The importance of ray tracing for me lies in its ability to deliver realistic visuals and lighting effects.
The importance of ray tracing for me lies in its ability to deliver realistic visuals and lighting effects.
While upgrading my PC recently, I faced a decision between Nvidia and AMD graphics cards. I kept revisiting this question because it’s not about comparing the companies themselves, but rather about RT/PT in general. My aim was to understand what people generally think about these features. After much consideration, I realized that technologies like ray tracing and path tracing are impressive, but they often fall short when it comes to artistic intent—especially when developers try to replace handcrafted experiences with automated systems. In reality, RT/PT is the future, yet current games tend to implement it without ensuring quality visuals. Ultimately, our satisfaction depends on how much effort went into its development. What are your thoughts? Should this technology be standard in all games? Would next-gen GPUs focus more on it? How much does it influence your overall gaming experience? Do you always prefer better visuals with it enabled? And will it impact your decisions when purchasing a new GPU?
The discussion centers on efficiency in game development rather than visual quality. It highlights how ray tracing simplifies creating realistic lighting and shadows, making complex scenes easier to design compared to traditional methods. For instance, Digital Foundry noted that achieving the desired look for a city under an overhang in Star Wars Outlaws would have been extremely challenging without ray tracing due to the numerous indirect effects. With modern RT-capable GPUs, developers can leverage this technology to reduce development time, which has only grown more important after six and a half years since the first capable GPUs were released.
It's solid tech, but the physical components are still lacking for everyday users. Considering the 50 series doesn't really shift the balance in RT, even with more memory bandwidth and supposedly better processing units, I believe it's reasonable to say mainstream adoption isn't near. The 5060 will likely perform poorly on good days compared to older models like the 4060, 3060, and 2060. You can only count a handful of titles where RT is seen as worthwhile even with weaker GPUs—Metro Exodus, Control, Cyberpunk 2077, and Alan Wake 2 are the exceptions. Those are the rare cases where people acknowledge the visual benefits at a lower frame rate. In most other games, the opinion is clear: RT adds value only if you have a powerful GPU already running at 200fps without it. Until more powerful hardware becomes available, the RT movement will stay paused. Nvidia appears determined not to deliver substantial gains, so progress seems unlikely unless Intel or AMD make significant breakthroughs in this space.
I’ll look for examples to clarify this point, since it’s unclear if it aligns with what you observe. For titles that came out with RT, I don’t think I’ve encountered a situation where I’d enable it, especially if the game was meant for high-end settings. I’ve noticed some artifacts in BMW where lower RT levels disappear when the setting is raised. For games where RT was added later, it seems more about personal preference—some players like the original look without it. In areas like Minecraft or the RTX versions of older titles such as Portal or Quake, I’m not sure. The mismatch between the original design and modern lighting feels off to me. Similarly, I don’t enjoy contemporary “pixel” games that lack true pixel art or retro sprite styles, even if the developers intended it. RT isn’t just one thing; using it as a replacement for standard effects like screen space reflections or cube maps isn’t something that appears quickly. There’s no clear downside to this approach—just a visual preference. Raster-based games can look impressive too, but they rely on techniques developed over time to mimic realism. It’s also worth noting that console hardware sets a starting point, which influences how much developers can push visual boundaries, though creativity still allows for good results.
I do not care that much about it except for reflections - screen space reflections vs ray traced ones is somehow a game changer for me. I would be happy at 4K with my 7900XT if developers would gave me the option to just turn on reflections and nothing else - some do. But as it is - I am leaving so much performance on the table just turning it on so I started to ponder GPU change. Right now I am waiting for 9070XT benchmarks, if they are not satisfying for me, well... Used 4090 anyone? (and no, I do not care about 4080/5080 - as I stated, my goal is 4K so 16GB of ram will run out quite quickly in coming years in my opinion)
The quality of games is declining due to TAA plugins. I view modern ray tracing as another factor contributing to this issue. Attempting to improve visuals while ignoring optimization feels like a joke, yet it’s the standard in AAA gaming. I chose an AMD GPU instead of any NVIDIA card just to express my disdain for Nvidia. Games are lagging behind the graphics they produce. It’s almost certain that anything priced over 60 dollars will be disappointing and play poorly or not at all.