NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 vs AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance Comparison

GeForce RTX 4070 vs Radeon RX 6800 XT Gameplay Performance with Ray Tracing

We are going to focus on the 1440p gameplay performance. On this page, we will focus on Ray Tracing performance.  We will include DLSS and FSR performance on the same graph in the games that are supported.  We will use DLSS on NVIDIA GPUs and FSR on AMD GPUs.

Returnal

Returnal was launched on the PC in February of 2023 and is based on Unreal Engine 4. The game supports real-time ray tracing effects, particle systems, and volumetric rendering. We utilize the graphics preset to set EPIC graphics settings with an unlocked framerate, and everything is enabled. For ray tracing tests we have enabled Ray Traced Shadows and Reflections at Epic settings. We use the built-in benchmark.

In Returnal we are testing at 1440p with EPIC graphics settings and EPIC ray tracing turned on. We find that both video cards do offer a playable gameplay experience, the Radeon RX 6800 XT just barely though. The GeForce RTX 4070 is 27% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT. With DLSS the GeForce RTX 4070 is 38% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 with FSR. The RTX 4070 does offer the better experience with Ray Tracing in this game.

Forspoken

Forspoken was released on January 24th, 2023, on the PC and uses the Luminous Engine. The game supports all upscaling methods, including NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, Intel XeSS, and Ray Tracing. We are going to customize the settings and enable the highest graphics settings, including Ultra High Texture Memory. We are going to enable both Ray Tracing options, Shadows, and Ambient Occlusion. We use the built-in benchmark.

In Forspoken we are playing at 1440p with all the ray tracing turned on. Both cards do offer a playable experience, but the Radeon RX 6800 XT is on the edge of that. The GeForce RTX 4070 is 13% faster. The results are actually a lot closer than we would have assumed, the Radeon RX 6800 XT is competing quite well in this game. With DLSS the RTX 4070 is 10% faster than the RX 6800 XT with FSR. However, RX 6800 XT is much more playable with FSR at 88FPS.

F1 2022

F1 2022 was released on June 28th, 2022 on the PC and uses Codemasters Ego engine.  The game supports Ray Tracing, DLSS, AMD FidelityFX, and FSR.  We are going to run the game with the highest quality settings of “Ultra High” and TAA+FidelityFX.  We will enable all Ray Tracing options in the game to “On.” We will enable DLSS and FSR as needed at the Quality setting for both.  We will utilize the built-in benchmark in the Imola track, in dry conditions with a far-chasing cam.

In F1 2022 we are running at 1440p with the highest settings and all the ray tracing options turned on at the highest quality. Both video cards are playable, once again Radeon RX 6800 XT is right on the edge though at 60FPS. However, like Forspoken, the two cards are very close in performance with RTX 4070 20% faster. With DLSS on RTX 4070 performance is 6% faster than FSR on RX 6800 XT.

Dying Light 2

Dying Light 2 was released in February 2022 on the PC and uses Techland’s C-Engine. We have updated the game to patch 1.90.  The game supports Ray Tracing, DLSS, and FSR2.  This game supports Ray Tracing environmental effects including Ray Traced Soft Shadows, Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion, Ray Traced Global Illumination, and Ray Traced Reflections.  We utilize the built-in preset option to set “HIGH-QUALITY RAYTRACING” which enables the game’s highest graphics settings plus the environmental effects explained above at the highest values.  The game is run in DX12 Ultimate mode with ASYNC Compute turned on.  We use the built-in benchmark.

Dying Light 2 is a very demanding game with its high-quality ray tracing enabled. It really pushes both cards here at 1440p, and the GeForce RTX 4070 is faster. However, it’s not so much faster than it is actually playable. In fact, at these framerates, the game isn’t exactly enjoyable or playable without upscaling. The GeForce RTX 4070 is 33% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT, but both are really in the realm of not playable without upscaling. When we enable DLSS or FSR, both cards become playable and smooth. RTX 4070 still has the advantage in performance and image quality with DLSS.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 was released in December 2020 and uses the REDengine 4. We have the game patched to version 1.61 and use the built-in benchmark. We test using the Graphics Preset option to set graphics settings.  We use the Ray Tracing Graphics Preset of either: “Ray Tracing: Low”, or “Ray Tracing: Medium” or “Ray Tracing: Ultra” as indicated. This game supports DLSS and FSR2.

Of course, Cyberpunk 2077 is incredibly demanding with ultra ray tracing, even at 1440p. This game is simply not playable without upscaling, on either card. In fact, even with upscaling the Radeon RX 6800 XT is still not playable. Only the GeForce RTX 4070 with DLSS is playable at 70FPS with ray tracing. The RTX 4070 is 55% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT.

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