Forza Horizon 5 update offers new ways to wreck your PC performance, and improve it
Forza Horizon 5 supports both Nvidia DLSS and AMD FSR 2.2 with its latest update. The Donut Media update brings new story content and cars to the game, but importantly will deliver new ways to maximise your fps.
Nvidia DLSS support makes for a healthy bump in performance for anyone out there with an Nvidia graphics card, which is the majority of PC gamers today. We tend to find DLSS deals relatively well with motion, though that can depend on the version. Forza's latest update integrates version 2.4.12, which can be so-so.
Nvidia's DLAA (Deep Learning Anti Aliasing) will also be added to the game with the Donut Media update. This uses the Deep Learning engine to produce improved visuals, much like DLSS does, but instead of bumping resolution uses this ability to reduce jagged edges in the final image.
But it's AMD's upscaling technology that's most interesting here, as this is an entirely new version of it, FSR 2.2. Not only is this set to be an improved algorithm for greater upscaling ability, which should mean a sharper image, this technology can be used across most modern graphics cards, regardless of manufacturer. Basically, if you're an Nvidia GPU owner, try both DLSS and FSR 2.2 and see which one you like the look of most—the world is your oyster.
AMD has also talked a little about what's coming with its next big version of FSR, FSR 3. This should incorporate some form of frame generation, lending to an up to two times performance increase over FSR 2, so says AMD. Though we know little more about it beyond its vague 2023 release date.
If you'd prefer to kill your frame rate instead, there are also two new ray tracing modes headed to the game, 'ultra' and 'extreme.' Ray tracing has already been serving up some gorgeous close-ups of the cars in-game since launch, but now you'll be able to extend those glamorous player car reflections to Free Roam, photo mode, and during the actual races.
There's a handy table to show when and how ray tracing will be enabled based on your selection in the settings menu, so bear these in mind if you're looking to crank up your settings.
It sounds pretty taxing, if you ask me, but if you've just picked up an RTX 4090 then you need something to make it sweat. Owners of that high-end card will also be pleased to know that Forza now recognises its power and will set graphics quality automatically to 'extreme'. It was before defaulting to 'low'.
The update is available to download right now, and on my machine it's reportedly going to ask for around 10.9 GB in total.