5 things you probably didn’t know you could do with Nvidia GPUs

So you bought a new powerful Nvidia graphics card and tried it out with a crazy list of mods for Cyberpunk 2077 and Skyrim. We’ve bloated Windows 11 by adjusting settings in the most important Nvidia apps for the best performance in Xbox mode at ridiculous frame rates at 1440p or 4K. But did you know that the best features built into new Nvidia GPUs go beyond just running games?

Graphics processing units have evolved far beyond simple polygon pushers. The latest silicon includes specialized Tensor Cores dedicated to machine learning tasks, dedicated hardware encoders, and complex signal processing blocks that completely transform the way users consume media, record audio, and interact with their PCs in general. Need to upscale a low-quality web stream, turn a noisy room into a stable streaming spot, use AI-assisted features to help your games, or increase framerates for 4K games in almost any game? The great news is that your new or existing GPU is already equipped to handle the heavy lifting.

There’s a complete Nvidia software ecosystem to explore that many users (myself included) didn’t realize existed until I researched it. These features give you reliable productivity upgrades and enhanced media playback capabilities without the extra expense of hardware upgrades. Here are five things users probably don’t realize they can do with Nvidia GPUs right now.

Users can use RTX Video Super Resolution to improve visual playback quality using machine learning for websites like YouTube and Twitch. Nvidia developed this feature to clean up low-resolution video streams in real-time within Chromium-based web browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and VLC media player. This feature uses Nvidia graphics cards’ Tensor Cores to remove ugly compression artifacts and sharpen fuzzy 720p or 1080p footage into crisp 4K images. This technology analyzes surrounding pixels to build up missing visual details while actively removing ringing and blockiness.

RTX Video HDR is built on spatial upscaling, which uses AI models to transform standard dynamic range video streams into high dynamic range content on HDR-compatible displays. This means that traditional videos shot long before HDR displays became the norm can automatically display vivid highlights and deeper shadow detail in Chromium-based browsers, Firefox, and VLC. It’s easy to get going. Simply turn on Windows HDR and toggle it within the Nvidia app or Nvidia Control Panel settings, and a supported video player will enhance your video presentation in real time, without any video editing experience or knowledge of manual color grading. Previously, regrading and upscaling were features limited to studios or copyright holders, and then released as special editions. So this technology is definitely a step in the right direction.

Content creators, remote workers, and gamers don’t necessarily have to spend hundreds of dollars on sound processing or professional camera equipment to achieve studio-quality audio and video when using Nvidia GPUs. Through the Nvidia Broadcast app, a user’s Nvidia graphics card uses AI to process incoming microphone and webcam feeds in real time, filtering out persistent background sounds like mechanical keyboard clicks, loud air conditioners, and barking dogs without drowning out the user’s natural voice tone. It also features room echo cancellation that cancels out echoes caused by hard floors and untreated walls. Failure to do so can be a costly undertaking, depending on the size of the room and the amount of acoustical panels or foam required.

Visually, Nvidia Broadcast uses the GPU’s Tensor Cores to enable virtual background replacement, automatic framing tracking, and video denoising for low-light webcams on desktop setups and compatible laptop cameras. One of its best tools is the Eye Contact feature. This feature uses synthetic gaze estimation to make it appear as if users are looking directly into the camera lens when reading notes or glancing at another monitor. This is a subtle tweak to keep your streams and video calls engaging without forcing users to memorize presentation or video talking points or scripts.

AI is expanding beyond desktop chatbots and entering interactive gaming environments. While Xbox is removing Copilot functionality from the entire Xbox experience, Nvidia is pushing Project G-Assist. It acts as an intelligent assistant that can understand gameplay, hardware performance, and complex game mechanics. Instead of pressing the Windows button to see guides on creating recipes or making the best graphics adjustments, players can prompt the AI ​​to examine on-screen visuals and provide customized advice based on real-time game telemetry.

Although the technology has promise, initial practical evaluations have highlighted the unpredictable nature of early software prototypes. Last year, PC Gamer conducted a hands-on test of G-Assist version 0.1, and while it offered some helpful tips from time to time, we noted that it was also plagued by glitches in the early build. Project G-Assist inexplicably advised me to roll back my GPU driver to an older version and claimed it was not running the game while I was actively playing the game.

Of course, this was not a 0.1 release intended to reach consumers. There have been five version updates since then, and users can now enable Project G-Assist from the Nvidia app settings and use it to optimize hardware for specific game titles, run diagnostics, and look up notes online without minimizing the game. There is a lot of work to be done when it comes to fine-tuning Project G-Assist, but the foundation is being laid for real-time strategic support that will benefit gamers around the world.

Deep Learning Super Sampling, commonly known as DLSS, has revolutionized the way graphics are handled in PC titles by rendering scenes at a lower native resolution and using artificial intelligence to reconstruct a sharper image to improve framerates. However, some older and indie game releases often still lack native DLSS integration from developers. Nvidia’s recent software update directly addresses this issue, allowing owners of Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 series and newer to manually override game profiles and force advanced scaling techniques directly through the graphics driver software, rather than waiting for developers to update legacy games. This useful feature is ideal for higher frame rates and sharper texture resolutions, allows testers to force unsupported software to generate frames, and boosted performance by as much as 44% in early testing on RTX 40-series cards.

I’m using the latest AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) on an AMD Radeon 9070 XT GPU and DLSS 4.5 frame generation on an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, while experimenting with third-party software such as lossless scaling on the fly. Personally, I think Nvidia is better when it comes to frame generation due to fewer artifacts during fast-paced gameplay. However, I’m also biased because the RTX 5080 has more horsepower than the 9070 XT.

I remember the days of right-clicking on the main hub to access the Nvidia Control Panel and juggling multiple Nvidia programs to access different features. Some people still use Control Panel, and if you grew up using it like I did, you can understand why. But rather than using the bloated GeForce Experience in combination with a control panel, Nvidia apps have managed to consolidate almost everything most Nvidia graphics card users need, from display settings to driver management to overlay recording, into one responsive desktop client. The software runs significantly faster than previous tools and eliminates the need to log into an account just to update display drivers, one of the most frustrating pain points for PC gamers.

This unified experience gives players more control over game performance, including global and per-game DLSS overrides, custom color filter adjustments, shader caching options, and automatic overclocking capabilities for those who are too nervous to do it themselves. This is a central hub where gamers can set up their gaming profiles without having to navigate to outdated legacy menus. It’s hard to imagine that Nvidia wouldn’t exist today if Sega’s top executives hadn’t invested $5 million in the GPU company during the Dreamcast era.