Gameplay Performance Ray Tracing
On this page, we are going to focus on the 1440p gameplay performance with Ray Tracing enabled on the Overclocked NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Founders Edition 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. In the comparison, we have a PowerColor Hellhound Radeon RX 7900 GRE.
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.
When running the “High Preset” for Ray Tracing in Alan Wake 2 it turns on Path Tracing, which kills performance on these video cards at 1440p. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is not playable at just 39FPS average. While overclocking improves performance by 8%, it is not enough to make it playable only averaging 42FPS. It is, however, playable with DLSS Upscaling enabled at default or overclocked. Overclocking with DLSS Upscaling brings it up to 70FPS which is very enjoyable. The Radeon RX 7900 GRE doesn’t have a hope of being playable, even with FSR, when Path Tracing is enabled. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is 63% faster.
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.
Returnal is much easier on Ray Tracing, and the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER and Radeon RX 7900 GRE are playable here at 1440p with EPIC Ray Tracing. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is 10% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE. When overclocking the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER performance improves by 6% and now the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is 17% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE. DLSS Upscaling can also bring performance up to 120FPS with Ray Tracing.
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, the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is playable, and so is the Radeon RX 7900 GRE. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is only 5% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE. Overclocking the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER improves performance by 6%. When overclocked the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is 12% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE. DLSS Upscaling helps bring performance over 100FPS at 1440p with Ray Tracing.
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. This pushes the Radeon RX 7900 GRE into unplayable territory, but not so for the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER which can hit a 60FPS average. Still, you’d probably want to enable DLSS Upscaling which boosts it to 90FPS. Overclocking the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER improves performance by 7%. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is 37% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, and when overclocked it is 46% faster. DLSS Upscaling, when overclocked, gets us close to 100FPS average.
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 very harsh when Ray Tracing is enabled, but the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER allows a playable experience at 1440p. It is 28% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE. When overclocked the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER improves performance by 7%. When overclocked it is 37% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE. DLSS Upscaling provides over 100FPS with Ray Tracing.
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.
Finally, Cyberpunk 2077 is unplayable at Ultra Ray Tracing on both cards, you will need to use upscaling. In terms of upscaling, DLSS runs a lot faster here and provides higher framerates above 70FPS with Ray Tracing enabled making the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER viable with RT at 1440p in this game. The GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is 36% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE. Overclocking the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER improves performance by 4%. Overclocked, the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is 42% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE.