A few days ago, CD Projekt RED released a Ray Tracing Overdrive (Path Tracing) update for Cyberpunk 2077. As such, we decided to benchmark and compare it to No RT and Ray Tracing Psycho.
For these tests, we used an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 32GB of 6000MHz DDR5, and NVIDIA’s RTX 4090. We also used Windows 10 64-bit and a GeForce 531.41.
The reason for postponing this article was very simple. At first, we were comparing non-RT Psycho settings and not RT Ultra settings. When the screen area quality is set to Psycho, the performance drops. At native 4K, we averaged between 35 and 40 frames per second. And it was without any traces of ray tracing. Psycho’s screen space quality simply kills the frame rate. For comparison purposes, at native 4K/Non-RT Ultra we had 67-77fps. This is almost twice the performance. The funny thing is, it took me all day to figure that out. So yeah, stay away from Screen-Space Quality Psycho unless you’re using DLSS or FSR.
So, let’s start with some comparison shots. There are no RT Psycho screenshots on the left, RT Psycho screenshots in the middle, and RT Overdrive screenshots on the right. These screenshots show the improvements that RT Overdrive brings to the table. Pay attention to the additional shadows, as well as the improved lighting and ambient occlusion effects (especially in the last comparison).
At native resolution, our NVIDIA RTX 4090 is capable of running the non-RT version at a stable 60 FPS at all resolutions. With RT Psycho, we can get smooth 1080p and 1440p gaming experience. And as with Path Tracing, you can only get acceptable performance at 1080p.
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By enabling DLSS 3 quality (ultra high definition with frame generation), we can play RT Psycho at very high frame rates, even at 4K. RT Overdrive runs brilliantly at both 1080p and 1440p, however, there are some drops below 60fps in 4K. Also, the mouse cam seems sluggish (due to frame generation). If you want to game at 4K, we suggest dropping DLSS Super Resolution on Performance. Doing so will get you about 90fps on the RTX4090 with acceptable latency.
Cyberpunk 2077 Path Tracing gives us a glimpse into the future of video game graphics. It’s really amazing what CDPR and NVIDIA have been able to achieve. CP2077 is pushing the graphical boundaries of PC games, and is currently the new “Crysis” game!
John Papadopoulos
John is the founder and editor of DSOGaming. He is a fan of computer games and is a strong supporter of the mod and indie communities. Prior to creating DSOGaming, John worked on several gaming sites. Although he is an avid PC gamer, his gaming roots are on consoles. John loved – and still does – 16-bit consoles and considers the SNES to be one of the best consoles out there. However, the PC platform beat the consoles. This is mainly due to 3DFX technology and its proprietary 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John also wrote an advanced degree thesis on “The Evolution of PC Graphics Cards”.
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