Quick Answer
NVIDIA Reflex is a latency reduction technology built into NVIDIA GPUs and supported games that aligns CPU and GPU workloads to minimise the gap between your input and what appears on screen. Enabling Reflex in-game can reduce system latency by 30-70% in competitive titles without meaningfully affecting frame rates.
What System Latency Is and Why It Matters
System latency is the total delay between a physical input, such as a mouse click or key press, and the resulting action appearing on your display. It is composed of several stages:
- Peripheral latency: How fast your mouse or keyboard registers and sends the input
- CPU simulation latency: Time for the CPU to process game logic and send rendering instructions to the GPU
- GPU render latency: Time for the GPU to render the frame
- Display latency: Time for the monitor to show the rendered frame
NVIDIA Reflex addresses stages 2 and 3, which together often account for the largest and most variable portion of the total latency chain. In competitive titles at high frame rates, pre-Reflex GPU queues could build up to 40-60ms of render lag that felt like input lag to players.
How NVIDIA Reflex Works
Reflex operates through two core mechanisms:
Low Latency Mode: Reflex instructs the CPU to delay sending its next frame's instructions to the GPU until the GPU is nearly finished with the current frame. This prevents the GPU render queue from building up, keeping the pipeline lean and responsive. The result is that the GPU processes your most recent input data rather than inputs from several frames ago.
Reflex + Boost Mode: On top of Low Latency Mode, Boost temporarily raises the GPU clock speed during CPU-limited scenarios (where the GPU would otherwise sit idle waiting for the CPU). This recovers any frame rate loss that the queue reduction might cause in CPU-bound situations.
The technology requires both GPU driver support (GTX 900 series and later) and in-game implementation by the developer. As of 2026, Reflex is supported in over 100 titles including Valorant, Apex Legends, Fortnite, Call of Duty titles, Overwatch 2, CS2, and many others.
Real-World Latency Reductions
Actual latency reductions depend on the title, your hardware, and your frame rate target:
- Valorant at high frame rates: Reflex reduces total system latency from roughly 25-30ms to 10-15ms in typical competitive configurations. This is a genuine, noticeable difference.
- Apex Legends at 144 FPS+: Latency drops of 20-35% are typical, with the greatest gains seen when the GPU was previously the bottleneck building a queue.
- CPU-limited scenarios: Reflex + Boost provides the most dramatic improvements here, sometimes halving measured system latency compared to Reflex disabled.
For South African competitive players who may not always have the newest high-refresh displays or cutting-edge peripherals, Reflex is a free performance improvement that costs nothing to enable.
How to Enable and Optimise NVIDIA Reflex
Reflex is enabled per-game, not through the NVIDIA Control Panel globally:
- Open your game's video or graphics settings menu
- Look for "NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency" or simply "Reflex" in the settings list
- Set it to "Enabled" or "Enabled + Boost" depending on your preference
- Use Enabled + Boost if you are CPU-limited or running below your monitor's refresh rate target
- Use Enabled alone if you are GPU-limited and already hitting your frame rate cap
Pair Reflex with an in-game or NVCP frame rate cap set slightly below your monitor's maximum refresh rate for the best results. This prevents GPU saturation, gives Reflex more room to work, and reduces GPU temperatures and power draw simultaneously.
Reflex works best when combined with a high-refresh-rate monitor (144Hz or higher). The latency gains exist at 60Hz too, but are more impactful when your system is already producing frames quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does NVIDIA Reflex reduce FPS? In most scenarios, Reflex has no meaningful FPS impact. In some GPU-limited situations, enabling Reflex alone can reduce GPU frame time slightly because it limits queue size. The Boost mode compensates for this in CPU-limited scenarios, typically restoring any lost frames.
Do I need an RTX GPU to use Reflex? No. Reflex is supported on GTX 900 series cards and newer. RTX cards benefit from additional Reflex-adjacent technologies, but the core Low Latency Mode works across a wide range of NVIDIA hardware available in South Africa.
Is Reflex the same as Low Latency Mode in the NVIDIA Control Panel? No. The NVIDIA Control Panel's Low Latency Mode is a similar concept but implemented at the driver level without game engine cooperation. NVIDIA Reflex is game-integrated and significantly more effective. When a game supports Reflex, use in-game Reflex rather than the Control Panel setting.
Can I measure the improvement Reflex makes? Yes. NVIDIA FrameView and the built-in Reflex Latency Analyzer (available on G-SYNC Compatible displays with the feature) can display real-time system latency measurements. This lets you compare enabled vs disabled states with actual numbers.
