Ray Tracing Performance
We are going to focus on Ray Tracing 1440p gameplay performance with the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition Video Card. 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.
When comparing video cards in this review, we are using an AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, Radeon RX 6800, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition. Keep in mind launch prices by MSRP for comparison, the Radeon RX 6800 XT launched at $649, the Radeon RX 6800 launched at $579, and the GeForce RTX 4070 FE launched at $599. The Radeon RX 7800 XT has a launch MSRP of $499. The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition has an MSRP of $539.
Returnal
The graphics demands are going to become much more noticeable now. Here we see the GeForce RTX 4070 FE show up the quickest by 11%. Upscaling does close the gap pretty well, to 4%. Still, both the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition and the RTX 4070 FE are nicely playable. We see the two older cards start to lose a bit of ground here. The overclock was boosted by 4%.
Forspoken
A very tight showing at the top, but still 3 of 4 cards are playable. The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition tops the chart by just over 1%. The Radeon RX 6800 XT is hanging in there not too far back by just 7%. That’s a pretty good showing in Ray Tracing for all the cards when you enable upscaling.
Callisto Protocol
Nice fast FPS except for the Radeon RX 6800. The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition shows up on the top by 5% over the RTX 4070 FE. Upscaling is a big boost here, but a tie between the top three cards. Overclocking here gets 2% and nearly 4% in upscaling.
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition
A little more demanding with Ray Tracing, huh? None of the cards is playable until upscaling is enabled. At that point, the RTX 4070 FE takes over by 19%. Without upscaling that gap is nearly the same. The last-generation cards can’t do the job here.
Dying Light 2
Eventually, the tough games get tough. No cards can muster playable frames without help. The RTX 4070 FE is 6% better but unplayable. Things improve with upscaling giving the RTX 4070 FE a 13% advantage. The prior generation cards are falling away, but the RX 6800 XT is still playable with upscaling.
Cyberpunk 2077
Again, it gets harder at this stage. Really dismal FPS across the board except the RTX 4070 FE and then only upscaled. Without help the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition is 27% back. After upscaling a full 30% back and still unplayable. The last generation is left in the dust. This game needs the settings lowered.