The static lighting effect would be effectively hard-coded to show reflections and shadows that could look nice, but it wasn’t the real deal. In the past, reflections and lighting effects were implemented and we could see them, but the truth is that those were part of an elaborate smoke and mirrors illusion. However, on closer inspection, even those hard-set in their beliefs had to admit that it brought visual refinements. They were somewhat accurate in their assessment that ray tracing would not bring a vast improvement in the looks department. Ray tracing wasn’t the only addition that NVIDIA included, but it was certainly the most hyped-up feature.Īt first, the more cynical PC hardware enthusiasts were skeptical about the idea and were quick to criticize and make memes mocking the technology as soon as it was announced. What You Get With RTX Ray Tracing Noticeable difference in Shadow of the Tomb Raider

NVIDIA also released the RTX 3090 at $1500 but, as that card compares favorably to the previous generation’s enthusiast-class $2500 Titan RTX, we should be more than pleased. Still, considering that the GTX 1080, the top-of-the-line GPU back in 2016, was priced at $600 and the flagship before that, the GTX 980 (the generation before the 1000 series) was just $550, this is still a sharp increase. There are also the mid-range RTX 3070 at $500 and RTX 3060 Ti at $400. With the release of the better-performing RTX 3080 at $700, we were finally able to enjoy a top-of-the-line performance at a more reasonable price. At the time, the best card available was the RTX 2080 Ti, which had an eye-watering price that kept away even the most loyal NVIDIA fans. The biggest source of apprehension toward a new GPU for NVIDIA’s latest generation of cards was the price. In fact, technology wasn’t the only thing being stretched to its limit. However, this performance comes at a cost. Related: GPU Hierarchy 2021 – Graphics Card Tier List However, we do have to admit that, this time around, AMD finally put up a solid fight against NVIDIA with their RX 6000 Series GPUs. Several years on, we’ve seen NVIDIA release RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 as some of the best-performing cards on the market. This market-shifting move was strengthened by NVIDIA’s decision to release the best representation of their innovative technology right away. These RTX graphics cards revolutionized the gaming world.Īlthough the concept of ray tracing had existed for a while before the actual announcement by NVIDIA, we hadn’t previously seen any real-time ray tracing from a single GPU. When NVIDIA introduced their GeForce RTX 2000 series to the world in 2018, the graphics card market was shaken to its core.

Best graphics card for the money