Digital Foundry Direct Weekly DF Direct Weekly #246: The BIG CES Special - Hardware Highlights, Crimson Desert, Intel, Nvidia, AMD
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Jan 12, 2026 Join the lively conversation from Las Vegas as the hosts dive into major hardware reveals from CES 2026, including Nvidia, AMD, and Intel's cutting-edge announcements. They highlight remarkable advancements in TV technology, discussing the pros and cons of MicroRGB, OLED, and MicroLED displays. Excitement builds around the impressive Crimson Desert demo, showcasing innovative gaming tech. Plus, they explore the quirky side of CES with AI avatars, robot sparring, and even nostalgic mentions of RCA and RadioShack. Buckle up for a tech-filled adventure!
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DLSS 4.5 Is Costlier On Older GPUs
- NVIDIA's DLSS 4.5 improves quality but increases compute cost, especially on older Ampere/Turing GPUs.
- Alex warns performance hits can be several milliseconds on non-Blackwell cards and developers should expose model options.
Enable User Control For New Upscalers
- Turn off new DLSS presets by default until broad testing confirms quality and performance.
- Offer users alternate upscaler presets in-game to avoid surprising regressions.
Panther Lake Shows Mobile GPU Leap
- Intel's Panther Lake (Core Ultra 3) packs a new chiplet design and much stronger iGPU performance.
- Alex found its XCSS 3 frame generation compelling on mobile and praised Intel's confidence letting them bench devices freely.