4K Ray Tracing and DLSS Performance
Finally, we’ll look at the impact of Ray Tracing and DLSS at 4K to see if the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING can pull off a decent Ray Tracing experience at 1440p. For each game, we are using the game benchmark included with the game and reporting the average frames per second.
Far Cry 6
In Far Cry 6, the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING tied the ASUS TUF RX 6800 XT at 65 FPS which was a step behind the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 ULTRA GAMING’s 68 FPS. Overclocking the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING brought it up to its Ti counterpart’s 68 FPS tally. Across the board, FSR provided a boost of about 20 FPS.
You may have noticed that we did not mention the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING stellar performance at 7 FPS. This is a prime example of what happens to performance when there’s not enough VRAM to go around.
Watch Dogs: Legion
In Watch Dogs Legion, the EVGA GEFORCE RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING achieved 32 frames per second, which is 11 frames per second faster than the ASUS TUF RX 6800 XT, but 2 frames per second slower than the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 ULTRA GAMING. Overclocking the EVGA GEFORCE RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING didn’t make a difference to its Racy Tracing performance unless 3 FPS is a difference to you. You don’t want to play Watch Dogs: Legion with Ray Tracing on any of these cards.
Next, we tried out DLSS set to “Quality” mode and as you can see in the chart, it boosted the overall performance of the NVIDIA cards by a significant margin, to the extent that it makes for a great gaming experience to have both Ray Tracing and DLSS: Quality enabled. DLSS made Ray Tracing very playable at this resolution.
Again, we see the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING hitting a VRAM wall like it painted it on the side of the mountain a-la Wile E. Coyote and its subsequent splat into the mountainside.
Metro Exodus
In Metro Exodus, the EVGA GEFORCE RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING cranked out 38.6 frames per second, which is 11.8 frames per second faster than the ASUS TUF RX 6800 XT, and 2.4FPS slower than the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 ULTRA GAMING. Overclocking the EVGA GEFORCE RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING notched an additional 3.2 frames per second to the tally. Whether Metro Exodus is playable on these cards is really the dealer’s choice as there will be some areas that have less than ideal performance but most of the game should be just fine.
Next, we tried out DLSS turned on and as you can see in the chart, it boosted the overall performance of the NVIDIA cards by about 10 frames per second, to the extent that it makes for a great gaming experience to have both Ray Tracing and DLSS: Quality enabled.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING put up 57 FPS, which bested both the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING and ASUS TUF RX 6800 XT, but not the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 ULTRA GAMING. Overclocking the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING put it upfront at 62 FPS.
Dirt 5
In Dirt 5, the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING achieved 78.2 FPS which bested both the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING and ASUS TUF RX 6800 XT. Overclocking the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 12GB FTW3 put it upfront at 83 FPS.