Overclocked RX 7800 XT Ray Tracing Performance
We are going to focus on Ray Tracing 1440p gameplay performance with the Overclocked AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. 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.
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 have turned on EPIC Ray Tracing on Shadows and Reflections. The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT provides 66FPS before overclocking, which is faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800, but not the GeForce RTX 4070. However, overclocking pushes the Radeon RX 7800 XT much closer to the GeForce RTX 4070. Overclocking improves performance on the Radeon RX 7800 XT by 8%, which is a nice uplift with Ray Tracing. When overclocked, it is 34% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 and 15% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT.
The Callisto Protocol
The Callisto Protocol was released in December of 2022 on the PC and is based on Unreal Engine 4. We run the game in DX12 mode with unlimited framerate, and all graphics settings enabled and at the highest graphics settings. This game supports ray tracing, and FSR upscaling only, we use FSR2 for testing. For Ray Tracing we enable Ray Traced Shadows, Ray Traced Transmission, and Ray Traced Reflections to High. We use the built-in benchmark.
In The Callisto Protocol, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT runs at around 71.3FPS before overclocking. Before overclocking it is faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800, but the GeForce RTX 4070 edges it out. That is until you overclock it. When overclocked the Radeon RX 7800 XT improves performance by 7%. When the Radeon RX 7800 XT is overclocked it is now 4% faster than the GeForce RTX 4070, and that is with Ray Tracing. It’s 38% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 and 14% faster than the Radeon RX 6600 XT.
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition
Chernobylite was released on the PC in 2021, but the free Enhanced Edition update for the game was released in April 2022. The Enhanced Edition provides a visual overhaul of the game with better textures, plus introduces tessellation and ray tracing features. It features raytraced reflections, raytraced translucency, raytraced caustics, and raytraced dynamic diffuse global illumination. The game is based on Unreal Engine 4. For our Ray Tracing test, we have enabled the Ultra Ray Tracing option.
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition with Ray Tracing is very demanding with Ray Tracing, and the Radeon RX 7800 XT gives us 38.2 FPS, which is faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800, but the GeForce RTX 4070 beats it a lot. Overclocking the Radeon RX 7800 XT doesn’t help it much in this game, we get a 6% performance boost, but at 40 FPS it is still well under the RTX 4070. When overclocked the Radeon RX 7800 XT is 38% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 and 31% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT.
Dying Light 2
Dying Light 2 was released in February 2022 on the PC and uses Techland’s C-Engine. 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.
In Dying Light 2 the Radeon RX 7800 XT provides 45.8FPS with Ray Tracing enabled, which is faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800, but slower than the GeForce RTX 4070. Overclocking the Radeon RX 7800 XT improves performance by 5% to 48FPS, but this is still slower than the RTX 4070 with Ray Tracing. The overclocked Radeon RX 7800 XT is 33% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 and 15% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 was released in December 2020 and uses the REDengine 4. We have the game patched to version 1.62 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.
In Cyberpunk 2077 the Radeon RX 7800 XT provides only 26.8FPS with Ultra Ray Tracing, and overclocking improves performance by 6%, but it isn’t enough to beat the RTX 4070. Overclocked the Radeon RX 7800 XT is 38% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 and 17% faster than the Radeon RX 6800 XT.