10-18-2018, 10:10 PM
https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/27905...ngine-demo
Quote:There are some caveats to keep in mind. This is a demo, not a shipping title, and the demo was designed to show off Nvidia’s ray tracing technology, not for maximum performance. But the fact that it opens with an undersampled shimmering scene to start with also suggests that this represented some kind of compromise — if Remedy had been able to remove the effect without harming performance further they surely would’ve done so, if only to make the demo that much more impressive. Meanwhile, Battlefield V seems to demonstrate that at least the RTX 2080 Ti is capable of integrating impressive ray traced visual effects without tanking the frame rate, even if 60ish fps at 1080p isn’t much to write home about by conventional rasterization standards. Clearly, developers have at least some flexibility to tailor their RTX implementations to the frame rates and experiences they wish to target.
At the same time, however, the little evidence we do have is all stacking up on the wrong side of the equation. Nvidia is the only player in this game that could clear up the confusion, but the company has released no performance estimates or clarifying remarks. We don’t know how much fine-grained control users will have to apply ray tracing selectively or even which GPU to recommend to customers who want to take advantage of it.
If you’re wondering why many in the tech press are so lackluster on Turing, it’s not just because Nvidia launched a GPU when games that take advantage of its features haven’t been released. It’s also because the company has denied the press and public any opportunity to objectively evaluate the value of these features. It’s been two months since the RTX family debuted. It is not unreasonable, at this point, for Nvidia to issue a clarifying statement along the lines of: “We expect the RTX 2070 to be capable of delivering the next-generation visual effects our customers expect while maintaining smooth, playable frame rates and will work with developers to ensure all RTX customers can take advantage of these features.” That doesn’t lock the company in to a specific frame rate. It doesn’t guarantee 60fps. It just says “You’re going to get to use the features we’re asking you to pay at least $500 for.”
Nvidia has asked customers to accept significant price increases because, to hear the company tell it, the RTX 2070, 2080, and 2080 Ti will deliver ray traced gaming experiences that justify the premium. Under the circumstances, it’s reasonable to ask the company to demonstrate or pledge that the RTX 2070 will be capable of both ray tracing and reasonable frame rates.