Ray Tracing, three graphics cards of the moment

Ray Tracing in video games is a solution to offer realistic effects of light, reflections, shadows or even transparency. This breakthrough must naturally work in real-time to reinforce the immersive aspect of open worlds.

In some games like Minecraft, for example, this technology brings about profound changes to offer a new experience through an immersive and colorful rendering.

In this title, light becomes "volumetric" and Ray Tracing is applied to many areas such as lighting, reflection, refraction, or even shadows.

However, the use of Ray Tracing requires a compatible graphics card powerful enough to guarantee a pleasant gameplay. Nvidia is no longer alone in this field since the latest Radeon RX 6000 series also support this technology.

Ray-Tracing, three graphics cards of the moment

The GeForce RTX 3080 is currently one of the most efficient solutions in this field. Its mechanics ensure a comfortable framerate with definitions in 1440p and 2160p. Its big sister, the GeForce RTX 3090, is also aimed to meet the needs in this area, but its price and its memory capacity direct it more towards creative uses.

The Radeon 6800 XT RX AMD also has a say in 1440p with solid performances. When used in Rasterization, it is more impactful than a GeForce RTX 3070 or a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. In Ray-Tracing it responds to Full HD but requires moderation in the settings. The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is more efficient (+ 13% approximately).

Finally, our third reference is the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. More accessible than these two neighbors by positioning itself on the mid-range with a mechanism designed for Full HD. In Rasterization, it is positioned at the height of a GeForce RTX 2080 Super and is ahead of it by 7% in Ray Tracing.

Note that to take advantage of Ray-Tracing without being the victim of a too large drop in framerate, it is advisable to activate DLSS technology at Nvidia. It boosts performance without degrading rendering.