What is NVIDIA Low Latency Mode & How to enable it?

The NVIDIA low latency mode is a new feature presented by NVIDIA’s graphics driver, intended for competitive gamers and anyone else who wants the fastest input answer in their games. The NVIDIA low latency mode feature would be open for all NVIDIA GeForce GPUs in the NVIDIA Control Panel. The Graphic engines queue frames to be rendered by the GPU, the GPU renders them, and then they are presented on your system. Also, NVIDIA has complained that the NVIDIA low latency mode builds on the Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames feature found in the NVIDIA Control Panel for over several years. So, the NVIDIA Control Panel low latency mode enables you to keep the number of frames in the render queue down and we also have a detailed guide on how and why to use the Nvidia low latency mode.

With the NVIDIA low mode, frames are submit into the render queue just before the GPU needs them. Besides, NVIDIA says that it will further reduce latency by up to 33% over only using the Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames option.

Further Reading: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 vs 3080

Table of Contents

What Is NVIDIA Low Latency Mode?

Graphics engines queue frames to be given by the GPU, the GPU renders them, and then they’re presented on your PC. As NVIDIA reveals, this feature builds on the Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames feature that’s been found in the NVIDIA Control Panel for over a decade. That enabled you to keep the number of frames in the render queue down.

With the Ultra-Low Latency mode, frames are submitted into the render queue just before the GPU needs them. This is just in time frame scheduling, as NVIDIA terms it. NVIDIA says it will “further [reduce] latency by up to 33%” over just utilizing the Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames option.

This works with all GPUs. However, it only runs with DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 games. In DirectX 12 and Vulkan games, “the game decides when to queue the frame,” and the NVIDIA graphics drivers have no control over this.

Here’s when NVIDIA states you might want to use this setting:

“Low Latency modes have the most impact when your game is GPU bound, and framerates are between 60 and 100 FPS, allowing you to get the responsiveness of high-frame-rate gaming without having to decrease graphical fidelity. “

In other terms, if a game is CPU bound (limited by your CPU resources instead of your GPU) or you have very high or very low FPS, this won’t help too much. If you have input latency in games—mouse lag, for example—that’s often only a result of low frames per second (FPS), this setting won’t solve that problem.

Warning: This will potentially reduce your FPS. This mode is off by default, which NVIDIA states lead to maximum render throughput. For most people, most of the time, that’s a great option. But, for competitive multiplayer gaming, you’ll want all the little edges you can get—and that includes lower latency.

How to Enable Ultra-Low Latency Mode

You’ll require version 436.02 or newer of the NVIDIA graphics driver to take advantage of this. You can update your graphics driver through the GeForce Experience application or download the latest graphics driver direct from NVIDIA’s website.

Once you have, launch the NVIDIA Control Panel. To do so, right-click your Windows desktop and choose NVIDIA Control Panel.

Hit on Manage 3D Settings under 3D Settings in the left sidebar.
Choose how you want to enable Ultra-Low Latency Mode. To enable it for all games on your system, select “Global Settings.” To enable it for one or more specific games, like “Program Settings,” and choose the game you want to allow it for.
Find Low Latency Mode in the record of settings. Click the setting box to the right of the environment and select “Ultra” in the list.
With the default settings off, the game’s engine will queue one to three frames at a point. The On setting will force the game to only queue a single frame. Which is equal to setting Max_Prerendered_Frames to 1 in older NVIDIA drivers. The Ultra setting submits the frame just in point for the GPU to choose it up—there will be no frame sitting in the queue and waiting.
Click the “Apply” button to save your settings. You can now close the NVIDIA Control Panel.
Remember, as we pointed out above, this option can hurt performance in many situations! We recommend enabling it only for specific games and testing your settings to see how well it works.
If you need to undo your changes and use the NVIDIA graphics driver’s default settings, return here and click the “Restore” button.

NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency Games

Now, there are CS: GO-shaped holes in the roster, but with the new additions being Deathloop, Call of Duty, and others. So let’s move to the list of Nividia low latency games.

Apex Legends
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Destiny 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Enlisted
Call of Duty: Vanguard
CRSED: F.O.A.D
Call of Duty: Warzone
Deathloop
Fortnite
Ghostrunner
Kovaak 2.0
Mordhau
Naraka: Bladepoint
Overwatch
Rainbow Six Siege
Rust
Splitgate
Valorant
Warface
War Thunder

NVIDIA Reflex Supported Graphics Cards

The green teams low latency tech made its debut next to the RTX 3000 series back in September 2020. But its also well-matched with Nividia;s legacy lineup. Thus, Nvidia reflex functions with a range of various GPUs, such as GTX 900 series graphic cards.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 900 Series
Then, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1000 Series
Next, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1600 Series
And, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 2000 Series
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 3000 Series

NVIDIA Low Latency Mode Not Showing Up

If you’re faced with this issue, you can try the suggestions given below and see if that helps resolve the issue.

Check your hardware
Update NVIDIA graphics driver
Rollback NVIDIA graphics driver
Use NVIDIA Inspector

Let’s take a look at the description of the method involved concerning each of the listed solutions.

FAQs

Q: Should I use Nvidia’s low latency mode?

A: Low Latency modes have the most impact when your game is GPU bound. And framerates are between 60 and 100 FPS, enabling you to take the responsiveness of high-frame-rate gaming without having to decrease graphical fidelity. Warning: This will potentially reduce your FPS.

Q: What does low latency mode do?

A: Low Latency Mode is a feature that allows a broadcaster to reduce the delay between their broadcast and their viewers. This feature will enable broadcasters to respond faster to their chat and fosters closer interactions between hosts and their community.

Q: Should you use ultra-low latency mode?

A: Setting it to Ultra is supposed to reduce latency when you have your game uncapped. And you are GPU bound and still only achieving 60-100fps. Battlenonsense did a vid though and showed you could decrease latency even more by not having it on and capping your GPU usage below max.

Q: Is a low latency good?

A: Typically, anything at 100ms is acceptable for gaming. However, the 20ms to 40ms range is estimated optimal. So simply put, low latency is suitable for online gamers, while high latency can present obstacles.

Conclusion

NVIDIA is the GPU inventor, which creates interactive and amazing graphics on your workstations, devices, laptops, and more. Another side, the low latency mode is the new feature of NVIDIA’s graphic driver that is utilize by competitive gamers. Who wants the fastest processor for gaming. I hope the above guidelines will be helpful for you. Because they describe what NVIDIA’s low latency is. And how to enable ultra-low latency mode, which is necessary to know before your gaming system conversion.