Could Arc GPUs gain the ability to run Cyberpunk 2077’s incredibly demanding Ray Tracing Overdrive Mode in the future? Possibly, as Intel is currently working on new techniques (e.g., neural rendering) that would enable more affordable GPUs, including its own Arc series, to cope with path racing, according to a new research papers published by the company. “These are important components to make photorealistic rendering with path tracing available on more affordable GPUs, such as Intel Arc GPUs, and a step toward real-time performance on integrated GPUs,” reads one highlight, with another noting how the “new neural level of detail representation achieves 70% to 95% compression compared to ‘vanilla’ path tracing, while also delivering interactive to real-time performance.”
“These are important components to make photorealistic rendering with path tracing available on more affordable GPUs, such as Intel Arc GPUs, and a step toward real-time performance on integrated GPUs.”
…the company showcased that these “Efficient” algorithms such as Neural Rendering can enable Path Tracing on lower-powered & more budget-aimed GPUs. Currently, a game such as Cyberpunk 2077 which is the only one to offer real path-traced visuals, requires at least a GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 to run at 4K. For anything lower than that, you have to utilize DLSS algorithms which can in some instances, compromise the visual fidelity of the native image. Intel says that its approach can not only enable real-time Path Tracing on Arc GPUs (budget-aimed) but also integrated GPUs (iGPUs).
