Leaked NVIDIA DLSS 5 build shows facial AI creating uncanny, aged character faces
An early, unofficial leak of NVIDIA's upcoming DLSS 5 technology has surfaced, showing its neural rendering applied to games like Control and Skyrim. The AI-altered faces look strangely aged or overly realistic while clashing with untouched, lower-poly bodies and stiff animations, producing an uncanny visual mismatch. Testing also showed a steep performance cost, with Control's frame rate reportedly dropping from 71 fps to 35 fps at 4K on an RTX 5070 Ti when Neural Rendering was enabled.
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If these issues persist into the official fall release, it suggests NVIDIA may be prioritizing flashy AI capabilities over the practical needs of gamers, who care deeply about both visual coherence and frame rates. The mismatch between AI-enhanced faces and legacy character models highlights a broader challenge for neural rendering: technology can't simply overwrite art assets built for older engines without unintended side effects. This leak could shape public expectations and skepticism ahead of the official launch.
- Leaked DLSS 5 build applies AI facial enhancement that clashes with unchanged character bodies and animations.
- Performance testing showed Control's frame rate nearly halved on an RTX 5070 Ti at 4K with Neural Rendering enabled.
- DLSS 5 is officially set to launch this fall, raising questions about whether these issues will be fixed before release.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Graphics Card — If you want to experiment with NVIDIA's newest DLSS and neural rendering features as they roll out, an RTX 50-series card like the 5070 Ti is the ticket. It's the hardware these AI upscaling experiments are built around, and it gives you plenty of headroom for ray-traced games like Control and heavily modded Skyrim.
See NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Graphics Card on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: engadget.com — Will Shanklin, 2026-08-28
Published there as: “Early leak of NVIDIA's DLSS 5 has an uncanny valley problem”
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