Friday, May 5th 2023
AMD Shares Reminder of Radeon RX 7900 Series & FSR 2 Maximizing Ray Tracing Performance
Real-time ray tracing (RT), using Microsoft DirectX ray tracing (DXR) and Vulkan Ray Tracing, adds a new level of incredible realism to games through effects like ray-traced reflections, shadows, ambient occlusion, and global illumination. Ray tracing is used in many of the latest games such as The Callisto Protocol, F1 22, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Returnal to maximize graphics fidelity and deliver the ultimate visual experience.
AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 (AMD FSR 2) is the cutting-edge temporal upscaling technology designed to produce incredible image quality and boost framerates in supported games. AMD Radeon RX 7900 Series graphics feature advanced AMD RDNA 3 compute units with 2nd generation ray tracing accelerators to help deliver incredible RT performance in games.
And when you combine AMD FSR 2 with AMD Radeon RX 7900 Series graphics in today's top games with ray tracing, you can have an amazing RT gaming experience at maximum performance on AMD Radeon graphics at maximum RT quality. You can see this for yourself in 12 games using ray tracing in the video we recently released below.
Now looking at some of the comments on the video, we know many of you had some questions about what we're showing and the claims we are making. We'd like to use this blog to help address and answer some of those questions and provide some additional ray tracing performance data in a few other games at all the AMD FSR 2 quality modes.
4K 60 FPS+ Gaming at Maximum RT Settings
Firstly, let's start by setting expectations on what can be considered a great gaming experience at 4K resolution, and that is being able to play at 60 FPS or higher at maximum graphics settings (including ray tracing, if available) for ultra-smooth, responsive, and high-fidelity gameplay.
If 60 FPS is the bar that needs to be reached or surpassed to have a great experience, then any FPS on top of that should be considered a bonus, especially for single-player gaming experiences. I will caveat that with yes, for competitive gaming, the more FPS the better for the highest level of responsiveness. However, in most cases, when playing competitive games, you'd want to turn off demanding effects like ray tracing to maximize your performance.
With that in mind, we did see some comments from some of you about the video asking why we didn't show ray tracing performance using the highest image quality AMD FSR 2 "Quality" mode setting (see table above for quality mode details). And although the games in the video are using AMD FSR 2 "Performance" mode to showcase the significant performance boost AMD FSR 2 brings to games with RT, on average 2X at 4K, AMD FSR 2 in "Quality" mode can still deliver 60 FPS+ gaming on average at 4K in some of today's top games at maximum ray tracing settings.
Let's have a complete look at AMD FSR 2 performance in all the quality modes at maximum graphics and ray tracing settings in some of the games featured in the video, on both the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT GPUs.
Along with the games shown in the video, one of the newest games with ray tracing to get AMD FSR 2 has been added to the charts above, Returnal, which features beautiful graphics with ray-traced shadows and reflections.
As you can see from the data above, when combined with AMD FSR 2, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU easily surpasses the 60 FPS bar at all AMD FSR 2 quality modes at 4K at the maximum graphics and ray tracing settings in these top games with RT. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU does so too in all the games apart from Dying Light 2 Stay Human and HITMAN World of Assassination, where at the FSR 2 "Quality" mode, performance is just shy of 60 FPS.
Cyberpunk 2077 60 FPS+ Gaming at Maximum RT Settings
Cyberpunk 2077 is considered one of the "benchmark" games for ray tracing and incorporates the full suite of ray-traced effects - shadows, ambient occlusion, reflections, and global illumination. With RT at the maximum settings, visually it is one of the most impressive games available today.
At the same time though, this level of graphical fidelity, especially when using the "Ray Tracing: Ultra" preset at 4K, can be incredibly demanding on your PC - even when using the most powerful graphics cards. Currently, there are no GPUs available that can run the game at native 4K using the "Ray Tracing: Ultra" preset at 60 FPS or higher. Using upscaling technology such as AMD FSR 2 to boost framerates when using RT in Cyberpunk 2077 is essential if you want to have a great gaming experience.
Taking that into account, let's have a look at AMD FSR 2 performance in all the quality modes in Cyberpunk 2077 at both 4K and 1440p at the "Ray Tracing: Ultra" preset when using AMD Radeon RX 7900 Series graphic cards.
Looking at the data in the chart above, at 1440p when using AMD FSR 2 with the "Ray Tracing: Ultra" graphics preset, both the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT graphic cards can deliver 60 FPS and above on average at all the AMD FSR 2 quality modes. Then when it comes to 4K, even though Cyberpunk 2077 is incredibly demanding when using the highest RT settings at 4K, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU can still achieve nearly 60 FPS on average when using AMD FSR 2.
What about the new "Ray Tracing: Overdrive" mode, though? Well, we're not including that preset here because as per CD PROJEKT RED, this new mode is a "technology preview" and a "vision of the future that we want to share" rather than a standard graphics preset. We recommend using the "Ray Tracing: Ultra" preset as the highest setting in the game for everyday gaming.
Amazing Gaming Experiences at Maximum RT Settings with AMD
When it comes to ray tracing gaming performance and experiences in today's top games, there are a lot of different factors to consider. As we've covered in this blog, one of the key considerations is to help ensure that you can play ray tracing games at 60 FPS or higher for the best gaming experience.
And what we've shown here, in both the video and the additional performance data shared in this blog, is that AMD Radeon RX 7900 Series graphics cards when combined with AMD FSR 2 can deliver 60 FPS+ on average in many of today's top games with ray tracing, even at 4K and when using maximum RT settings.
But there is one more factor to take into consideration, and that is value. All this amazing maximum ray tracing performance at 4K is available on the most advanced graphics cards available today at under $1,000. As of today, May 4, 2023, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU is available starting at $999, and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU is now available starting at $849.
LEARN MORE ABOUT AMD FIDELITYFX SUPER RESOLUTION
LEARN MORE ABOUT AMD RADEON RX 7900 SERIES GRAPHICS
Source:
AMD Community
AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 (AMD FSR 2) is the cutting-edge temporal upscaling technology designed to produce incredible image quality and boost framerates in supported games. AMD Radeon RX 7900 Series graphics feature advanced AMD RDNA 3 compute units with 2nd generation ray tracing accelerators to help deliver incredible RT performance in games.
Now looking at some of the comments on the video, we know many of you had some questions about what we're showing and the claims we are making. We'd like to use this blog to help address and answer some of those questions and provide some additional ray tracing performance data in a few other games at all the AMD FSR 2 quality modes.
4K 60 FPS+ Gaming at Maximum RT Settings
Firstly, let's start by setting expectations on what can be considered a great gaming experience at 4K resolution, and that is being able to play at 60 FPS or higher at maximum graphics settings (including ray tracing, if available) for ultra-smooth, responsive, and high-fidelity gameplay.
If 60 FPS is the bar that needs to be reached or surpassed to have a great experience, then any FPS on top of that should be considered a bonus, especially for single-player gaming experiences. I will caveat that with yes, for competitive gaming, the more FPS the better for the highest level of responsiveness. However, in most cases, when playing competitive games, you'd want to turn off demanding effects like ray tracing to maximize your performance.
Let's have a complete look at AMD FSR 2 performance in all the quality modes at maximum graphics and ray tracing settings in some of the games featured in the video, on both the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT GPUs.
As you can see from the data above, when combined with AMD FSR 2, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU easily surpasses the 60 FPS bar at all AMD FSR 2 quality modes at 4K at the maximum graphics and ray tracing settings in these top games with RT. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU does so too in all the games apart from Dying Light 2 Stay Human and HITMAN World of Assassination, where at the FSR 2 "Quality" mode, performance is just shy of 60 FPS.
Cyberpunk 2077 60 FPS+ Gaming at Maximum RT Settings
Cyberpunk 2077 is considered one of the "benchmark" games for ray tracing and incorporates the full suite of ray-traced effects - shadows, ambient occlusion, reflections, and global illumination. With RT at the maximum settings, visually it is one of the most impressive games available today.
At the same time though, this level of graphical fidelity, especially when using the "Ray Tracing: Ultra" preset at 4K, can be incredibly demanding on your PC - even when using the most powerful graphics cards. Currently, there are no GPUs available that can run the game at native 4K using the "Ray Tracing: Ultra" preset at 60 FPS or higher. Using upscaling technology such as AMD FSR 2 to boost framerates when using RT in Cyberpunk 2077 is essential if you want to have a great gaming experience.
Taking that into account, let's have a look at AMD FSR 2 performance in all the quality modes in Cyberpunk 2077 at both 4K and 1440p at the "Ray Tracing: Ultra" preset when using AMD Radeon RX 7900 Series graphic cards.
What about the new "Ray Tracing: Overdrive" mode, though? Well, we're not including that preset here because as per CD PROJEKT RED, this new mode is a "technology preview" and a "vision of the future that we want to share" rather than a standard graphics preset. We recommend using the "Ray Tracing: Ultra" preset as the highest setting in the game for everyday gaming.
Amazing Gaming Experiences at Maximum RT Settings with AMD
When it comes to ray tracing gaming performance and experiences in today's top games, there are a lot of different factors to consider. As we've covered in this blog, one of the key considerations is to help ensure that you can play ray tracing games at 60 FPS or higher for the best gaming experience.
And what we've shown here, in both the video and the additional performance data shared in this blog, is that AMD Radeon RX 7900 Series graphics cards when combined with AMD FSR 2 can deliver 60 FPS+ on average in many of today's top games with ray tracing, even at 4K and when using maximum RT settings.
But there is one more factor to take into consideration, and that is value. All this amazing maximum ray tracing performance at 4K is available on the most advanced graphics cards available today at under $1,000. As of today, May 4, 2023, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU is available starting at $999, and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU is now available starting at $849.
LEARN MORE ABOUT AMD FIDELITYFX SUPER RESOLUTION
LEARN MORE ABOUT AMD RADEON RX 7900 SERIES GRAPHICS
30 Comments on AMD Shares Reminder of Radeon RX 7900 Series & FSR 2 Maximizing Ray Tracing Performance
But the thing is that only a few studios have the budget to do that. To design, render, make changes the director wants, render again and finalize (simplified description obviously).
The lighting is the most important factor for the immersion in a game for me. And RT is the solution when devs don't have the budget/time etc. to bake and finalize it correctly.
Indie isn't going here, and for all the right reasons. It'll make their 'playable on a toaster'-game with immense potential target audience that much less attractive for that entire audience because they simply can't benefit from it.
So while I agree with the theory, the practice isn't quite there yet, and this is all closely connected not to developer intent, but mostly to hardware in the market/among consumers. We're in the third gen of RT cards now, and the hardware situation practically hasn't budged even a millimeter; almost every Turing card is unfit for RT to begin with, and anything below 3080/Ampere levels much the same. Below that perf level the only games with playable RT use it just for GI or one other effect, keeping the RT load at a minimum... and defeating the purpose.
We'll get there eventually... surely... but when? Another five years? Ten?
Although I like CP77 a lot, some assets/models/design decisions may look weird no matter if you use RT, PT or none of them.
Also gamers probably expect RT to transform the game in different way (taking also into account the performance cost). That's not correct and obviously it's normal for them to say that i get 60% less fps for a better shadowing etc. Most gamers may not even realise the difference.
I know what to expect, I understand how difficult and costly is for this detail to be calculated, I know I want that detail and am willing to pay for that.
I forgot to mention something else. Apart from the lighting which is a major factor in gaming image for me, the other one is the animation. And I could say that the AAA console games are miles ahead of any PC game.
So, ok the lighting may not be correct etc. but the animation in God of War, TLOU, Spiderman, Uncharted, Horizon Zero Dawn etc. is oh my god! and that's noticeable to all gamers, they like it and most likely would pay more for that.
On topic though, these reminders are worthless. AMD should advertise in the social media the real advantages of the 7900s. Price and real performance in games.
The performance is there but the prices are not.