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[DF] Cyberpunk 2077 PC: What Does Ray Tracing Deliver... And Is It Worth It?

Bullet Club

Bullet Club

Banned



Hardware accelerated ray tracing can prove transformative to the PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 in many scenarios, but equally, its effects can be more subtle elsewhere. In this deep dive analysis, Alex Battaglia tests every ray tracing effect in the game and shows you exactly what they do. This work is worth factoring in when considering optimal settings, something Alex describes in depth here: https://youtu.be/pC25ambD8vs
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It's a generation difference sometimes.

I also like the last part of the video, where he shows RT performance on a regular 2060.

I am a bit baffled why CDPR chose to sharpen the shit out of TAA, but completely forgot about DLSS. That is why DLSS appears pretty blurry in comparison to native rendering. With CAS Sharpening per Reshade, DLSS looks sharp again and produces more details than native rendering even on DLSS Performance.
 
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The naysayers of raytracing always pull cherry picked pictures out of their ass of the non raytraced methods in scenes managing to have parity with the raytraced method but can never produce pictures of the non raytraced method looking better. While if somebody wants to they can produce just as many pictures in the same game of the raytraced method being superior. Switching to raytracing will always produce a better looking more visually consistent game whether its lighting, shadows, or reflections.
 
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Which one has RTX ?
Screen by me:

0zn45P.png
0znpEm.png


Good luck
 
Mister Wolf said:
The naysayers of raytracing always pull cherry picked pictures out of their ass of the non raytraced methods having parity with the raytraced method but can never produce pictures of the non raytraced method looking better. While if somebody wants to they can produce just as many pictures of the raytraced method being superior.
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I am one of the Nay-sayers, but this analysis is excellent without being too difficult to understand. The biggest issue with RT, is the cards themselves aren't ready. Realtime Gi is killing even the top end cards, and RTX is not ready.

DLSS is the real win here, and anyone who knows how ML works, knows it'll be more prevalent on consoles in the future. Specialist hardware really isn't required as such.
 
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One of the prime example there is the transparent tarp at 16.56 mark. Game really looks great (only on PC, of course)
 
funking giblet said:
I am one of the Nay-sayers, but this analysis is excellent without being too difficult to understand. The biggest issue with RT, is the cards themselves aren't ready. Realtime Gi is killing even the top end cards, and RTX is not ready.

DLSS is the real win here, and anyone who knows how ML works, knows it'll be more prevalent on consoles in the future. Specialist hardware really isn't required as such.
Click to expand...

I've been playing the shit out of Cyberpunk these past days with RT Lighting and Reflections. Its more than ready for a lot of us.
 
KyoShiRo330 said:
Hum... well... I can't tell either. I took these pictures late at night to see the difference between the two and can't remember which one has the RTX. I think it's the left one.
Screen taken with RTX shadows, RTX reflections and RTX ultra lighting
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Not every frame is gonna be a big difference. In those screens there's no reflections, and no sun light for rtx shadows to use.
 
The reflections look great, bounce light pretty good, but alot if the shadow effects i don't really care for much, rather have the 60fps. Really had to turn the volume all the way down to make it through the vid...
 
i wish i could keep RTX on for more than 5 seconds. the game crashes if i turn it on. not too mad cause honestly i can't see any difference. Psycho SSR is damn good. I know RTX is better but not sure it's worth the performance hit.
 
loved the bit about the little nuts/bolts on the bench. it's so cool that lighting and shadows has gotten that grandular, to the point where a little 1 inch bolt is casting realtime shadows.
 
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lyra-ixi said:
i wish i could keep RTX on for more than 5 seconds. the game crashes if i turn it on. not too mad cause honestly i can't see any difference. Psycho SSR is damn good. I know RTX is better but not sure it's worth the performance hit.
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It's not crashing for me, and some parts of the game look great with it - but my feeling is that it's sufficiently down into the domain of diminishing returns that I just turned it off for a better frame rate - maybe it would be better with a 3000 series card, but with a RTX2080 I found it better to skip it.
 
They were rushed.

So some places that they worked have geracional difference RT lighting and reflection while others they just applied a random RT that doesn't look good.

They did rushed work with DLSS too.

I mean the game is half cooked.
 
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I've played the pc version with raytrace up using dlss and are currently playing the Xbox version on series X.

there are a very few standout moments if you take time and stand still to really look, but 90% of the time you can't really tell much difference.
 
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I wouldn't turn RT off for anything. Driving around in the night looking at the reflections in the puddles, the street and windows is just breathtaking.

The neon lights really make it something special.
 
Hope they ll focus on bringing RT GI to consoles as their priority RT effect and only then ll care bout reflections n other stuff...
 
Mister Wolf said:
I've been playing the shit out of Cyberpunk these past days with RT Lighting and Reflections. Its more than ready for a lot of us.
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Same, and I do prefer it, but unless you have a 3080, you are 1080 with DLSS to get it in anyway playable. This for me is a big step down from +100hz gaming. VRR / GSync etc don't help too much when you drop below 40fps.

Paying nearly $1000 for a card to get a bearable experience. sorry, it doesn't cut it. Next gen should be lit though.
 
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KyoShiRo330 said:
Which one has RTX ?
Screen by me:

0zn45P.png
0znpEm.png


Good luck
Click to expand...

This is a poor example, because it does not include any reflections and because the light sources are too far from the camera to see the objects on which they shine and subsequently how well they cause said objects to cast shadows. This comparison is bollocks.
 
For me this game is the raytracing showcase. Control was neat, but not as impressive as CP2077.

Running on 3080 at 4K with DLSS, works well.
 
funking giblet said:
Same, and I do prefer it, but unless you have a 3080, you are 1080 with DLSS to get it in anyway playable. This for me is a big step down from +100hz gaming. VRR / GSync etc don't help too much when you drop below 40fps.

Paying nearly $1000 for a card to get a bearable experience. sorry, it doesn't cut it. Next gen should be lit though.
Click to expand...

I have 2080TI(same performance as $500 RTX 3070) with Ryzen 3700x. I use DF settings including RT Shadows off and at 1440p DLSS Balanced I run between 55-60fps most of the time. Best looking videogame I've ever played.
 
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This is the kind of performance and fidelity We should be seeing when we get our mid gen refresh consoles. In a few years, virtually all video cards will be pushing these much easier.
 
When do you notice framerate? All the time.
When do you notice resolution? All the time.
When do you notice raytracing? Sometimes.

That's the issue right now, and since even the RTX 3090 gets brought to its knees, it really is not a big deal, especially when you a) are actually playing the game and not staring at benches to figure out what's going on (and 99% of people wouldn't know what to look for/at anyway), and b) don't have the comparison shot right in front of you. If it's not a RT'ed puddle I'd bet you 9/10 people wouldn't know the difference in a blind test.

Personally RT means a lot less to me when game has such glaring flaws as poor asset swapping & hamstrung streaming system (pop-in, low res txtr swaps etc), to say nothing of npc models (which is more understandable). If it's down to games looking more like Demon's Souls, or games looking more like Quake RTX, fuck RT, I know what I'm choosing. For me I'm all in on Nanite, first and foremost. We can negotiate RT as more GPU gens pass.

 
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Dampf said:
It's a generation difference sometimes.

I also like the last part of the video, where he shows RT performance on a regular 2060.

I am a bit baffled why CDPR chose to sharpen the shit out of TAA, but completely forgot about DLSS. That is why DLSS appears pretty blurry in comparison to native rendering. With CAS Sharpening per Reshade, DLSS looks sharp again and produces more details than native rendering even on DLSS Performance.
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is that the photorealistic reshade on nexusmod or the hdr reshade?
 
To me, it's transformative. I played about 10 hours with no RT before getting my new PC with an RTX 3080, so I know what the game looks like without it. It looks fantastic even without an RT settings, but having the game maxed out makes a huge difference in a lot of scenes. A lot of the time its subtle, but I think it makes a big difference especially in motion.
 
The DF video for optimizing performance with RTX on saved me. Default settings kill performance and some of the DLSS setting I was using before that made the game look horrible.
 
Rikkori said:
When do you notice framerate? All the time.
When do you notice resolution? All the time.
When do you notice raytracing? Sometimes.

That's the issue right now, and since even the RTX 3090 gets brought to its knees, it really is not a big deal, especially when you a) are actually playing the game and not staring at benches to figure out what's going on (and 99% of people wouldn't know what to look for/at anyway), and b) don't have the comparison shot right in front of you. If it's not a RT'ed puddle I'd bet you 9/10 people wouldn't know the difference in a blind test.

Personally RT means a lot less to me when game has such glaring flaws as poor asset swapping & hamstrung streaming system (pop-in, low res txtr swaps etc), to say nothing of npc models (which is more understandable). If it's down to games looking more like Demon's Souls, or games looking more like Quake RTX, fuck RT, I know what I'm choosing. For me I'm all in on Nanite, first and foremost. We can negotiate RT as more GPU gens pass.

Click to expand...

Can people stop with this fucking demo already?

Jesus.
 
Rikkori said:
If it's not a RT'ed puddle I'd bet you 9/10 people wouldn't know the difference in a blind test.
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The DF video alone brought up a dozen comparisons where everyone immediately can see what RT does. Joe Shmoe doesn`t see the difference because a person like that probably doesn`t even have a PC capable of decent RT.....

Rikkori said:
Personally RT means a lot less to me when game has such glaring flaws as poor asset swapping & hamstrung streaming system (pop-in, low res txtr swaps etc), to say nothing of npc models (which is more understandable).
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Moving goalposts as usual.

Rikkori said:
For me I'm all in on Nanite, first and foremost. We can negotiate RT as more GPU gens pass.

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1. Nanite is the micropolygon geometry part of UE5 so this is basically you missing the point in an RT thread.
2. Lumen, the actual lighting part of UE5, uses a dumbed down version of RT for indirect lighting.

the irony is palpable.
 
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Sun Blaze said:
Can people stop with this fucking demo already?

Jesus.
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It became the rally cry of the Summer Console War 2020 chapter

ethomaz said:
Nah it completely changes the lighting in this game... it is almost impossible to like the normal lighting and reflections after see the RT on.
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I agree. If consoles have to choose just one RT option this gen, I wish it would be lighting more often than reflections. Reflections are great but the RT lighting is next level IMO
 
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Even at 1080p with everything crank to max except RTX GI at ultra not psycho on my 2080ti no other games of this scope even come close to it.
 
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