Cyberpunk 2077 RT Overdrive on an RTX 3080?!!
And here I was , (yes, gullible old me), thinking that RT Overdrive (AKA Path Tracing demonstration for Cyberpunk 2077) was exclusively for RTX 4090 owners, and anyone else fortunate enough to have a shiny new RTX 40 series GPU.
All the highly publisized marketing from Nvidia - months of it, told me that features such as this were 100% hardware bound to the latest and greatest....
For the most part, (at least at 4K Ultra settings with playable FPS), this is a correct assumption.
So, after watching an explainer from a streamer who had succesfully sampled this new experimental feature with his 3080Ti, I dusted off my PC Gaming big boy pants and overclocked the living hell outta my ROG Strix RTX 3080, a big boned toddler of a GPU with 10GB VRAM, and extraordinary overclocking headroom. A genuine sense of childish excitement washed over me, and I immediately downloaded the newly released RT Overdrive update.
Now, although I have only had this card since late last year, I am acutely aware of the debate going on amongst PC Gaming enthusiasts who went cash in hand to Nvidia (and often finding zero stock), in their quest to purchase what was - at the time a genuine flagship product.
However, in what would appear to be a cruel twist of fate, (or a classic case of planned obselescence perhaps), much frustration has been brewing over a number of new AAA titles that seem to be pointing to the miserable fact that 10GB of VRAM has become rapidly, and often woefully inadequate for great gameplay experiences at, or close to 4K.
All sillyness set aside, this video is the result of approximately 1 hour of tweaking with as many different settings as possible, in order to get a taste of RT Overdrive without falling victim to the clever marketing spin employed by Nvidia and coughing up exhorbitanttly high prices for the guilty pleasure of testing out a brand spanking new, "experimental feature" intended for the exclusive gaming pleasure of RTX 4090/80/70tI/70 owners.
In summary, I used the following settings for a rather neat and gorgeously illuminated RT Overdrive experience:
Before opening Cyberpunk 2077, I applied a reasonable overclock directly to the GPU using MSI Afterburner -
+65 MHZ to the already fast 1935MHZ boost clock when in OC mode.
Raised the power limit from 110% to 120%.
Added 800 MHZ to the 19 Gbps memory bandwidth (not really sure what effect this has tbh.
IN GAME:
So, this was all about sneaking in as much performance as possible in order to achieve a smooth experience at, or close to 60FPS.
Eventually, and to my great surprise, I managed to get pretty close at my displays native 3440X1440p resolution.
For this, DLSS Ultra Performance is ABSOLUTELY necessary for "High" settings at this resolution.
I'm pleased to report that I enabled Ray Tracing, Ray traced reflections, and Ray traced local shadows at medium settings, then hitting the toggle for the path tracing technology preview. RT sun shadows off due to performance penalty
Some marvellous lighting spectacles to watch for (which only appear for a few moments) include the reflections coming off the puddles of water on the ground inside the bar, the mural of the punked out character with the red painted face, and the stunning lighting surrounding the bar and pool table as the camera angle swings its way through the indoor section.
Watch out for the large puddle of water sitting immediately outside on the path through the alleyway and towards the downtown area full of skyscrapers. That puddle looks as though it was drawn by a physicist, it is that photorealistic!
As the scene rushes over towards the centre of the action, pay close attention to the light bouncing off the windows of the shorter buildings in front of the towering skyscrapers as you swoop towards the ending.
Actually don't, because you're sure to notice the almost perfectly smooth reflective opacity anyway....
I was satisfied enough with the benchmark to spend an hour or two giving RT Overdrive a proper test drive in game.
One major streamer (Gamers Nexus) decribed RT Overdrive as only playable (ie bearable) on an RTX 4090, WITH DLSS 3.0 AND frame generation active!
Whilst watching his detailed analysis of the general topic of PC tech is deeply fascinating, he belongs to the upper echelon of computer graphics snobs who rush to define something as "totally unplayable" if it can't be enjoyed in mega ultra super dooper 4K psycho ray/path tracing extreme settings at or above framerates in the mid 90s now thanks to the completely unrendered, AI "generated" frames that define DLSS 3.0.
Thanks to the surprise, uncharacteristic inclusion of older GPU's with the ability to run RT Overdrive, (albeit at lower graphics settings and resolutions), I for one absolutely do NOT feel the need to upgrade my GPU for quite some time, and can't wait for more bogus claims of exclusive hardware locked features for which my current hardware is now useless