Two numbers, two different things
The headline figure is 2x. It measures how fast NVIDIA's neural rendering model runs compared with the version that shipped in September. It does not measure your frame rate.
NVIDIA gives that second number separately, and it is smaller. In NBA 2K27, the first game to receive the model, frame rates rise by up to 1.4x — a ceiling rather than an average, on named hardware. One independent check now exists. PC Gamer tested the October model on an RTX Spark laptop in NBA 2K27, at High settings with DLSS Balanced and 4x Multi Frame Generation, and measured average frame rates of 168 fps at 1080p against the September model's 143 fps (+17.5%), and 134 fps at 1440p against 107 fps (+25.2%). That is a real gain, in the one game and on the one platform tested so far. It does not establish NVIDIA's up-to-1.4x ceiling as typical across other hardware or other games.
The gap between the two figures is not a trick. Neural rendering is one stage in a frame's budget, so halving its cost cannot double the whole frame rate. But the 2x will travel further than the 1.4x, because it is the bigger number and the one in the headline. Read any DLSS 5 coverage this week with that split in mind.
What actually got smaller
The more durable part of the update is the model's diet. NVIDIA says the October model has about 118 million parameters, 24% fewer than September's, uses a fifth less VRAM at 4K, and takes roughly half the GPU overhead while keeping comparable visual quality.
That matters because the September release carried a substantial performance cost in independent testing. NVIDIA's claimed reductions in overhead and VRAM address that limitation directly, and could make the feature more usable in practice. The announcement does not establish how developers will configure the feature in their games, or that every supported GPU benefits equally.
The 10x figure in the same post needs its baseline stated. It is measured against the version NVIDIA announced in March, not the September model players actually used, so it describes the pace of optimization across development and release — not games running ten times faster. NVIDIA's September FAQ had already reported a 5x gain over March, which makes the 10x consistent with a further roughly 2x model-level gain since September. For owners weighing this update, the September-to-October comparison is the relevant one.
The support split is the practical story
For the October rollout, DLSS 5 neural rendering remains an RTX 50 Series feature, plus RTX Spark laptops and GeForce NOW. RTX 40 Series cards are currently not eligible. NVIDIA has previously said that once RTX 50 Series performance is more fully tuned, it plans to work on expanding official support to the GeForce RTX 40 Series, with no release date announced.
What RTX 40 owners do get now is a different item from the same announcement, and it is easy to confuse the two. Preset C is a beta Performance Mode for Frame Generation, Multi Frame Generation and Dynamic Multi Frame Generation, available on supported RTX 40 and RTX 50 hardware through the NVIDIA app beta. It swaps the optical-flow model for a lighter algorithm, and NVIDIA puts its gain at up to 35% on an RTX 5060, with minor image-quality trade-offs. Useful, but Preset C is a frame-generation beta. It does not enable DLSS 5.
The dated list after today is short: RTX Remix on October 23, Hogwarts Legacy on November 5, Where Winds Meet in late November. Until Hogwarts Legacy lands, NBA 2K27 is the only place the faster model's game claim can be tested at all.
What to wait for
NVIDIA's 2x, 10x and up-to-1.4x figures remain vendor measurements. The independent evidence so far is PC Gamer's early two-resolution comparison on RTX Spark: average frame rates about 18% higher at 1080p and 25% higher at 1440p than the September model, under the tested settings. Still missing is broader testing, across RTX 50 GPUs, across settings and across more DLSS 5 titles, to show how representative the 1.4x ceiling is and what performance cost remains.
Until then, treat October 16 as a cheaper DLSS 5, not a faster graphics card. The improvement is real on paper and aimed at the right problem. It just is not the number in the headline.
Sources
- [1] NVIDIA GeForce News, October 13, 2026 — announcement of the 2x model figure, 118M parameters, 20% 4K VRAM reduction, 1.4x NBA 2K27 figure, rollout dates, Preset C terms and supported hardwareRead source
- [2] PC Gamer, October 15, 2026 — independent RTX Spark testing of the October DLSS 5 model in NBA 2K27: 1080p High 143 to 168 average fps, 1440p High 107 to 134 average fps, DLSS Balanced with 4x Multi Frame Generation (syndicated copy)Read source
- [3] NVIDIA DLSS 5 FAQ — RTX 40 support statement (once RTX 50 performance is more fully tuned, NVIDIA plans to work on expanding support to RTX 40), as published by VideoCardz, September 2026Read source
- [4] Guru3D — report of NVIDIA's October 13 announcement of the faster model and wider rolloutRead source
- [5] KitGuru, October 13, 2026 — report of the October 13 announcement, the 1.4x NBA 2K27 figure and the RTX 40 Preset C betaRead source