NVIDIA App gets clever AI tech to fine-tune games for you, but you'll need a GPU with 12GB VRAM

The NVIDIA App now has AI built in to help PC owners fine-tune their games for the best performance, and a bunch of other tricks besides.

If Project G-Assist rings a vague bell, this might be because bringing AI into the mix in this way was once an April Fools joke from NVIDIA (way back in 2017). However, we learned last year that G-Assist was happening for real (the tech was shown off at Computex 2024).

Now, as The Verge spotted, G-Assist is here in the latest version of the NVIDIA App. As the name suggests it's an AI gaming assistant to help optimize your Windows and per-game settings with RTX graphics cards. So, you can request (by typing a query, or issuing a voice command) to optimize a specific game for the best image quality, for example, and the relevant settings will be applied automatically for you.

Although that said, NVIDIA is still clearly labeling the tech as "experimental" at this point, so prepare for some wonkiness, no doubt.

To get into the specifics, NVIDIA's G-Assist employs a tailored Small Language Model (SLM) running locally to allow the use of natural language queries to fine-tune gaming performance.

The AI can troubleshoot performance problems, adjust settings as mentioned - or even impart a mild overclock on your GPU for a bit more pep - and enlist the help of NVIDIA's tech as appropriate, such as enabling DLSS.

The capabilities of G-Assist also extend to third-party peripherals, such as being able to change the RGB lighting on those bits of connected hardware. Or even more impressively, the AI can also action requests such as 'make my system fans quieter.'

A whole raft of stats can be tapped using G-Assist, too, such as in-game frame rates, GPU power draw, temperatures, and so forth.

A large stride forward, with caveats

It sounds like a big step forward for the NVIDIA App in terms of convenience, and moreover, it'll be a massive help for less tech-savvy gamers. Assuming, that is, the changes made are implemented properly, and as noted, for now, with G-Assist still being in preview, the results could (and probably will) be variable.

We're looking forward to giving G-Assist a whirl on our PC - when we've upgraded the GPU, that is, as our graphics card is too old (by a generation), and also doesn't have the requisite amount of VRAM.

Yes, it's worth noting that the system requirements are that you need at least an RTX 3000 GPU, plus 12GB of VRAM, which notably rules out the RTX 4060 and lesser 4060 Ti models (and 5060 models in the same vein, if the video RAM rumors are right).

You'll need 9.5GB of storage space for the assistant and its voice command module, too. If you were worried Windows 10 might not be supported, you needn't be, as the older OS is fine with G-Assist.

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