Gaming
Ray tracing on a portable Steam Deck is possible. But there are a number of nuances
Numerous tests have long proven that the Steam Deck is the highest performing portable console on the market, and nothing close to it yet.
The performance of the hybrid processor is enough to run any modern game in native HD resolution for the console. What about ray tracing?
Recall that the console has an APU with a GPU based on the RDNA 2 architecture, that is, technically Steam Deck supports ray tracing. But we know that RDNA 2 provides far from the best performance in this mode, and the set-top box has only 512 stream processors.
However, tests show that this may be enough, albeit with reservations. First caveat: you need to install Windows. The fact is that SteamOS does not support ray tracing, but there is no such limitation in Windows. The second caveat: you have to reduce the resolution.
For example, in Metro Exodus, the console produces 30 fps, but only at 504p resolution. At the same time, you need to remember that the native screen resolution of the set-top box is 720p, that is, the difference is not huge.
Quake 2 RTX can be played at excellent 60fps, but only at 216p. At the same time, the graphics in the game itself are not at all modern, so this cannot be called a huge problem. But Control, which is very demanding in itself, unfortunately, shows constant drops in performance and friezes, which makes it uncomfortable to play.
Also impressive is the console’s ability to handle Microsoft Flight Simulator, the most demanding game of the moment. Of course, without any tracing and only in 612p resolution, but at 30 fps.
All this is more of an experiment to demonstrate the capabilities of the console. Still, sacrificing performance and resolution for the sake of ray tracing effects that are not particularly noticeable on a small screen hardly makes sense. Still, the capabilities of the Steam Deck, given its form factor, are impressive.
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Components
Cyberpunk 2077 RT Overdrive will require a very powerful PC, but not necessarily with a GeForce graphics card
Cyberpunk 2077 RT Overdrive with path tracing effects will really require a very powerful PC. But not necessarily with GeForce RTX 40 graphics cards.
In a recent interview, experts from Nvidia and CD Project RED explicitly stated that gamers will need a powerful computer. True, they did not give any examples. But one of Nvidia’s engineers said that one of the modern cards in the RTX 40 line is a must.
However, as it turned out, this is more of a wish than a requirement. It is due to the support of these cards DLSS 3, which should allow a significant increase in performance, which will significantly decrease after the activation of those same effects. As we know, DLSS 3 is capable of increasing performance by several times.
However, technically Cyberpunk 2077 RT Overdrive won’t require the latest Nvidia cards. The path tracing technology itself in this game will be independent of the hardware. That is, both older Nvidia adapters and AMD cards will do. True, whether they will cope with such a load is still completely unclear.
Components
Six years of progress Nvidia clearly. Games compared GeForce GTX 1070 Ti, GeForce RTX 2070 Super, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
A rather interesting video appeared on the Testing Games page on YouTube comparing four Nvidia video cards of the same level, but different generations – GeForce GTX 1070 Ti from 2017, GeForce RTX 2070 Super (2019), GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (2021) and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (2023).
The 10-minute video clearly demonstrates how the performance of Nvidia’s upper-midrange 3D accelerators has changed from generation to generation using the example of 8 games: Cyberpunk 2077, Resident Evil 4, Forza Horizon 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, Hogwarts Legacy, Spider-Man, The Witcher 3 and Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Naturally, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti has the best result, but it can be clearly seen that it is about 3-4 times faster than the GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (based on the FPS level) and about 60% faster than the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. If the performance increase occurred without increasing the cost of video cards, it would be generally great, but the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is 33% more expensive than its predecessor. In other words, the increase in performance still covers the difference in price.
Components
The GeForce RTX 40 won’t be retired just yet. Nvidia introduced Path Tracing SDK, but does not yet offer to integrate path tracing into games
Nvidia has released the Path Tracing SDK. This is a set of tools for developers to integrate path tracing technology into games.
Path tracing is a variant of ray tracing and has only been implemented in two games so far: Quake RTX or Portal RTX. The latter, thanks to these effects, has become too tough even for modern video cards, so it’s hard to say how much gamers need such technologies.
Nvidia itself notes two options for using the new technology:
- Create a reference path tracer to ensure game lighting during production matches reality, speeding up the iteration process.
- Create high-quality photo modes for RT-enabled GPUs or ultra-high-quality real-time modes that take advantage of the Ada Lovelace architecture
That is, so far even Nvidia itself does not offer to integrate effects directly into games, offering them for photo modes or for testing during game development. However, Cyberpunk 2077 will soon receive an update with path tracing, so everything will become clearer.
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