SerpApi.Org
For the longest time, I didn't touch the Nvidia App for anything besides updating my graphics drivers. If I wanted to use DLSS, I'd just use the in-game settings and call it a day. But Nvidia has improved DLSS so much in the last year and a half that I started wishing developers would update their older games to support the latest version. For instance, Assassin's Creed Shadows, a game I really enjoyed playing last year, launched with DLSS 3.7 even though Nvidia had already rolled out DLSS 4 by then.
Today, we have DLSS 4.5, which is even better thanks to its second-gen transformer model, but major AAA releases from last year, like Battlefield 6, still only natively support DLSS 4. Of course, waiting months for newer games to add native support wasn't exactly ideal, and older games may never get one at all. That's why I started looking for workarounds, which led me to Reddit discussions about swapping DLL files and, more recently, DLSS Override in the Nvidia App.
With DLSS Override, I don't have to wait for developers anymore
I can use the latest upscaling model even on games that launched years ago
Before Nvidia introduced DLSS Override in the Nvidia App, gamers had to swap DLL files to get the latest version. This workaround wasn't exactly difficult, but it wasn't convenient either, and some games simply didn't work properly with newer DLLs. With DLSS Override, the requirement is pretty simple. As long as the game natively supports DLSS 2.0 or later, you can use DLSS Override to get the latest transformer model without manually replacing files or waiting for developers to eventually update the game.
You can set it up in the Nvidia App by going to Graphics -> Global Settings -> DLSS Override - Model Presets -> Custom and choosing between Presets K, L, and M for the Super Resolution setting. You can adjust it for each game individually, but I've set it globally because I want every supported game to use the latest model by default. This way, I don't have to stay on top of the DLSS versions each game is launched with. Whether I choose Quality, Balanced, or Performance mode in-game, I know I'm getting the best upscaling quality possible.
Preset L and M are the real reason I use DLSS Override
Nvidia's default recommendation doesn't always use the latest transformer model
I started using DLSS Override shortly after Nvidia rolled out DLSS 4.5 earlier this year. Since I have an RTX 4090, I almost always use Quality or Balanced mode because letting the internal render resolution drop to 1080p or below would shift the bottleneck to my CPU, which is the last thing I want. But here's the problem with DLSS 4.5. By default, Nvidia still recommends Preset K for Quality and Balanced modes, which uses the first-gen transformer model introduced with DLSS 4.
So if you don't use DLSS Override and enable DLSS Quality or Balanced in-game, you won't notice a difference. That's why I've now configured the DLSS Override setting to use Preset L. Even though Nvidia recommends it for Ultra Performance, I noticed it does a much better job of handling foliage and fine detail in motion. Preset M also uses the second-gen transformer model, but I'm not a fan of how it sort of over-sharpens the image and makes the image look grainy. The only downside to these newer presets is the performance hit compared to Preset K.
DLSS 4.5 can tax older GPUs
But my RTX 4090 is powerful enough to let me prioritize image quality
DLSS 4.5's preset L and M are mainly intended for lower internal render resolutions for a reason. And that's performance. On my RTX 4090, using Preset M costs me about 5% of my frame rate on average compared to Preset K. Preset L costs another 5% on top of that in most cases. If you have a mid-range card, that's already enough of a reason not to use these presets. But if you have an older RTX 20- or 30-series GPU, expect the FPS hit to be more significant since those cards lack the hardware needed for native FP8 support.
The reason I stick with Preset L is that I can afford that FPS hit. The RTX 4090 is still second only to the RTX 5090, and my frame rates are usually well above where I need them to be, especially after enabling DLSS. At that point, I'd rather get image quality that looks just as good as native 4K rather than chase that last 10% of performance. Maybe I'll switch to Preset K down the line as newer AAA games get more demanding, but until then, this DLSS Override setting gives me exactly the results I need.
DLSS Override is a win for every supported game
For me, the biggest win is not having to worry about whether a game supports DLSS 4 or an older DLSS version anymore. Yes, not every DLSS game ever released supports DLSS Override, since titles that never made the jump from DLSS 1.0 to DLSS 2.0 aren't compatible. A good example is Battlefield V, which was one of the first games to support ray tracing and DLSS. Still, this isn't a problem for the vast majority of DLSS games available today. One tweak in the Nvidia app, and you're getting Nvidia's latest transformer model in virtually every game that supports DLSS 2.0 or later.
