CES 2025: Nvidia RTX50 series already shows Playstation 6 graphics quality

With the new Blackwell GPU generation, Nvidia is once again exploring what is technically possible. 4K quality with 100+ frames per second should be possible even with complex path tracing.

How will game graphics evolve with the next generation of Playstation? Nvidia’s new Blackwell GPU generation is already providing insights into the video game graphics of tomorrow.

The new RTX50 series graphics cards rely more than ever on AI hardware acceleration to optimize image display. The focus is on DLSS 4.0, which promises numerous advantages in upscaling and frame interpolation.

Instead of rendering each pixel in a native resolution quality, DLSS allows you to use a comparatively low output resolution such as 1080p, while the missing pixels are increased to 4K level using AI hardware acceleration.

Back in 2018, Nvidia began using the AI-based upscaling technology DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) using hardware acceleration with the RTX20 series (Turing generation).

For comparison: Hardware-accelerated AI upscaling was only introduced in the console segment in 2024 with the PS5 Pro and PSSR upscaling. AMD’s alternative FSR upscaling approach will only be able to match DLSS quality with the future version 4.0.

With Blackwell and the new RTX50 GPU generation, DLSS is already integrated into the fourth generation and Nvidia’s development lead is paying off for PC gamers. With even better detail and fewer artifacts, DLSS 4.0 is intended to enable convincing 4K display quality even at low output resolutions.

The GPU resources freed up by DLSS 4.0 can be used for extremely computationally intensive path tracing calculations, enabling organic lighting and precise reflections like in reality.

For the first time, the Blackwell GPU generation is able to interpolate up to three additional images per second for each individual image rendered in real time, so that even with complex games like Cyberpunk 2077 with maximum 4K graphics quality and path tracing, more than 100 images per Second can be achieved.

The RTX50 series already provides a glimpse of what will be possible with the Playstation 6 in a few years: photorealistic light calculations and reflections in games that still achieve super-smooth 4K display quality.

Critics of upscaling and frame interpolation solutions accuse Nvidia of artificially inflating the numbers, but Nvidia in no way hides the performance differences compared to the current RTX40 generation (Ada Lovelace).

If you forego DLSS entirely, you can expect a 1.3-fold increase in performance with Blackwell compared to Ada Lovelace. However, anyone who takes advantage of the hardware-accelerated DLSS 4.0 solution including frame interpolation under ray tracing or path tracing conditions can benefit from a 2.x-fold increase in performance.

Under these conditions, a Blackwell mid-range GPU already achieves the performance level of a high-end Ada-Lovelace solution.