Gameplay Performance 4K Ray Tracing
On this page, we are going to focus on the 4K Ray Tracing gameplay performance with the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT 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.
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 makes the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT unplayable at 4K without upscaling, but we can still see how the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT is ahead of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX in Path Tracing by 81% in performance. When you enable DLSS upscaling performance increases by 71% and is playable at 49FPS average. Overclocking the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT improves performance by 10%, with DLSS it is even more playable at 55FPS with Path Tracing at 4K no less.
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 MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT is playable at 64FPS with EPIC Ray Tracing quality at 4K. It is 10% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. With DLSS upscaling performance increases by 52%. Overclocking the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT improves performance by 6% and with DLSS we are at 100FPS at 4K.
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, and it is more-so with Ray Tracing enabled at 4K. The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT allows a playable experience at nearly 60FPS average with RT, and this matches the Radeon RX 7900 XTX in this game. DLSS upscaling improves performance by 53% and brings that to 90FPS at 4K. Overclocking the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT 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 MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT isn’t playable without DLSS upscaling. Still, we can see that the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT is 33% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX with RT which gets killed by it in this game. DLSS upscaling brings performance up 68% and to playable performance levels at 69FPS. Overclocking the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT improves performance by 6%.
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. The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT is not exactly playable unless we utilize DLSS upscaling at 4K. The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT is still 33% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX however. DLSS upscaling improves performance by 74% and the game is more than playable at 80FPS. Overclocking the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT 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 MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT is 42% faster than the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. However, the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT is playable once we enable DLSS upscaling which improves performance by 82%. Overclocking the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER EXPERT improves performance by 5%, with DLSS it’s nearly 60FPS at 4K.