1440p Gameplay Performance
First, we are going to start off with 1440p gameplay performance. We will test games with and without Ray Tracing and with and without DLSS as needed and as supported on each game as necessary under each game.
Forza Horizon 5
The very first game we are going to start with is a new game that was just released, Forza Horizon 5. This game runs in DX12 and it does have a built-in benchmark mode that we will use for testing. In addition, we will use the built-in graphics presets in the game, namely, the “Extreme” preset which automatically enables Ray Tracing at the “High” level. We did experience an issue with the Radeon RX 6800 XT in this game on Windows 11, and therefore will not have that data shown. It seems Ray Tracing may be broken, and not working correctly in Windows 11 in this game for us on the Radeon RX 6800 XT.
In Forza Horizon 5 the “Extreme” Graphics Preset includes Ray Tracing being enabled at the highest setting of “High.” Therefore, these results are with Ray Tracing enabled, plus 2X MSAA, as that is the default setting for “Extreme.” In addition, most other settings are at extreme levels, but there are a few that are not ‘maxed out’ even on Extreme preset. At any rate, this game is very playable on the EVGA RTX 3080 FTW ULTRA HYBRID GAMING at 1440p in the “Extreme” preset. It averages 98 FPS at 1440p, and then overclocked adds another 5% to performance.
We did try to get Radeon RX 6800 XT performance numbers for this game, but the results we got did not make sense. The 6800 XT scored an average of 122 FPS at these same settings with Ray Tracing, which doesn’t make sense. We tried running the game with and without Ray Tracing and discovered no performance difference with Ray Tracing on or off. Therefore, we think Ray Tracing must be broken in the game currently for AMD GPUs in Windows 11.
Far Cry 6
Using the new game Far Cry 6 we have enabled the highest “Ultra” settings at 1440p and we have enabled HD Textures as well. It appears that both video cards average exactly the same FPS at 113FPS, which is very playable. Overclocking also did not affect performance. We suspect CPU bottlenecking here. DXR is not enabled in the graph above.
Now we are seeing some performance difference at 1440p once we turn on the DXR reflections and shadows options which enable Ray Tracing in the game. With Ray Tracing enabled the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is actually 8% faster than the EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA HYBRID GAMING video card at 1440p in this game. Once again, overclocking did not seem to affect performance. Both cards are very playable though and provide an excellent gameplay experience with everything on at 1440p.
Cyberpunk 2077
In Cyberpunk 2077 we are running the latest version at 1440p with the default “Ultra” preset and we have also included Quality DLSS numbers as well for comparison. The EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA HYBRID GAMING and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT actually are very equal on performance at 1440p at Ultra settings around 63FPS. However, the EVGA RTX 3080 has an advantage, and that is DLSS.
Turning on DLSS improves performance by 37% and brings us up to the high 80’s in framerate. Overclocking the EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA HYBRID GAMING video card improves performance by about 3%. However, turning on DLSS brings that up even further with overclocking to very high-performance levels the RX 6800 XT can’t touch in this game.
Now in this graph, we have turned on Medium Ray Tracing at 1440p and Ultra settings. Medium Ray Tracing really hurts all video cards here, but less so on the EVGA RTX 3080. Still, the game is not playable even on it at 45FPS, that is until we enable DLSS. DLSS makes it so the video card is playable with Medium Ray Tracing bringing it past 60FPS. DLSS improves performance by 52% which makes a big difference. Just on Ray Tracing alone the EVGA RTX 3080 is 30% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT. Overclocking the EVGA RTX 3080 has improved performance by 5%.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Game Of The Year Edition
We have upgraded to the latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 which is the Game of the Year Edition update. In this new update is a new DX12 API option, and we are using that for testing. We are running the game at 1440p and “Ultra” settings. Both video cards allowed a playable gameplay experience, and they are all very close to each other in performance. The EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA HYBRID GAMING is only 1% faster than the RX 6800 XT, and overclocking it adds another 2% of performance.
Watch Dogs Legion
In Watch Dogs Legion above we are running at 1440p with “Ultra” settings and are also including DLSS performance. Without DLSS, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT actually edges out performance over the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA HYBRID GAMING by a couple FPS. However, the RTX 3080 can enable DLSS which adds 13% more performance and brings us over the 6800 XT in performance. Overclocking the video card adds 4% of performance and brings it over the 6800 XT.
When we enable Ultra Ray Tracing in the game, this is what really sets the video cards apart. The Radeon RX 6800 XT is not playable at all, and the EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA HYBRID GAMING even struggles a bit and is borderline playable. Even overclocking doesn’t help much. What does help a lot though is DLSS. DLSS makes the game very playable with Ultra Ray Tracing at 1440p, bringing up performance by 36% to over 70FPS.
Metro Exodus Enhanced
In Metro Exodus Enhanced we are running at 1440p with the “Extreme” profile which enables Ultra Ray Tracing. We have tested also with DLSS to see what it adds. Firstly, the EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA HYBRID GAMING video card is 19% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT. The RX 6800 XT is not playable, while the EVGA RTX 3080 is, and when overclocked especially is playable. Overclocked it adds 5% to performance. However, add in DLSS and the game is very playable at the highest settings with Ray Tracing. DLSS improves performance by 32% up to 74FPS. Overclocked it’s even higher, so DLSS is the key here to making this game perform great with Ray Tracing.