Ray Tracing Performance
We are going to focus on Ray Tracing 1440p gameplay performance with the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC 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 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB Founders Edition. Keep in mind launch prices by MSRP for comparison, the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB FE launched at $399. The Radeon RX 7700 XT has a launch MSRP of $449. The ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition has an MSRP of $469.99.
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.
Now we are really pushing these cards by enabling Ray Tracing at maximum settings in games at 1440p. The ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition is still playable in this game at 58 FPS with Ray Tracing, but it is on the edge of that 60 FPS gameplay. Once we overclock it, however, performance goes up by 7% and is now over 60 FPS with Ray Tracing. In fact, performance is also the same as the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, with Ray Tracing, which is impressive. When overclocked, the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition is 5% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB.
Forspoken
Forspoken was released on January 24th, 2023, on the PC and uses the Luminous Engine. The game supports all upscaling methods 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 with Ray Tracing ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition is not exactly playable with Ray Tracing enabled, until we enable upscaling. However, it is a lot faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB, by 32% which is pretty incredible considering this is with Ray Tracing enabled. When we overclock the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition performance increases by 4%. We do need to enable FSR to make it smooth and playable, with FSR-enabled performance increases by 35% and is above 70 FPS.
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 ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition is very playable at 64.2 FPS with Ray Tracing enabled providing a smooth gameplay experience. It is actually 14% faster than the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB with Ray Tracing. When we overclock the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition performance increases by 6% to 67.9 FPS.
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 is pretty hard on performance with Ultra Ray Tracing due to Global Illumination. Here the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB is faster than the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition by 13%, but neither card is playable without upscaling. Once we enable DLSS or FSR on these cards, performance is better. When we overclock the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition performance increases by 7%.
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 GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB is also faster than the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition by 6%. However, once again neither video card is actually playable with Ray Tracing until we enable upscaling. With DLSS the RTX 4060 Ti is playable, and with FSR the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition is playable at 60 FPS. Overclocking the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition improves performance by 5%.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 was released in December 2020 and uses the REDengine 4. We have the game patched to version 2.0 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 2.0, none of the video cards are playable at 1440p with Ultra Ray Tracing, even with upscaling. The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB can be if you use DLSS 3 Frame Generation, but that is required to hit playable framerates with Ray Tracing. This means the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB is 18% faster than the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition. Overclocking the ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition improves performance just by one FPS, and is still not playable even with FSR.