Thank you to AirNott for kindly granting us permission to use stills from his detailed video covering DLSS 4.5 in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, linked above.
NVIDIA has shaken up the gaming world after unveiling DLSS 4.5 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The update, which was made available immediately following Team Green’s press conference through the NVIDIA app (beta), introduces a second-generation transformer model for DLSS Super Resolution and a forthcoming 6x dynamic frame generation mode, which should grant users significantly improved visual quality on upscaled frames without as many of the visual artefacts that have previously been associated with the technology.
While the rollout is already supported in some form by 250-400 titles natively (depending on the extent to which new features have been integrated), Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is not on the list. However, simmers with an RTX GPU can still leverage the new DLSS models by adjusting settings in their NVIDIA app. Some simmers have already been doing this and shared their results across platforms like Discord and the MSFS Official Forums, with mixed results. Many simmers have expressed delight at a perceived reduction in ghosting on upscaled frames, while others have noted that this comes at the cost of a performance hit compared to previous DLSS models. The full suite of features and official support within the simulator will depend on future updates from Microsoft.
How Do I Turn on the DLSS 4.5 Features?
Right now, the tech is not supported natively within Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. DLSS is available as an option under “Anti Aliasing” in graphics settings; however, this in-sim native version of DLSS is running an older model. To capitalise on the 4.5 release, you will need to open your NVIDIA app and ensure that “latest” is selected under your DLSS options.
For a detailed instructional on how to do this, check out our previous guide on how to set up DLSS 4.0 here. A lot of the steps are the same, although you shouldn’t need the DLSS Swapper software anymore.
If you prefer instructions in a video format, SimHanger Flight Simulation has also uploaded a detailed tutorial on how you can get the latest drivers and DLSS 4.5 model (Preset M) working in your simulator.
Can I Take Advantage of DLSS 4.5?
It depends on your GPU. If you’re using anything that’s not an NVIDIA RTX card, then there’s nothing new – but you still have existing options, including TAA anti-aliasing, and alternative upscaling technologies like AMD’s FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) or XeSS for Intel GPUs.
However, last year’s Navigraph Community Survey showed that the top 14 GPUs used by respondents were all RTX variants, suggesting an overwhelming majority of flight simmers are in position to benefit from NVIDIA’s latest update.
Super Resolution (AI-Upscaling)
Yesterday’s release primarily brings the new second-generation transformer-based Super Resolution model. This improves how the AI reconstructs pixels when upscaling from a lower internal render resolution to your monitor resolution. Compared with DLSS 2, which is natively supported in MSFS 2024, DLSS 4.5 should result in sharper edges, reduced ghosting and shimmering effects, more stable light and reflections, and generally improved clarity, particularly on fine details like instrument needles and HUD text.
This image, provided to us courtesy of reverentan at RW Profiles, shows the difference between the new DLSS 4.5 in DLAA mode versus the more traditional TAA anti-aliasing, which does not rely on image upscaling: https://imgsli.com/NDM5MDE2
A common complaint with DLSS until now has been that glass cockpit displays often looked blurry. This is because the AI-upscaled frames would smooth high-contrast text and thin lines on instruments, making it very difficult to, for instance, follow your flight director cues, or keep accurate track of your altitude during climbs or descents.
The newest DLSS 4.5 models should make these issues a thing of the past, producing upscaled images of cockpit displays much sharper at the same internal render resolution. However, this is being reported to come with a performance hit by some users on the MSFS forums, particularly for users of 20 and 30 series cards where the frame rate can reportedly drop by up to 20%.
Dynamic Frame Generation
If you have one of NVIDIA’s most recent generation RTX 50 series cards, the new Dynamic Frame Generation mode is also expected later in 2026. It should work by scaling the quantity of AI-generated frames up or down depending on how many native frames your sim can render.
For example, placing your Fenix A320 at a busy airport like Heathrow with a third party scenery will put your GPU and CPU under heavy load, and your native frame rate will likely drop. Once you’ve climbed to cruising altitude, however, there’s less rendering work to do per frame, and your frame rate would typically rise. Dynamic Frame Generation should help smooth these transitions by adding AI-generated frames when the demand is high, and scaling back when less work is needed, improving the perceived smoothness of your flight.
Have you enabled DLSS 4.5 in your simulator yet? What has your experience been? Let us know in the comments.
