Gameplay Performance 1080p Ray Tracing
On this page, we are going to focus on the 1080p Ray Tracing gameplay performance with the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB video card. We will include DLSS and FSR performance on the same graph in the games that are supported shown in the Upscaling Bar, DLSS for NVIDIA, and FSR for AMD. As the comparison card, we have an ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4060 OC Edition video card which retails for $309 currently online and is a factory overclocked video card, giving the 7600 XT a good comparison.
Alan Wake 2
Alan Wake 2 was launched on the PC in October of 2023 and is based on the Northlight Engine. The game supports detailed graphics and ray tracing with path tracing support. This game defaults to DLSS or FSR but does allow Native AA resolution settings with DLSS or FSR respectively. We can utilize Super Sampling upscaling, and for our graphs, we will just call that DLSS or FSR. We utilize the graphics presets to set High quality, as well as the Ray Tracing presets to set Low or High quality. We use a manual run-through in the Initiation 5: Room 665 chapter.
In Alan Wake 2 we are now enabling “High” preset Ray Tracing, which does turn on Path Tracing. This is where the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT falls behind the RTX 4060 OC quite a bit in performance. The RTX 4060 OC is 71% faster. However, note that the GeForce RTX 4060 OC is also not playable at just 29FPS, you have to turn on DLSS at this resolution in order to make it playable. However, for the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT this is not the case, even FSR upscaling isn’t enough to make it playable at High Ray Tracing. However, it is playable with LOW Ray Tracing with FSR Upscaling.
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 the GeForce RTX 4060 OC is faster with Ray Tracing, by 20%. This is the difference between playable and not playable. However, if you turn on FSR upscaling the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT is playable at 77FPS which is a 40% improvement in framerate. Overclocking improves performance by 5%.
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.
As we mentioned on the previous page, Forspoken is very sensitive to VRAM capacity. This is why the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT is beating the GeForce RTX 4060 OC so soundly, even with Ray Tracing turned on. Here, the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT is 16% faster than the RTX 4060 OC even with RT Shadows and AO. However, you may still want to enable FSR upscaling on the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT for the smoothest gameplay at 76FPS average, a 33% increase. Overclocking the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT improves performance by 7%.
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.
In Chernobylite Enhanced Edition turning on “Ultra” Ray Tracing creates a very demanding burden as it uses Ray Traced global illumination. The GeForce RTX 4060 OC is therefore faster, but not exactly playable either without upscaling. The RTX 4060 OC is 43% faster, but again you will still need to use DLSS to make it playable at 1080p with Ray Tracing Ultra. Using FSR upscaling on the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT helps by improving performance by 56%.
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.
Dying Light 2 is also demanding with full Ray Tracing quality even at 1080p on these video cards. Naturally, the GeForce RTX 4060 OC is faster at 38%, but you will still need to use DLSS upscaling to really play with RT on with this video card. The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT can reach 60FPS with FSR Upscaling enabled, a 61% performance improvement. Overclocking improves performance by 6%.
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, not surprisingly, no video card is playable with Ultra Ray Tracing. The GeForce RTX 4060 OC is 51% faster than the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT, but you still have to enable DLSS upscaling to make it playable at 65FPS. Unfortunately, even with FSR quality upscaling the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT is not playable. You will need to lower the Ray Tracing quality level and still use FSR Upscaling to make it playable.