AMD Shares Reminder of Radeon RX 7900 Series & FSR 2 Maximizing Ray Tracing Performance

[T0@st]

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

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Makaveli]

Meh don't know about the rest of you but i'm not interested in upscaling as a crutch to save performance from RT tanking it. And that goes on the NV side also!

 

[Chry]

Meh don't know about the rest of you but i'm not interested in upscaling as a crutch to save performance from RT tanking it. And that goes on the NV side also!

Same. Besides, it is 'managed downscaling' and not upscaling in the first place. I want tech that improves quality, not tech that decreases it.

 

[phanbuey]

If you can get it to work right it is good tech - sometimes better than native Taa implementation (atomic heart)

Fsr2 is just really not good though — neither is the rt performance— better to keep turning the screws on the vram thing and overall performance/$ for now.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Meh don't know about the rest of you but i'm not interested in upscaling as a crutch to save performance from RT tanking it. And that goes on the NV side also!

Eh I just like tech, imo the cool thing about pc is that you can play how you want, you want a gamepad? go for it! joystick? you got it! trackball? be my guest, same goes for graphics settings, prefer fps and so you turn everything as low as it can and run the game at 640x360? hey man, you do you.
Want to turn everything up resulting in a sub 30fps experience? no problem.

Personally I think ray tracing is cool, and I love the videos from digital foundry that show where RT can fall well short or where it barely does anything because it gets augmented by screenspace etc etc but also parts where it really makes the image a lot nicer and grounds all the stuff in the scene without actually making anything more "high end", its purely a case of lighting.

So yeah RT is cool imo and if it needs some upscaling for now so devs have a fallback to catch them if their RT makes the performance unplayable, thus allowing them to experiment with it and go a bit perhaps overboard with it so the tech advances faster (recent Cyperpunk update as example) then im all for it.

 

[Selaya]

yeah, but this incessant spamvertising of fsr/dlss and especially dlss frame generation is quite ... something

 

[Fluffmeister]

Maybe they should make faster cards if these upscaling tech aren't ya thing?

 

[Steevo]

Maybe raytracing at 1/4 resolution then a lookup table of angle relations based on vector or arc of object. Then include a table for object diffusing as part of the pass. Makes more sense and would allow for less shiny looking RT everything.

 

[Nostras]

Wake me up when path tracing is common and performance penalty is acceptable.
And none of that upscaling bs, too many weird issues that can't/won't be solved (or at least not in the near future).

 

[tpa-pr]

It's part of the reason why I aim for 1080p@60fps and don't bother with ray-tracing myself. In fact, I was having this exact discussion with my boss the other night (who has built himself a 7950X3D rig with a 3090). He was complaining about having to tweak so many settings in Cyberpunk to get a decent framerate and I just responded "well with my preferences I just turn everything up to high and don't worry about it".

I've posted my various reasons before but in summation: i'll take native resolution and no RT over RT with upscaling.

 

[sepheronx]

Can't there be a dedicated RT card to handle RT like how physx had its own dedicated card?

 

[Deleted member 185088]

Can't we just drop RT it doesn't improve things (except maybe making life easier for developers) but at huge performance cost.
FSR and DLSS could be used on top of 4K to improve image stability.

 

[Hyderz]

Can't there be a dedicated RT card to handle RT like how physx had its own dedicated card?

Given the chance nvidia will charge an arm and leg for that

 

[AusWolf]

The 7900 series has RT and FSR. Yeah, okay. Where's the news?

 

[ZoneDymo]

The 7900 series has RT and FSR. Yeah, okay. Where's the news?

I think that is why the title is "AMD shares reminder"

 

[kapone32]

Can you tell the difference between 4K High and Ultra? When you are in a firefight in CP2077 does RT come to mind? It's too bad the narrative is what it is though as I get enough FPS naturally to enjoy the Game as is. I definitely do not feel that I need to use upscaling with my card and there is no Game that does not play well on my PC. If these technologies were so necessary we would see them in Games that you could appreciate it like RTS, ARPGs and 4X Strategy. In those Games you have time to look at the screen and see the work of the creators. Where I see upscaling work is cards that are budget or mid range and that includes APUs. .

 

[AusWolf]

I think that is why the title is "AMD shares reminder"

Maybe they could remind me that my 6750 XT can play games. After spending the last two hours in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, I wouldn't know.

I really don't understand AMD's marketing team sometimes.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Maybe they could remind me that my 6750 XT can play games. After spending the last two hours in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, I wouldn't know.

I really don't understand AMD's marketing team sometimes.

Me neither but the fact that Nvidia has over 75% of the gamers on Steam says a lot about their marketing.
Look at (stupid) youtube videos with tons of views where they even advertise "RTX ON" in the Thumbnail even though they just want to praise some Reshade nonsense....

Nvidia's marketing sadly works and I bet if you ask many a gamer they will be convinced that only Nvidia can do Ray Tracing or at least "RTX" and that that means it "looks better" so you should go for Nvidia.

This is AMD trying to reach those people with some clarification

 

[AusWolf]

Me neither but the fact that Nvidia has over 75% of the gamers on Steam says a lot about their marketing.
Look at (stupid) youtube videos with tons of views where they even advertise "RTX ON" in the Thumbnail even though they just want to praise some Reshade nonsense....

Nvidia's marketing sadly works and I bet if you ask many a gamer they will be convinced that only Nvidia can do Ray Tracing or at least "RTX" and that that means it "looks better" so you should go for Nvidia.

This is AMD trying to reach those people with some clarification

Reviews have a lot to do about it as well. They praise Nvidia for delivering 10% more in RT, disregarding the fact that AMD is so much cheaper at the moment. I've also seen articles on other sites that cry about people only buying Nvidia while also claiming that AMD isn't competitive, which is a contradiction and absolute nonsense. A lot of people have the idea that Nvidia is better burned into their heads, and for a reason. It's not because Nvidia is really better. Not even just because of marketing (AMD's marketing tries just as hard), but because reviews have given Nvidia so much undeserved attention. People think paying 20-30% more for 10% better RT is worth it because reviews say so. Most of those people couldn't imagine ever buying an AMD card, because they're so used to being in the Nvidia ecosystem by now. It's sad but it's true - I know people like that personally. Silly marketing won't change that.

 

[mama]

I expect UE5 will change the landscape. Hopefully less upscaling.

 

[kapone32]

Reviews have a lot to do about it as well. They praise Nvidia for delivering 10% more in RT, disregarding the fact that AMD is so much cheaper at the moment. I've also seen articles on other sites that cry about people only buying Nvidia while also claiming that AMD isn't competitive, which is a contradiction and absolute nonsense. A lot of people have the idea that Nvidia is better burned into their heads, and for a reason. It's not because Nvidia is really better. Not even just because of marketing (AMD's marketing tries just as hard), but because reviews have given Nvidia so much undeserved attention. People think paying 20-30% more for 10% better RT is worth it because reviews say so. Most of those people couldn't imagine ever buying an AMD card, because they're so used to being in the Nvidia ecosystem by now. It's sad but it's true - I know people like that personally. Silly marketing won't change that.

You are so right. The damage is so great that when you give them objective advantages that AMD has like their software package people will respond with if it's not broken but forget that you could get into a time machine and go back 15 years and you would still be completely comfortable with the UI. Then I look at the last few years and how Social Media has increased the narrative that AMD are garbage to the point where TPU is akin to reddit with users like Gica, Fevgatos (Staff ans some objectively good points)) and I can't remember the other one. Before I understood that some users are not on here to expand their knowledge but support the narrative I used to respond. There is hope though, there was a thread about some person and a user came on blasting them. When they were asked for context they resoponded with they were just saying what they had heard and not what they read. That was enough to end anyone supporting his narrative. Any AMD thread gets the users I listed above triggered to the point of telling AMD users how weak their cards are. People are so quick to tel us that Nvidia has a 91% market share even though the TPU thread "What would you Buy" establishes a 30% market share from 1000 to over 2000 respondents.

 

[eidairaman1]

Reviews have a lot to do about it as well. They praise Nvidia for delivering 10% more in RT, disregarding the fact that AMD is so much cheaper at the moment. I've also seen articles on other sites that cry about people only buying Nvidia while also claiming that AMD isn't competitive, which is a contradiction and absolute nonsense. A lot of people have the idea that Nvidia is better burned into their heads, and for a reason. It's not because Nvidia is really better. Not even just because of marketing (AMD's marketing tries just as hard), but because reviews have given Nvidia so much undeserved attention. People think paying 20-30% more for 10% better RT is worth it because reviews say so. Most of those people couldn't imagine ever buying an AMD card, because they're so used to being in the Nvidia ecosystem by now. It's sad but it's true - I know people like that personally. Silly marketing won't change that.

Hence nvcould polish a turd and slap a green eye on it and idiots would still buy it, 'cause nvidia

 

[AusWolf]

Hence nvcould polish a turd and slap a green eye on it and idiots would still buy it, 'cause nvidia

1. Yeah, because it's Nvidia, and 2. Because reviewers drool over anything Nvidia launches. They tell you not to buy Nvidia because it's overpriced, but then they tell you how amazing their fake-frame upscaled RT image is, so you should absolutely buy one even if it costs an arm and a leg. The general narrative is so utterly wrong!

 

[pavle]

Yes, AMD is maximizing ray tracing performance with their blurryvision™.

 

[Minus Infinity]

Wake me up when path tracing is common and performance penalty is acceptable.
And none of that upscaling bs, too many weird issues that can't/won't be solved (or at least not in the near future).

Sure, probably a 6090 @ $3K, will do the trick