Tag Archives: NVIDIA RTX

Vulkan Ray Tracing (Quake 2 RTX) On AMD Radeon RX 6800!

Take a look at the AMD Radeon RX 6800’s Vulkan Ray Tracing performance in Quake 2 RTX – the world’s first cross-vendor Vulkan Ray Tracing game!

 

Vulkan Ray Tracing : What Is It?

Vulkan is an open-source and cross-platform graphics API. It offers better performance to graphics APIs like OpenGL, DirectX and Metal.

In November 2020, The Khronos Group released the final Vulkan Ray Tracing extension specifications, followed by an upgraded Vulkan SDK with full Ray Tracing support on 15 December 2020.

This allows developers to easily integrate ray tracing into their games for any GPU that supports the “VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline” extension.

 

Vulkan Ray Tracing (Quake 2 RTX) On AMD Radeon RX 6800!

On 15 December 2020, Quake 2 RTX was updated to support Vulkan Ray Tracing, becoming the world’s first game to support it!

With support for Vulkan Ray Tracing, not only can NVIDIA RTX cards run Quake 2 RTX, so can the new AMD Radeon 6000 series graphics cards!

So we thought – what the heck, let’s give the Radeon RX 6800 a spin, and see how well it does in Quake 2 RTX!

1080p Resolution

At the 1080p resolution, the Radeon RX 6800 was able to maintain an average frame rate of between 55-65 fps. Definitely the best resolution to play.

1440p Resolution

At the 1440p resolution, the Radeon RX 6800 was able to maintain an average frame rate of between 35-42 fps. Quite playable.

4K Resolution

At the 4K resolution, the Radeon RX 6800 was only able to deliver an average frame rate of between 15-18 fps. Real jerky!

 

Quake 2 RTX : Vulkan Ray Tracing Requirements

This is what you require :

  • Download and install Quake 2 RTX 1.4.0 or newer
  • AMD
    – Requires Radeon RX 6000 series, or future RDNA 2, cards.
    – Upgrade to Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.11.2 Beta or newer
  • NVIDIA
    – Requires GeForce RTX / Quadro RTX graphics cards.
    – Upgrade to Game Ready Driver 460.89 (Windows) or 460.27.04 (Linux), or newer

 

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NVIDIA RTX A6000 + Omniverse : Specs + Details!

At GTC 2020, NVIDIA announced both the new Ampere-based RTX A6000 GPU and the Omniverse 3D platform.

Here are the specifications of the NVIDIA RTX A6000, as well as details and a demo of NVIDIA Omniverse!

 

NVIDIA RTX A6000 : Powered By Ampere!

Like the recently-announced GeForce RTX 30 Series, NVIDIA RTX A6000 is based on the new NVIDIA Ampere architecture.

But unlike the gaming-centric GeForce RTX 30 Series, RTX A6000 is a flagship GPU for creators with a massive 48 GB GDDR6 memory buffer.

With dedicated RT Cores and improved CUDA performance, NVIDIA claims the RTX A6000 will deliver up to 2X better performance than current renderers.

Its second-generation RT Cores add hardware acceleration for ray-traced motion blur rendering, offering up to 7X faster performance than the last generation.

Its third-generation Tensor Cores provides up to 5X the training throughput over the previous generation. In addition, hardware support for structural sparsity doubles the throughput for inferencing.

The NVIDIA RTX A6000 also comes with the PCI Express 4.0 interface, doubling the transfer rate between the GPU and the PC.

 

NVIDIA RTX A6000 : Specifications

Specifications NVIDIA RTX A6000
GPU GA102
CUDA Cores 10,752
TMUs 336
Tensor Cores 336
RT Cores 84
ROPs 112
Base Clock 1.455 GHz
Boost Clock 1.86 GHz
Max. Texture Rate 625 GT/s
Max. Pixel Rate 208 GT/s
Graphics Memory GDDR6 with ECC
Memory Size 48 GB
Memory Speed 16 Gbps
Memory Speed 384-bit
Memory Bandwidth 768 GB/s
Display Interface 4 x DisplayPort 1.4
Graphics Interface PCI Express Gen 4 x16
NVLink 2-way
Form Factor Dual Slot
Size 4.4-inch high
10.5-inch wide
Power Consumption 300 W max.

 

NVIDIA RTX A6000 : Availability

The RTX A6000 will be available through NVIDIA sales channels starting in mid-December 2020, and through their OEM partners early 2021.

 

NVIDIA Omniverse : Powered By Ampere!

Together with the RTX A6000, NVIDIA also announced Omniverse – their new RTX-based simulation, collaboration and rendering platform for 3D workflows.

NVIDIA Omniverse users can collaborate on their 3D workflows live between applications, without imports and exports, and then render them using NVIDIA RTX.

Even though their Marbles At Night demo above highlights the performance of the RTX A6000, Omniverse will work on all NVIDIA RTX hardware, including NVIDIA Studio laptops and RTX-powered workstations and servers.

You will be able to sign up later in Q4 2020 for the open beta.

 

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Quake II RTX : What NVIDIA Changed In New Version 1.2!

NVIDIA just released Quake II RTX version 1.2, which delivers greatly improved image quality and new graphics options over version 1.1.

In this article, we will share with you what they improved, as well as 13 image comparisons of Quake II RTX 1.2 versus Quake II RTX 1.1!

 

What Is Quake II RTX?

Quake II RTX is a FREE ray-traced remastering of the 1997 classic game – Quake II. It is fully ray-traced, and includes 3 levels of the original shareware distribution.

Quake II RTX builds on the work of Christoph Schied and the team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, who added ray tracing to Quake II to create Q2VKPT (in turn building upon the Q2PRO code base).

NVIDIA introduced new path-traced visual effects, has improved texturing, and has made dozens of other changes and improvements, resulting in an experience that rivals games created today, and pushes your RTX hardware to the limit.

Recommended : How To Enable NVIDIA NULL For G-SYNC Monitors Correctly!

 

What’s Improved In Quake II RTX 1.2?

Quake II RTX version 1.2 sounds like a minor update to version 1.1, but it is actually a major update with a whole lot of graphics improvements, including :

  • Over 400 textures updated  to improve overall image quality in the game.
  • Water has improved, with the rendering of underwater god rays, and the display of god rays in reflections and refractions. This improves the realism and illumination of surrounding detail.
  • Real-time ray-traced graphics are shown on security monitors and other displays, improving scene detail and immersion.
  • Recursive reflections (reflections reflected on other reflections) are rendered on select surfaces, creating a hall of mirrors effect.
  • The rendering of glass has been improved, along with the rendering of reflections, refractions and god rays through glass. We’ve also introduced a new optional setting that further improves the quality of glass rendering.
  • Numerous changes and improvements to denoising and other rendering features, improving image quality in all levels, and greatly improving quality in certain scenes.

Recommended : Learn How To Add ReShade Filters To GeForce Experience!

NVIDIA also introduced new graphics options and toggles :

  • Resolution Scaling Options : there are now options to enable dynamic resolution scaling – the game will try to keep the target frame rate by adjusting the scale between minimum and maximum.
    By default, the option will try to keep your gameplay at 60 FPS by scaling between 50% and 100% resolution scaling. If your frame rate is faster than 60 FPS at 100%, it will not increase the scale further, so if you see you have a ton of extra performance, increase the “Maximum Scale”
  • Reflection and Refraction Depth : configure the number of allowed reflection or refraction bounces, which most prominently affects the recursive reflections demonstrated earlier
  • Temporal Anti-Aliasing : enable or disable our post-process anti-aliasing
  • Security Cameras : enable security camera monitors to display real-time gameplay, as shown earlier
  • Thick Glass Refraction : experimental option that renders more physically accurate representations of thick glass, with internal reflection and refraction

 

Quake II RTX 1.2 : How To Get It?

If you have Quake II RTX on Steam, it will automatically install the version 1.2 update.

If you have a standalone Windows or Linux installation, download the update here.

Recommended : NVIDIA Image Sharpening For DirectX, Vulkan + OpenGL

 

Quake II RTX 1.2 vs 1.1 Comparison

First and foremost, NVIDIA updated over 400 textures to improve image quality, and have improved the rendering of metals, which together significantly enhance the look of many levels and areas.

Water has been improved, with the rendering of underwater god rays, and the display of god rays in reflections and refractions, which can improve the realism and illumination of surrounding detail.

Real-time ray-traced graphics can now be shown on security monitors and other displays, improving scene detail and immersion.

Recursive reflections (reflections reflected in other reflections) are now rendered on select surfaces, creating a hall of mirrors effect.

The rendering of glass has been improved, along with the rendering of reflections, refractions and god rays through glass. NVIDIA also introduced a new optional Thick Glass setting that further improves the quality of glass rendering.

NVIDIA also made numerous changes and improvements to denoising and other rendering features, improving image quality in all levels, and greatly improving quality in certain scenes.

Here are additional screenshot comparisons of Quake II RTX version 1.2 vs 1.1.

 

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Red Dead Redemption 2 : Use These AMD + NVIDIA Drivers!

Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC is out, and both AMD and NVIDIA have new drivers to deliver Day 1 support!

This is important, because RDR2 apparently refuses to run properly with older drivers. So make sure you use these AMD and NVIDIA drivers for Red Dead Redemption 2!

 

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 was one of the best selling games in 2018, and the PC edition with enhanced graphics, uncapped frame rates, new content and a raft of enhancements has just been released!

Here are some online purchase options for PS4 and Xbox One :

Here are the online purchase options for PC :

We will have more PC purchase links up shortly.

 

Red Dead Redemption 2 Issues

Once it was unlocked for the PC, gamers immediately encountered issues with Red Dead Redemption 2.

The most common problems – the launcher not initialising, or the game crashing with the vacuous error message

Red Dead Redemption 2 Exited Unexpectedly

The solution? Update your graphics driver, which was what we have been trying to tell you guys for a whole day now! 😀

 

AMD Day 1 Driver For Red Dead Redemption 2

AMD just released Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.11.1 to support Red Dead Redemption 2, as well as new Vulkan Extension Support and a slew of other fixes :

New Game Support

  • Red Dead Redemption 2

New Vulkan Extensions

  • VK_KHR_timeline_semaphore
  • VK_KHR_shader_clock
  • VK_KHR_shader_subgroup_extended_types
  • VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
  • VK_KHR_spirv_1_4
  • VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control
  • Clustered Subgroup Operations

Fixed Issues

  • Some users may be unable to connect their Twitch account through the Connect page in Radeon Settings for live streaming.
  • The Outer Worlds may sometimes experience an application crash when opening the characters inventory screen.
  • The Outer Worlds may experience character models being rendered incorrectly on the inventory screen.
  • Frame Rate may cap or remain limited to 60 fps in some Vulkan API games.
  • OBS streaming may experience heavy frame drops when using AMF encoding

Download Links

 

NVIDIA Day 1 Driver For Red Dead Redemption 2

NVIDIA just released their Game Ready 441.12 driver, which not only supports Red Dead Redemption 2, but also new optimisations for Need for Speed Heat and Borderlands 3.

NVIDIA also shared their recommended graphics cards that will deliver 60+ fps in Red Dead Redemption 2 :

It also adds G-SYNC support for the LG B9, C9 and E9 4K OLED TVs.

Download Links

 

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NVIDIA ACE vs NVIDIA RTX Studio Laptops Comparison

Now that NVIDIA has announced the ACE reference design for creator laptops, people are wondering – is it the same thing as their RTX Studio programme? Or something completely different?

Let us explain and compare both the NVIDIA ACE reference design, and the NVIDIA RTX Studio programme – both which are targeted at creator laptops!

 

NVIDIA RTX Studio Laptops

NVIDIA RTX Studio is basically a branding programme. It does not offer any special hardware above and beyond what is already available in the market. The first laptops were unveiled at Computex 2019.

For a creator laptop design to qualify for the programme and branding, it just needs to meet these requirements :

GPU : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 or higher

CPU : Intel Core i7 (H-series) or equivalent, or higher

RAM : 16 GB RAM or more

SSD : 512 GB SSD or bigger

Display : 1080p or 4K display resolution

 

NVIDIA RTX Studio Advantage

Beyond the branding advantages for NVIDIA’s brand partners, qualifying laptops will be able to use NVIDIA Studio Drivers.

What’s the difference between NVIDIA Game-Ready and NVIDIA Studio drivers?

According to NVIDIA, the Studio drivers are optimised for Adobe Creative Cloud applications, and support ray-traced rendering of large 3D models.

 

The NVIDIA ACE Reference Design For Creator Laptops

To make spur the development of high-end NVIDIA Studio creator laptops, NVIDIA just introduced their ACE reference design.

This reference design allows NVIDIA partners get their RTX Studio designs to market faster. They just have to customise it with CPU and storage options, as well as aesthetics, and they are ready to go!

In creating the ACE design, NVIDIA focused on delivering the most performance in a sleek 15-inch form factor, with a few key features :

  • a new cooler design based on two titanium vapour chambers
  • a 300 watt thermal design, with a 25 mm Z height target
  • enhanced NVIDIA Optimus technology
  • slim and compact power adaptor
  • professional-grade 4K 120 Hz display

Recommended : The NVIDIA ACE Design For Creator Laptops Explained!

 

NVIDIA ACE Laptops vs NVIDIA RTX Studio Laptops

Let’s summarise how the NVIDIA ACE reference design relates to the NVIDIA RTX Studio programme.

  • NVIDIA RTX Studio is a branding programme that promotes the use of GeForce RTX / Quadro RTX graphics in high-end desktops and laptops for creative professionals
  • NVIDIA RTX Studio only sets loose hardware requirements. NVIDIA partners are free to make their own design choices.
  • NVIDIA ACE is a reference hardware design, with specific hardware requirements.

Think of NVIDIA ACE as a subset of the RTX Studio programme. It’s an optional reference design that brands can use to quickly create and certify a high-end RTX Studio laptop.

You can see that in this slide announcing 12 new RTX Studio laptops and desktops.

Of the 12 RTX Studio laptops and desktops, only one used the NVIDIA ACE reference design. Yes, it’s the one they highlighted in bright green – the ASUS ProArt StudioBook One.

 

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The NVIDIA ACE Design For Creator Laptops Explained!

At IFA 2019, NVIDIA unveiled their ACE reference design for creator laptops, as part of their RTX Studio initiative.

With NVIDIA’s help, we will explain what the new NVIDIA ACE reference design is all about, and how it relates to RTX Studio!

 

The NVIDIA ACE Reference Design For Creator Laptops

NVIDIA introduced the first RTX Studio laptops at Computex 2019 – basically high-end creator laptops built around their Quadro RTX GPUs using the Max-Q Design philosophy.

To spur the development of NVIDIA Studio creator laptops, NVIDIA is now introducing the ACE reference design.

This reference design allows NVIDIA partners get their RTX Studio designs to market faster. They just have to customise it with CPU and storage options, as well as aesthetics, and they are ready to go!

In creating the ACE design, NVIDIA focused on delivering the most performance in a sleek 15-inch form factor.

The NVIDIA ACE reference design has a few key features :

NVIDIA ACE Thermal Design

  • The CPU and GPU are located behind the display
  • It uses two ultra-thin titanium vapour chambers to keep the CPU and GPU cool
  • It is capable of cooling 300 watts of thermal output, while maintaining a chassis Z height of 25 mm
  • It will keep the chassis at ambient skin temperature, with the keyboard cool to the touch

NVIDIA ACE Power Innovations

  • It will feature enhanced NVIDIA Optimus technology, that automatically switches between discrete and integrated graphics, depending on the workload
  • It will come with a slim 300 watt power adaptor that is half the size of traditional power adaptors

Professional-Grade Display

The ACE reference design will feature a professional-grade 4K 120 Hz display, with these specifications :

  • 100% Adobe RGB / 97% DCI-P3 colour gamut
  • Delta E < 1 colour accuracy
  • PANTONE-validated and factory-calibrated

 

The First NVIDIA ACE Laptop – ASUS ProArt StudioBook One

The first creator laptop to use the new ACE reference design is the ASUS ProArt StudioBook One.

It will be powered by the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 discrete graphics, with these specifications :

  • 4608 CUDA cores, 576 Tensor cores, 72 RT cores
  • 24 GB GDDR6 memory with 672 GB/s bandwidth
  • 11 Gigarays per second, 14.9 TFLOPS, 119.4 TOPS of performance

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 GPU alone has a maximum graphics power of 250 watts!

 

NVIDIA ACE Performance

NVIDIA ACE is designed to deliver desktop-class performance in a mobile form factor.

Take a look at this comparison of the ASUS ProArt StudioBook One creator laptop, pitted against a desktop workstation with RTX 6000 graphics.

From what NVIDIA tells us – the ACE design will deliver graphics performance within 10% of their desktop equivalent.

 

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Here Are The CHEAPEST RTX Super Deals In Malaysia!

Prices of NVIDIA RTX Super cards are currently high in Malaysia, probably due to high demand. To help you get the best prices possible, here are the CHEAPEST deals for the RTX Super cards!

 

NVIDIA RTX SUPER – A Quick Review!

NVIDIA announced three RTX Super models, two of which replaces existing GeForce RTX models :

The GeForce RTX 2060 survives to remain the cheapest RTX card you can buy, while the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti remains the top-of-the-line RTX graphics card that money can buy.

Recommended : NVIDIA GeForce RTX SUPER : Everything You Need To Know!

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER (US | UK | MY) has an NVIDIA TU106 GPU with 136 TMUs and 64 ROPS, delivering a peak output of 224 GT/s and 106 GP/s.

Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at a speed of 1750 MHz, giving it a peak memory bandwidth of 448 GB/s.

Recommended : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER Founders Edition Review!

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER (US | UK | MY) has an NVIDIA TU104 GPU with 160 TMUs and 64 ROPS, delivering a peak output of 283 GT/s and 113 GP/s.

Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at a speed of 1750 MHz, giving it a peak memory bandwidth of 448 GB/s.

Recommended : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Founders Edition Review!

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (US | UK | MY) has the full NVIDIA TU104 GPU with 192 TMUs and 64 ROPS, delivering a peak output of 349 GT/s and 116 GP/s.

Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at a higher speed speed of 1937.5 MHz, giving it a peak memory bandwidth of 496 GB/s.

Recommended : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Founders Edition Review!

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The CHEAPEST RTX 2060 Super Deals In Malaysia!

Here are the cheapest RTX 2060 SUPER deals we found, as of 21 August 2019.

GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER Models Lazada Shopee
ASUS DUAL RTX 2060 SUPER EVO OC
RM 2,050 RM 2,020 | RM 2,049
ASUS ROG Strix RTX 2060 SUPER OC
RM 2,200 RM 2,188 | RM 2,199
GALAX RTX 2060 SUPER EX
RM 1,888 RM 1,883 | RM 1,888
GIGABYTE AORUS RTX 2060 SUPER
RM 2,299 RM 2,199
GIGABYTE RTX 2060 SUPER Gaming OC
RM 2,179 RM 2,043
GIGABYTE RTX 2060 SUPER Windforce OC
RM 2,089 RM 1,935 | RM 1,939
MSI RTX 2060 SUPER Ventus OC
RM 1,890 RM 1,889 | RM 1,889
MSI RTX 2060 SUPER Gaming X
RM 1,989 RM 1,979 | RM 1,989
MSI RTX 2060 SUPER Armor OC
RM 1,889 RM 1,879
ZOTAC RTX 2060 SUPER AMP Extreme
RM 2,089 RM 2,025 | RM 2,029
ZOTAC RTX 2060 SUPER Mini
RM 1,849 RM 1,819 | RM 1,829
ZOTAC RTX 2060 SUPER Twin Fan RM 1,899 RM 1,936.98

 

The CHEAPEST RTX 2070 Super Deals In Malaysia!

Here are the cheapest RTX 2070 SUPER deals we found, as of 21 August 2019.

GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Models Lazada Shopee
ASUS TURBO RTX 2070 SUPER EVO OC RM 2,750 RM 2,730
ASUS ROG Strix RTX 2070 SUPER Advanced RM 2,999 RM 2,999
GALAX RTX 2070 SUPER EX
RM 2,348 RM 2,343
GIGABYTE AORUS RTX 2070 SUPER
RM 2,929 RM 2,747 | RM 2,747
GIGABYTE RTX 2070 SUPER Gaming OC White RM 2,699 RM 2,699
GIGABYTE RTX 2070 SUPER Gaming OC
RM 2,699 RM 2,519
GIGABYTE RTX 2070 SUPER Windforce OC
RM 2,559 RM 2,389
MSI RTX 2070 SUPER Ventus OC
RM 2,389 RM 2,379
MSI RTX 2070 SUPER Gaming X Trio
RM 2,590 RM 2,590
ZOTAC RTX 2070 SUPER AMP Extreme RM 2,599 RM 2,498 | RM 2,499
ZOTAC RTX 2070 SUPER AMP
RM 2,379 RM 2,399
ZOTAC RTX 2070 SUPER Twin Fan RM 2,369 RM 2,329 | RM 2,334

 

The CHEAPEST RTX 2080 Super Deals In Malaysia!

Here are the cheapest RTX 2080 SUPER deals we found, as of 21 August 2019.

GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Models Lazada Shopee
ASUS ROG Strix RTX 2080 SUPER Advanced OC RM 3,999 RM 3,983
ASUS DUAL RTX 2080 SUPER EVO OC RM 3,750 RM 3,720
GALAX RTX 2080 SUPER EX
RM 3,288 RM 3,259
GIGABYTE AORUS RTX 2080 SUPER
RM 3,939 RM 3,900 | RM 3,900
GIGABYTE RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming OC
RM 3,699 RM 3,470 | RM 3,470
MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio RM 3,790 RM 3,790
ZOTAC RTX 2080 SUPER AMP Extreme RM 3,599 RM 3,499
ZOTAC RTX 2080 SUPER AMP
RM 3,399 RM 3,319
ZOTAC RTX 2080 SUPER Twin Fan RM 4,089.59 NA

 

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The Two Colonels DLC for Metro Exodus Details Confirmed!

4A Games just launched The Two Colonels DLC for Metro Exodus at Gamescom 2019, and it’s now available for purchase!

Here is everything you need to know about this new Metro Exodus DLC, including the game trailer, and the first six screenshots, with and without ray tracing enabled!

 

The Two Colonels DLC for Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus is a first-person shooter game set in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the former Russian Federation.

Playing Artyom, you have to flee Moscow Metro to the Far East on the locomotive Aurora. Wielding a variety of hand-made weapons, you must battle mutated creatures sand hostile humans along the way.

The Two Colonels DLC takes place in the tunnels of the Novosibirsk Metro, before the arrival of the Aurora crew…

Colonel Miller retraces the steps Colonel Khlebnikov took in his final days, as he made his way back to his son Kirill a year ago, on New Year’s Eve.

You will experience those harrowing days, where the radiation is getting worse and mutant attacks are on the rise. It will reveal the horrors that took place in the doomed station.

The DLC will also add a new weapon – the flamethrower, to help you in your quest!

 

The Two Colonels DLC Game Trailer

4A Games released this game trailer for The Two Colonels DLC at Gamescom 2019.

 

The Two Colonels DLC Ray Tracing Showcase

Metro Exodus already makes use of real-time ray tracing in the form of global illumination.

The Two Colonels DLC will add the ray-traced global illumination with emissive lighting to the game.

In addition, global illumination will also be applied to area lights, point lights and emissive lights.

Here are the first six screenshots from the DLC, with and without ray tracing enabled.

 

The Two Colonels DLC Price + Availability

The Two Colonels DLC is part of a two-story DLC expansion plan, and is available starting 20 August 2019.

The second DLC, Sam’s Story, is slated for release in early 2020. It will follow the adventures of a US Marine trying to make it home from the Moscow embassy, where he was serving when the bombs fell.

You can pre-purchase both DLCs using the Metro Exodus Expansion Pass for $19.99 / ~£16.50 / ~A$29.99 / ~RM 83.50.

The Two Colonels DLS is available separately for $7.99 on the Epic Games Store and Steam.

 

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Minecraft Ray Tracing : Everything You Need To Know!

Microsoft and NVIDIA just announced at Gamescom 2019 that Minecraft will get a FREE real-time ray tracing upgrade!

Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming Minecraft ray tracing upgrade – how it works, the official trailers, and comparisons!

 

Minecraft Gets FREE Ray Tracing Upgrade!

Mojang will soon release a free update for the Windows 10 version of Minecraft, which adds real-time ray tracing support using Microsoft DXR.

Players will get to enjoy photorealistic renders of their worlds, with more realistic shadows, lighting and colours… without resorting to complicated mods.

 

How Ray Tracing Will Work In Minecraft

Working with NVIDIA, Mojang is adding a form of real-time ray tracing called path tracing to Minecraft.

Path tracing simulates the way light travels throughout a scene, and offers a unified lighting model that replaces the different lighting effects that have traditionally been implemented using rasterised or hybrid renderers.

Here are some of the traditional lighting effects that path tracing in Minecraft will replace :

  • Direct lighting from the sun, sky and various light sources, including emissive surfaces such as glowstone and lava
  • Realistic hard and soft shadows depending on the size, shape and distance of the light source
  • Per-pixel emissive lighting
  • Indirect diffuse illumination (diffuse global illumination)
  • Indirect specular illumination (reflections)
  • Transparent materials with reflection, refraction and scattering (stained glass, water, ice)
  • Atmospheric scattering and density (volumetric fog, light shafts, realistic sky)

There is one caveat though – you will need a GeForce RTX graphics card to run Minecraft with real-time ray tracing. Like the new GeForce RTX SUPER cards.

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Minecraft Ray Tracing Comparisons

 

Minecraft Ray Tracing Availability

Mojang and NVIDIA did not give an exact date, only that the ray tracing upgrade will be available in 2020.

However, attendees at the special NVIDIA Gamescon 2019 event will be able to play-test the beta version for themselves, and even capture and share their game play!

 

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Watch Dogs : Legion – Everything You Need To Know!

After wowing everyone at E3, Ubisoft just showcased the real-time ray tracing capabilities of Watch Dogs : Legion at Gamescom 2019!

Here is our sneak peek of Watch Dogs : Legion, including the new ray tracing game trailer and showcase!

 

Watch Dogs : Legion

The third instalment of the Watch Dogs franchise, Legion is set in post-Brexit London full of organised crime and pervasive surveillance.

There is no longer a central protagonist. Instead, you can recruit anyone… literally, ANYONE, from the streets and play that character.

Customise Your Team!

You can assemble a team of up to 20 DedSec members, assigning each of them to one of three distinct classes – Enforcer, Infiltrator or Hacker – each with a unique skill set.

Enforcers – can use heavier weapons like assault rifles, and have a shock sticky mine skill!

Infiltrators – can cloak themselves or knock-out enemies by hacking their augmented-reality implants!

Hackers – have access to the Spider Bot, and can hijack military drones!

Take your new operatives out on missions to level up, and gain perks that can be used to modify their class-specific skills!

Fight To Take Back London!

Watch Dogs : Legion also boasts an improved melee system with punches, grapples and dodges. Not only are operatives with melee-boosting traits now more valuable, the whole game can be completed using only melee attacks!

That’s because enemies will only escalate to match your attacks – if you don’t use your guns, enemies won’t use theirs.

The cover-shooting system has also been improved, with a number of non-lethal guns and four non-lethal ammo types – shock, concussion, gas and tranquilliser.

This is important because when your operatives die, they are gone for good. Before they die though, you will get a chance to decide whether to keep fighting (to the death) or surrender.

Get the people of London to join the DedSec resistance and take back their city when Watch Dogs : Legion launches on March 6, 2019!

 

Watch Dogs : Legion Will Use Real-Time Ray Tracing!

Ubisoft and NVIDIA also jointly announced that the GeForce RTX will be the official graphics platform for Watch Dogs Legion.

This collaboration means that Legion will be utilise real-time ray tracing and other NVIDIA gaming technologies to deliver ultra-realistic visual effects.

Recommended : NVIDIA Ray Tracing Techniques – Showcase + Explanation!

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The First Watch Dogs : Legion Ray Tracing Game Trailers!

NVIDIA shared with us two Legion game trailers to show off the photo-realistic, real-time ray traced reflections.

In these ray-traced footage, they replaced cube maps and screen space reflections, allowing windows, water puddles, cars and other reflective surfaces to accurately reflect their surroundings.

 

Watch Dogs : Legion Ray Tracing Showcase

Here are the first two official Watch Dogs : Legion ray tracing screenshots for our comparison!

 

Watch Dogs : Legion Price + Availability

This third instalment of the Watch Dogs series will be released on 6 March 2020, with these pre-order prices :

Edition Platform US UK AU
Standard Edition PC / PS4 / Xbox One $59.99 £49.99 A$89.95
Gold Edition PC / PS4 / Xbox One $99.99 £83.99 A$149.95
Ultimate Edition PC only $119.99 £99.99 A$179.95
Collector Edition PC / PS4 / Xbox One $189.99 £149.99 A$279.95

 

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NVIDIA Gamescom 2019 : Ray Tracing Trailers + Showcase!

It was a ray tracing galore at Gamescom 2019, where NVIDIA revealed that a whopping NINE new games will feature real-time ray tracing!

Here is everything you need to know about the 9 new or upcoming games that will feature real-time ray tracing, including their trailers and comparisons!

 

NVIDIA @ Gamescom 2019 : Ray Tracing Galore!

Real-time ray tracing was the buzz term at Gamescom 2019, thanks to NVIDIA who revealed a whopping NINE new games that will introduce NVIDIA real-time ray tracing!

 

Gamescom 2019 Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase Of Minecraft!

Once Mojang releases the Minecraft ray tracing update, players will get to enjoy photorealistic renders of their worlds, with more realistic shadows, lighting and colours… without resorting to complicated mods.

Recommended : Minecraft Ray Tracing : Everything You Need To Know!

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Gamescom 2019 Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase Of Control

Remedy will be using three NVIDIA real-time ray tracing effects in Control :

  • Ray-Traced Translucent Reflections
  • Ray-Traced Indirect Diffuse Lighting
  • Ray-Traced Contact Shadows

Recommended : Control : What You Need To Game With Ray-Traced Graphics!

Next Page > Gamescom 2019 Trailer + Showcase (SYNCED : Off-Planet | The Two Colonels DLC)

 

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Gamescom 2019 Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase Of SYNCED : Off-Planet!

Developed by Tencent Next Studios, SYNCED : Off-Planet is a brand-new PvPvE franchise that has players fighting each other, while surviving over a thousand Nano Zombies!

It will use NVIDIA RTX real-time ray tracing technology to deliver photo-realistic image quality with ray-traced reflections and shadows.

Lakes, puddles, wet surfaces, shiny surfaces and numerous other objects and game elements will naturally reflect surrounding detail.

And all shadows will be upgraded with realistic contact hardening and softening, as you see in the real-world.

Recommended : SYNCED : Off-Planet Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase!

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Gamescom 2019 Ray Tracing Showcase Of The Two Colonels DLC

Metro Exodus already makes use of real-time ray tracing in the form of global illumination.

The Two Colonels DLC will add the ray-traced global illumination with emissive lighting to the game.

In addition, global illumination will also be applied to area lights, point lights and emissive lights.

Recommended : The Two Colonels DLC for Metro Exodus – First Screenshots!

Here are the first six screenshots from the DLC, with and without ray tracing enabled.

Next Page > Gamescom 2019 Trailer + Showcase (Wolfenstein : Youngblood | Bloodlines 2)

 

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Gamescom 2019 Ray Tracing Showcase Of Wolfenstein : Youngblood

Wolfenstein : Youngblood launched without real-time ray tracing support, but that will soon change.

Bethesda Softworks and MachineGames are preparing a major update that will enhance the game with ray-traced reflections and ray-traced ambient occlusion shadowing!

Ray-Traced Reflections

Ray-Traced Reflections will accurately simulate the way light reflects on glossy and metal surfaces by tracing a single bounce of reflection rays across the scene.

Materials affected include smooth, natural mirrors, like windows and water, but also rougher surfaces like brushed metal.

Ambient Occlusion

Ambient Occlusion adds contact shadows where two surfaces or objects meet, and where an object blocks light from reaching another nearby game element.

Without Ambient Occlusion, scenes look flat and unrealistic, and objects appear as if they are floating.

Here are two screenshot comparisons to demonstrate the effect of real-time ray tracing in Wolfenstein : Youngblood!

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Gamescom 2019 Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase Of Bloodlines 2

Paradox announced their partnership with NVIDIA to introduce real-time ray tracing to Vampire : The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.

In addition, they will also introduce DLSS, which would allow gamers to use higher resolutions and image quality, while enjoying fast and smooth frame rates.

Recommended : Vampire Bloodlines 2 – First Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase!

Next Page > Gamescom 2019 Trailer + Showcase (Watch Dogs : Legion | CoD : Modern Warfare | Dying Light 2)

 

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Gamescom 2019 Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase Of Watch Dogs : Legion

The third instalment of the Watch Dogs franchise, Legion is set in post-Brexit London full of organised crime and pervasive surveillance.

There is no longer a central protagonist. Instead, you can recruit anyone… literally, ANYONE, from the streets and play that character.

At E3, Ubisoft and NVIDIA announced that Watch Dogs : Legion will be utilise real-time ray tracing and other NVIDIA gaming technologies to deliver ultra-realistic visual effects.

Real-time ray-traced reflections will replace cube maps and screen space reflections, allowing windows, water puddles, cars and other reflective surfaces to accurately reflect their surroundings.

Recommended : Watch Dogs : Legion Sneak Peek + Ray Tracing Showcase!

 

Gamescom 2019 Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase Of Call of Duty : Modern Warfare

In June 2019, Activision and Infinity Ward announced their partnership with NVIDIA to introduce real-time ray tracing, NVIDIA Adaptive Shading, and other NVIDIA gaming technologies in Call of Duty : Modern Warfare.

Recommended : Call of Duty : Modern Warfare Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase!

 

Gamescom 2019 Ray Tracing Showcase Of Dying Light 2

NVIDIA and Techland declined to reveal much, only that Dying Light 2 will feature real-time ray tracing. They showed off this single screenshot comparison.

 

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Control : What You Need To Game With Ray-Traced Graphics!

Control, the action adventure game, is almost here! But are you ready to play Control with ray-traced graphics?

Here is our guide on ray tracing in Control, and what you need to enjoy it. We will also share with you the first ray-traced Control game trailer and showcase!

 

Control Is Almost Here!

Developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by 505 Games, Control is one of the two games bundled with every NVIDIA RTX Super graphics card.

You play Jesse Faden, the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC) – a secret U.S. government agency that studies and contains phenomena which violate the laws of reality.

Set inside the shape-shifting Oldest House, the featureless skyscraper HQ of the FBC in New York, you must battle an otherworldly threat to regain control and prevent the public from learning of the supernatural.

 

The First Ray-Traced Control Gameplay Trailer!

Here is the first ray-traced Control gameplay trailer that Remedy and NVIDIA unveiled at Gamescom 2019!

 

The Ray Tracing Effects In Control

NVIDIA revealed that Remedy will be using three high-fidelity real-time ray tracing effects in Control :

Ray-Traced Translucent Reflections

Control is the first game to feature ray-traced translucent reflections.

Unlike screen space techniques which can only reflect what’s on screen , ray-traced reflections incorporate the entire scene around the character, and can accurately represent objects outside the camera view, or facing away from the camera.

Within the Control game, the reflections bounce off of opaque materials like brushed metal, but more importantly, off of translucent materials like windows so we can see what is behind the glass too.

Ray-Traced Indirect Diffuse Lighting

Indirect diffuse lighting is light bouncing between non-glossy surfaces, which gives the scene a more realistic lighting effect.

Ray-traced indirect diffuse lighting in Control is composed of two parts :

  • For nearby surfaces, Control will trace a ray to evaluate one bounce of real-time (dynamic) diffuse reflection.
  • If no nearby surfaces are found, Control will use the ray information instead to sample pre-computed global illumination information at a more optimal location.

The end result is a more natural lighting feel, with objects that sit better in the scene.

Ray-Traced Contact Shadows

This is a hybrid technique where Control traces shadow rays to add accurate shadowing on any surface that is close to the shadow caster.

This enhances surface and contact details, and fixes problems associated with traditional shadow mapping techniques like aliasing, freckling and disconnected shadows.

Further away from the shadow caster, we blend with traditional rasterized soft shadows using shadow maps.

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Control : Ray Tracing System Requirements

Remedy is recommending the following system requirements if you wish to turn on all three ray tracing features in Control :

CPU : Intel Core i5-7600K / AMD Ryzen 5 1600X, or better
GPU : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, or better
RAM : 16 GB
OS : Windows 10 64-bit

If you wish to turn on all three ray tracing features, with maxed-out graphics, Remedy recommends the following system requirements :

CPU : Intel Core i5-8600K / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, or better
GPU : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, or better
RAM : 16 GB
OS : Windows 10 64-bit

Control will be released on 27 August 2019, so you will soon be able to enjoy it with ray-traced graphics!

 

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Call of Duty : Modern Warfare Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase!

Call of Duty : Modern Warfare is coming soon! To slake your thirst for updates on this hotly-anticipated game, here are the first ray tracing game trailer and showcase!

 

Call of Duty : Modern Warfare

Call of Duty : Modern Warfare is the 16th instalment of the Call of Duty series of first-person shooter games.

Slated for released on 25 October 2019, it will feature a modern setting, and the first CoD title to support cross-platform multiplayer capability!

 

Call of Duty : Modern Warfare – First Ray Tracing Trailer!

In June 2019, Activision and Infinity Ward announced their partnership with NVIDIA to introduce real-time ray tracing, NVIDIA Adaptive Shading, and other NVIDIA gaming technologies in Call of Duty : Modern Warfare.

Check out the first ray-traced Modern Warfare gameplay released by Activision and NVIDIA at Gamescom 2019!

 

Call of Duty : Modern Warfare Ray Tracing Showcase

Here are the first official Call of Duty : Modern Warfare ray tracing screenshots and comparisons!

 

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Vampire Bloodlines 2 – First Ray Tracing Trailer + Showcase!

Vampire : The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is set for release next year, but we can now share with you the first ray tracing trailer and showcase!

 

Vampire : The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

Vampire : The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to the 2004 vampire-themed RPG, that is slated to be released in April 2020.

At Gamescom 2019, Paradox announced their partnership with NVIDIA to introduce real-time ray tracing to Vampire : The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.

In addition, they will also introduce DLSS, which would allow gamers to use higher resolutions and image quality, while enjoying fast and smooth frame rates.

 

The First Bloodlines 2 Ray Tracing Trailer

This is the first Bloodlines 2 ray tracing trailer, unveiled at Gamescom 2019 by Paradox and NVIDIA.

According to NVIDIA, all suitable surfaces will accurately reflect surrounding detail in real-time. The look of each reflection is determined by the properties of the material on the affected object or surface.

In the case of windows, reflections have full transparency, enabling you to see detail beyond the glass, as well as the reflection itself, as in the real world.

Here’s the extended Bloodlines 2 game trailer, without real-time ray tracing…

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Bloodlines 2 Ray Tracing Showcase

Here are the first official Vampire : The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 ray tracing screenshots and comparisons!

 

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NVIDIA Ray Tracing Techniques – Showcase + Explanation!

NVIDIA just briefed us on their ray tracing methods, with four animations to better demonstrate them. Join us for a primer on how these ray tracing techniques can greatly enhance your gaming experience!

 

NVIDIA @ GDC 2019 – Real-Time Ray Tracing, DXR + More!

Ever since NVIDIA introduced real-time ray tracing with their GeForce RTX graphics cards, they have working hard to promote real-time ray tracing.

Just last month, they announced these exciting ray tracing news at GDC 2019 :

  • Unreal Engine and Unity will support real-time ray tracing features!
  • GeForce GTX graphics cards will support real-time ray tracing!
  • They introduced GameWorks RTX – a comprehensive set of tools and rendering techniques to help game developers add real-time ray tracing to their games.
  • New games that showcase real-time ray tracing, like Dragonhound and Quake II RTX

 

NVIDIA Ray Tracing Techniques Explained!

First, we have Tony Tamasi (Vice President of NVIDIA Technical Marketing) explaining the ray tracing methods that NVIDIA uses.

They also shared four animations with us, which we used to create this ray tracing showcase :

 

GeForce GTX Now Supports Ray Tracing!

At GDC 2019, NVIDIA announced that they would be adding ray tracing support to Pascal-based GeForce GTX graphics cards.

Today, that promise has been realised with the introduction of a new NVIDIA Game Ready Driver!

This new driver allows GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or higher GPUs to execute ray-tracing instructions on traditional shader cores, albeit at lower RT quality settings and resolutions.

They also announced that these GeForce GPUs are now DXR-capable :

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And laptops with equivalent Pascal and Turing-architecture GPUs!

 

NVIDIA Ray Tracing Presentation Slides

For those who want more information, here is the complete set of NVIDIA’s ray tracing presentation slides :

 

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NVIDIA RTX Real-Time Ray Tracing Technology Explained!

NVIDIA just announced the NVIDIA RTX real-time ray tracing technology at GDC 2018. It promises to bring real-time, cinematic-quality rendering to content creators and game developers. Find out what NVIDIA RTX is all about, and what it means to all of us!

 

The Holy Grail For Photorealism

Ray tracing is the gold standard for creating realistic, lifelike lighting, reflections and shadows. It adds a level of realism far beyond what is possible using traditional rendering techniques.

Real-time ray tracing replaces a majority of the rendering techniques used today, with realistic optical calculations that replicate the way light behaves in the real world. But until today, it has been too computationally-demanding to be practical for real-time, interactive gaming.

 

NVIDIA RTX Real-Time Ray Tracing Technology

NVIDIA RTX is a real-time ray tracing technology that promises to deliver real-time ray tracing with high frame rates and low latency.

It runs exclusively (at the moment) on the NVIDIA Volta GPUs. Applications that run on the newly-announced Microsoft DirectX Raytracing (DXR) API will support NVIDIA RTX when used with an NVIDIA Volta graphics card.

 

GameWorks For Ray Tracing

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NVIDIA also announced that the NVIDIA GameWorks SDK will include a ray tracing denoiser module. This suite of tools and resources will help developers increase realism and shorten product cycles for titles developed using the new Microsoft DXR API and NVIDIA RTX.

The upcoming GameWorks SDK — which will support Volta and future generation GPU architectures — enables ray-traced area shadows, ray-traced glossy reflections and ray-traced ambient occlusion.

With these capabilities, developers can create realistic, high-quality reflections that capture the scene around it and achieve physically accurate lighting and shadows.

 

Broad Industry Support

Industry leaders such as 4A Games, Epic, Remedy Entertainment and Unity featured NVIDIA RTX in their technology demonstrations at the Game Developers Conference 2018. They showed how real-time ray tracing can provide amazing, lifelike graphics in future games.

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