged future support, though no other titles currently use it.