4K Gaming Performance
We will now test 4K gaming performance. 4K is the real test of these cards, to see what is actually playable, can we use Ray Tracing at 4K? We will find out. Ray Tracing and DLSS are included in the games that support it.
Metro Exodus Enhanced
Metro Exodus Enhanced is extremely demanding at 4K on “Extreme” quality with “Ultra” Ray Tracing. Performance without DLSS is at unplayable levels on every video card. With that we see that the new GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE is on par with the factory overclocked GIGABYTE RTX 3090 GAMING OC video card. They are much faster than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. Once you turn on DLSS though, this is what makes 4K playable with “Ultra” Ray Tracing. However, it is only the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE and GIGABYTE RTX 3090 GAMING OC that can do so with Quality DLSS. They offer more performance than the GeForce RTX 3080 FE and is at playable levels.
Cyberpunk 2077
Firstly in Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K we are testing plain ole “Ultra” Quality with no Ray Tracing. 4K is very demanding in this game also, even without Ray Tracing. None of the video cards are playable at 4K until we turn on DLSS. The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE is slightly faster than the RTX 3090 factory overclocked video card, and both are much faster than the RTX 3080 FE and the RX 6900 XT.
We need to turn on DLSS for the game to be playable at 4K with “Ultra” settings. When we do that performance is very high on the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE and GeForce RTX 3090 FE and is more playable than the RTX 3080 FE. The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is not playable at 4K at “Ultra” settings. It has no options to increase performance other than lowering the quality level, which you will have to do if you want to play at 4K.
Turning on Ray Tracing at 4K is really just too demanding to be playable. We are even using the lowest quality preset of Ray Tracing above with “Medium” Ray Tracing enabled. This isn’t even “Ultra”, it’s just “Medium” Ray Tracing. That puts even the RTX 3080 Ti FE and RTX 3090 under 30FPS and just not playable. We definitely have to look toward DLSS to improve performance if we want Ray Tracing at 4K.
Unfortunately, even with Quality DLSS performance is still ultimately at unplayable levels on each video card. The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE is on par with the RTX 3090 FE factory overclocked card, and both offer more than the RTX 3080 FE. The Radeon RX 6900 XT suffers greatly with Ray Tracing and has no other option to improve performance. With all video cards here, this game is really only playable at 4K without Ray Tracing.
Watch Dogs Legion
At 4K running “Ultra” quality in this game we find the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE offers the highest performance and the game is playable. This is much better than the GeForce RTX 3080 FE and on par with factory overclocked RTX 3090. The Radeon RX 6900 XT is also playable, but the RTX 3080 Ti FE is more playable with less extreme minimum framerates.
When we turn on “Ultra” Ray Tracing at 4K performance drops very severely in this game. It is near 30FPS even on the fastest video cards, and therefore unplayable. In order to improve performance we turn on DLSS to Quality mode and performance improves a lot. However, it isn’t exactly what we’d prefer for playable performance in this game even with Quality DLSS. We would instead opt to lower the Ray Tracing quality or the Graphics Preset in order to get more performance with Ray Tracing. Otherwise, you can increase the DLSS performance level, but at the cost of image quality. At least you have options with those cards, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is simply not going to be playable with Ray Tracing. The RTX 3080 Ti FE is on par with RTX 3090 factory overclocked performance.
Dirt 5
Dirt 5 is playable on each video card at 4K with the highest settings. We find the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE is just under the factory overclocked RTX 3090, but very close.
Turning on Ray Tracing performs really great in Dirt 5 even at 4K. Once again every video card is playable at 4K with Ray Tracing enabled. The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE does offer more performance than the Radeon RX 6900 XT and RTX 3080 FE though. The RTX 3090 factory overclocked card does offer the highest performance.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn is also playable on every video card at the highest settings at 4K. The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE though will provide noticeably higher performance and is on par with RTX 3090 factory overclocked performance.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 can be demanding at 4K. Only the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE and GIGABYTE RTX 3090 GAMING OC allow this game to average a framerate over 60FPS at 4K. Those two cards are once again very close in performance. They offer a noticeable performance improvement over the RTX 3080 FE.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 benefits a lot from the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE and GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3090 GAMING OC video cards at 4K. First of all, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT just lags way behind in this game at 4K. The new RTX 3080 Ti FE offers a much smoother and enjoyable experience, and the RTX 3090 is similar.
Wolfenstein Youngblood
Framerates are certainly very high and playable in this game at 4K with the highest settings. The Radeon RX 6900 XT is the slowest, but you can hardly call 149FPS slow. The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE and RTX 3090 factory overclocked card are once again very close in performance.
Only the GeForce RTX video cards support Ray Tracing in this game, and of course DLSS. Turning on Ray Tracing at 4K still allows all the video cards to be playable, even the RTX 3080 FE. Though it is clear the RTX 3080 Ti FE is quite a bit faster than the RTX 3080 FE, and close to RTX 3090 performance. Turning on DLSS improves performance well above 100FPS at 4K with Ray Tracing enabled, which is amazing. The RTX 3080 Ti FE and RTX 3090 factory overclocked video card are equal with DLSS.