Tests of Nvidia DLSS 2.0, RTX and other features for gamers

Graphics cards overview

Nvidia RTX 2000 graphics cards are slowly but surely approaching the end of their production cycle, and new models are expected in the near future. But that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer anymore, quite the opposite. Their main strengths, such as RTX and DLSS, have undergone several revisions, so let’s look at how well these technologies are doing and how they affect performance, whether positively or negatively.

A graphics card for everyone

Before we start the tests, we will first look at what we are actually going to test. Personally, I’m a fan of the top notch models and the best you can buy at a given moment, but most gamers don’t think that way and, especially, don’t have the budget. We conceived the test a little differently, and we will look at the representative of the mid-end in the form of the RTX 2060 Super, but also the high-end with the RTX 2080 Super, although we know that there is the RTX 2080 Ti as well. However, it has not received a refreshed „Super“ version and still has a significantly higher price tag than the tested 2080 Super.

Specifically, we will look at a pair of Asus graphics cards, namely the Dual RTX 2060 Super EVO V2 OC and the ROG Strix 2080 Super. The cards have a lot of differences but also a bunch of things in common. Let’s start with obvious differences and therefore their dimensions. Of course, the more powerful 2080 Super in the ROG Strix configuration is significantly longer and offers three fans, while the Dual 2060 Super has only two and is thus more compact. Hence it offers better compatibility with smaller cases, where the 30 cm long 2080 Super may be a problem. Surprisingly, however, both cards are almost equally thick with a difference of only 10 mm in favor of the 2060 Super.

Both graphics cards offer a new generation of axial fans with a round rim around the blades, allowing them to increase air pressure and direct it away from the card itself. Until recently, these fans have been the privilege of ROG products, now we see them in the more affordable Dual version. It is also gratifying that the 0 dB mode is available on both models, which means that if the GPU temperature does not exceed 55 °C, the fans will not rotate (the Quiet mode is required for the 2080 Super).

Both cards have a protective backplate which, again, was not common in mainstream models. There is also no lack of RGB backlighting with Aura Sync. The Dual cards offer just a decent stripe which can be seen from the side view, while the ROGs go full RGB “90s disco” with a backlight around the fans and logos on the backplate. Also, 100% automated production with Auto-Extreme technology is common here, which uses top standards in the production of graphics cards using automated production lines. Graphics cards are soldered in one step and also offer quality control so that each piece of the card meets the most strict requirements.

Quality of the produced graphics card is also verified in a 144-hour validation program, in which stress tests are performed in benchmarks such as 3D Mark, as well as in real games such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The goal, of course, is to ensure that the graphics card you buy works fully without any problems.

Indeed, the ROG 2080 Super is also equipped with other premium features, such as dual BIOS with Performance and Quiet modes, a MaxContact coldplate for a GPU die, a strengthened frame and connectors for fans, and RGB accessories in the front. There is also no doubt about the performance difference between the cards, which is expected given that they do not have the same GPUs. In this article, however, we are not going to focus on comparing the RTX 2060 Super and the 2080 Super, but on what technologies both graphics offer and what performance can be expected in specific conditions.

Before we start the tests, let’s have a brief look at the testing rig.

Enough said, let’s dive into RTX, DLSS and other features that both graphics cards offer.

Nvidia RTX 2000 graphics cards are slowly but surely approaching the end of their production cycle, and new models are expected in the near future. But that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer anymore, quite the opposite. Their main strengths, such as RTX or DLSS, have undergone several revisions, so let’s look at how well these technologies are doing and how they affect performance, whether positively or negatively.

Lighting, shadows and reflections like never before

Computer graphics is a complex term that consists of several parts. The long-term goal is to approach the so-called photorealism, i.e. computer graphics that will be indistinguishable from the real world. We are still a few years away from that, especially if we are talking about the gaming industry and not just some isolated scenes or technological demos. Shadows and lighting play a big role in this, adding depth and life to the image. Various methods such as maps, textures, baking and the like are used to display them.

In the professional industry, especially in cinematography, more advanced technology ray-tracing has been used for a long time, which in a very simplified way can be translated as a ray of light from a source – a lamp, the Sun and so on, which then passes through the scene and is reflected from objects in it. Exactly as it is in real life. So far, however, ray-tracing has not been rendered in real time, but rendering one frame for an animated film could take hours or even days. However, Nvidia with RTX graphics cards was able to bring real time ray-tracing to games where we need 60, 144 or even more fps to make the game smooth. This was unthinkable until recently, and that’s why there was so much noise around when it came to announcing RTX graphics cards. However, most gamers don’t realize what ray-tracing is, why it’s so computationally complex, and why the game suddenly goes to half fps when RTX is turned on. In this chapter we will therefore discuss the differences in a specific game and show how RTX behaves in practice and how to notice the differences between RTX on and off.

Control

We performed our tests in the game Control, which offers RTX support with very visible changes compared to the classic mode. We tested this in 1440p at High graphics and with ray-tracing settings. RTX off are images to the left/top, RTX on are to the right/bottom.

You can already see a big difference between RTX on and off in the first four images. The changes can be seen mainly on glossy surfaces, such as floors, but especially glass panels. With ray-tracing on, the reflections of objects that are, for example, around the corner, can really be seen. The lights and shadows that move with the camera and are not a fixed part of the texture also look more realistic. With RTX off, the developers tried to keep the image true and, if you’ve never seen ray-tracing, the game also looks great in the RTX off mode. However, once you turn on RTX, it’s a completely different cup of tea.

In the next four images, tiny, but still unmissable changes are visible after turning on RTX. The top two images look the same at first glance, but have a look at the picture on the wall to the left. In normal mode, it is matte, which is not really typical for glass frames. After switching RTX on, the surrounding interior is reflected in the glass surface, as it would be in reality. In addition, the reflection changes as you move around with the character. The bottom pair of images again shows a big difference in displaying the glass surfaces. With RTX off, the glass is completely transparent, as if it wasn’t even there. You turn on RTX and suddenly you can see the reflections of the offices behind your back in the glass. Without RTX mode, you wouldn’t even think that the scene is missing something, but once you turn RTX on, you can’t unsee the difference.

Take a closer look at the floor texture. In the top pair of images you can see that the reflection on the floor looks almost the same, although with RTX it has a clearer display of gold. The problem with RTX off occurs when you move to a different angle and the texture on the floor blurs and no longer matches the realistic floor you see with RTX on. Here, the camera change also appeared as the change in the column’s reflection and also of the gold and metal elements in it.

A very similar situation is in the next four images, that when viewed directly, the shadow of the character is very similar in both RTX off and RTX on, and the only difference with ray-tracing is that the reflection of a red carpet can be seen, which you would not even have thought of without viewing both modes. However, the situation changes dramatically when the camera view changes. Just turn it a bit and with RTX off the shadow almost disappears. This does not happen with RTX on and the shadow also appears in the correct position to the light source, character and camera.

The last pair of images with a complex scene again shows a big difference between RTX off and on in the light reflection on the floor, even in small details like a shadow behind the dustbin on the right, which is missing in RTX off. So, ray-tracing adds a realistic graphic visual to the game, even in details you haven’t noticed before or you didn’t even think they should look different. Each game implements RTX to a different degree, and it then often happens that games have polished floors and glass down to unrealistic details, and sometimes you feel like reducing the reflections a little. Other times, RTX doesn’t show up at all but you lose performance anyway. So, let’s take a look at more RTX examples and performance tests in other games.

Minecraft

One of the most popular games, Minecraft, has also received RTX support. The difference between RTX on and off is crucial, just look at the pictures and the video below.

Metro Exodus

One of the first games, where RTX debuted, was Metro Exodus. It is also supported by DLSS (1.0), which we will talk about more in the next chapter.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

A slightly newer title, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, also supports RTX and you’ll see the differences between off and on in the video.

Watch Dogs: Legion

New games with RTX support are on the way, including Watch Dogs: Legion.

Cyberpunk 2077

However, the most anticipated title of this year is definitely Cyberpunk 2077 which in addition to RTX will also support DLSS 2.0.

Tests

See how ray-tracing affects performance in Full HD, 2K and 4K.

Let’s start with Metro Exodus.

In Full HD, both graphics cards reach over 60 fps, more precisely 65 and 91 fps. After turning on the RTX, the 2060S dropped to 47 and the 2080S to 67 fps, i.e. by 27 and 26 fps.

1440p gets slightly less fps than Full HD, i.e. 51 for 2060S and 75 for 2080S. After turning on RTX, the 2060S drops to 33 and the 2080S to 46 fps.

4K is already on the edge for the 2060S with 31 fps, the 2080S reaches 41 fps. After turning on RTX, however, both fall below 30 fps and in the case of the 2060S significantly, to only 22.

The second tested game is, of course, already mentioned Control.

In Full HD, we see that average fps are around 85 and 115 fps for the 2060S and the 2080S. When RTX is turned on, fps drops to 49 and 64, a difference of 43 and 45%. We practically lose almost half of the fps, which is a huge tax.

Trouble is coming in 2K resolution, at least for the 2060S, which, with RTX on, drops to 31 fps and with a minimum below 30 fps. Here we’re getting to a point of a non-smooth gaming experience. The 2080S stays above 40 fps which can still be considered playable but not the smoothest.

4K is still playable on the 2080S without RTX but any other settings besides this started being laggy and when RTX was turned on, it resembled flipping through a book and not playing a game. So, Control in 4K is a real massacre on graphics cards. What can you do? The answer may be to buy a stronger graphics card, there is still the RTX 2080 Ti which is a bit stronger than the 2080S but it doesn’t help much, since we measured values around 5 fps. Therefore, the rescue can be DLSS which we will look at in the next chapter.

Fps flow

RTX 2060 Super (1080, 1440 and 2160p), RTX off/on

RTX 2080 Super (1080, 1440 and 2160p), RTX off/on

Nvidia RTX 2000 graphics cards are slowly but surely approaching the end of their production cycle, and new models are expected in the near future. But that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer anymore, quite the opposite. Their main strengths, such as RTX or DLSS, have undergone several revisions, so let’s look at how well these technologies are doing and how they affect performance, whether positively or negatively.

Better performance thanks to DLSS

In addition to ray-tracing, you can also use DLSS on RTX graphics cards, which is an AI image enhancement technology. DLSS includes concepts such as Deep Learning, Supersampling and AI which may sound like magic but this is not the case. What DLSS allows is actually lower resolution image rendering and AI algorithms are applied using Tensor cores to compute the missing information in the image. Of course, AI needed to be trained for this to work properly and it also has its limitations. But the ability to render 4× higher resolution with 1× complexity is respectable. You will learn more about DLSS 2.0 in the following video.

DLSS 2.0 supported games could be counted on your fingers for now, but the list will definitely grow. We used Control for the test again which was one of the first games to support the new version of DLSS. Let’s take a look at what it looks like in practice.

In the first picture we have a cutout from a screenshot where you can see a game character. First, we have Full HD resolution rendered natively, followed by 720p and 540p using DLSS.

When you get a closer look, you can see that 720p DLSS looks sharper than native 1080p, which seems to be smoothed. On the contrary, DLSS again gives the impression of sharpening, which can be seen not only on the hair but also on the leather jacket. At 540p, we are already reaching the limit of this technology, which is reflected in a larger number of artifacts and this is most evident in a strand of hair on the right, which is kind of dotted.

The second image shows 4K resolution with DLSS in 1440p and 1080p.

The differences are not so big here, because even in the lowest mode it’s still Full HD, which was a native maximum a while ago. Again, you can see more sharpness with DLSS, whether on the nape of the neck hair, behind the ear or even on the stitching of the leather jacket. Of course, such zooming in the game is unrealistic and is intended only for a detailed analysis of the in-game image. Nevertheless, higher sharpness can be seen in DLSS even when playing, so the image looks more detailed than native 4K.

The second scene looks as follows.

We chose a small selection from it which shows several characters, fonts and shapes. The edges and fonts are sharper again when using DLSS which can be seen not only on the defibrillator but also on the fire extinguisher or pictograms on the wall. One problem is the texts on the phone, which are completely blurred. The reason is probably the fact that this is what the textures for 720p and lower resolution look like, and even AI can’t do anything about it. On the contrary, 1080p apparently uses a different set of assets, so the text below and above the phone is not a complete blur.

Let’s proceed to the 4K version where 1440p and 1080p use DLSS and also native Full HD. Surprisingly, both versions with DLSS give comparable if not even better results than native 4K, that can be seen mainly in the texts on the wall which are sharper and easier to read.

In the third scene, we have some texts on a bulletin board again but also a clock and leaves.

Here, too, DLSS shows how it sharpens the texts in the posters but also the clock font. 540p is again too small but 720p with DLSS easily competes with native Full HD.

In 4K, the situation is similar to the previous scene. 1440p with DLSS looks sharper than native 4K which is kind of blurry. 1080p with DLSS is already losing a bit of detail, but it’s still respectable when we consider that 4x higher resolution is rendered.

From several scenes it looks like DLSS really works and the optimal setting is by a level lower than the native one. When the resolution is 4× smaller, i.e. to its multiple, there are already larger differences compared to the original which may be an obstacle. But what is all this good for? Well, for performance. Because we render a lower resolution, the fps will grow. And hell, that’s what we need if we want to use RTX, as we found out in the previous chapter.

Tests

So, DLSS really works according to our image analysis, but the recommendation is to go one resolution down, not two. At Full HD, we are thus interested in 720p. Without RTX you see a jump from 85 to 125 fps with the 2060S and 115 to 165 fps with the 2080S. This translates into a 48% and 44% increase, which is truly surprising. RTX shows even greater improvement, from 49 to 76 fps for the 2060S and 64 to 98 fps for the 2080S. We are therefore talking about an increase of 57 and 52%.

After turning on DLSS and 960p rendering, you can see an increase from 59 to 89 fps with the 2060S and from 75 to 120 fps with the 2080S. These are interesting improvements, especially if you have a fast e.g. 144 Hz monitor. 1440p in native resolution was already a relatively tough job to handle for the 2060S with RTX turned on. Thanks to DLSS, we see an increase from 31 to 53 fps, which makes 72%. The 2080S also has a nice increase from 43 to 69 fps, which is 60+%.

After the previous results, the biggest changes can be expected in 4K. Control is only playable on the 2080S, RTX off only. Will DLSS with 1440p settings solve this? The 2060S goes from 27 to 48 fps when RTX is off, which is a nice change towards playable fps. The 2080S jumps from 38 to 66 fps which is also not negligible. Unfortunately, in the case of the 2060S, the fps killer in the form of RTX cannot be solved even with the help of DLSS, i.e. in the case of setting 1440p. We get to 28 fps, which is significantly better than without DLSS, but it’s still not enough to call it playable. The solution is to set DLSS to 1080p, then we get 41 fps which is definitely playable. The 2080S reaches 40 fps at 1440p DLSS and 56 at 1080p. This is a really great increase, especially when we look at the minimum fps, which was 4, now even 40-50.

DLSS 2.0 in Control achieves surprisingly good results, which can turn unplayable settings into acceptable fps, or even get above average for use on fast monitors. Either way, DLSS has exceeded my expectations, either in terms of image quality or performance gains. Perhaps the only downside is the fact that the new version of DLSS is supported by very few games yet.

Nvidia RTX 2000 graphics cards are slowly but surely approaching the end of their production cycle, and new models are expected in the near future. But that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer anymore, quite the opposite. Their main strengths, such as RTX or DLSS, have undergone several revisions, so let’s look at how well these technologies are doing and how they affect performance, whether positively or negatively.

Streaming without a powerful CPU

Streaming games has been very popular lately and, as several players have been able to do, you can make a great deal of money. The interest of young players in the profession of a streamer is constantly growing and once children’s dreams of professions such as a policeman, firefighter or astronaut are now being largely replaced by a “youtuber” and streamer. Playing games professionally requires a powerful rig, as each frame may mean an advantage over your opponent.

However, traditional software streaming through the CPU significantly reduces performance and thus the in-game fps. Not only does the player lose an important advantage, but the quality of the stream may not be ideal either. As usual, hardware acceleration is always the answer if something needs to be done faster. Therefore, Nvidia has implemented an NVENC encoder into a separate part of the GPU into Turing graphics cards. Its job is to free the CPU from video processing, making the game run smoother without having to invest in an 8+ core CPU.

In addition to streaming, NVENC can also be used in Adobe Premiere Pro to export video, where it can significantly speed up the process. Hardware video encoding is definitely a big advantage for people involved in streaming or producing videos. Unfortunately, this is not entirely my specialization, so I will leave the real results of using NVENC for streaming or exporting to others:

Nvidia RTX 2000 graphics cards are slowly but surely approaching the end of their production cycle, and new models are expected in the near future. But that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer anymore, quite the opposite. Their main strengths, such as RTX or DLSS, have undergone several revisions, so let’s look at how well these technologies are doing and how they affect performance, whether positively or negatively.

Next-gen games thanks to DirectX?

DirectX, a term that most gamers have probably heard of and encountered at least when installing games. In short, it is an API, a kind of a collection of tools for working with multimedia and game programming. It is practically the cornerstone of game development on Windows which has been with us for a long time and we are currently using its 12th iteration. Now, Microsoft has enhanced it with several new features that are closely related to the Nvidia technologies we’ve been talking about so far. While RTX and DLSS are “Nvidia Exclusive” features, thanks to cooperation with Microsoft they are reaching other platforms, such as the new generation of game consoles. So let’s take a look at what’s new with DirectX XII Ultimate.

DirectX Raytracing

The main novelty is, of course, the support of ray-tracing which takes games to a new graphic level, as we showed in a separate chapter. While until now ray-tracing has been the privilege of Nvidia graphics cards and developers had to implement a solution from Nvidia, now the support is seemingly moving down a level to the very core of game development which will result in two things. Firstly, ray-tracing will be available on more platforms, i.e. all PCs and especially on the new Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 consoles. The second consequence is that more games will support ray-tracing which has been probably the biggest disadvantage so far (apart from performance drops in RTX mode). There are still relatively few RTX titles, but with the arrival of DX XII Ultimate it can be expected that virtually all new games will already support some form of ray tracing.

Mesh shading

An interesting innovation that serves to save performance by dynamically changing the complexity of rendered models based on how close to the center of the scene and thus the field of view they are. The goal is to draw important objects with high accuracy, that is, billions of polygons, while other objects in the background do not need such detail and will be rendered with an order of magnitude smaller number, millions, hundreds of thousands of polygons. The detail of objects changes dynamically as you move through the scene. The result is, of course, higher gaming performance.

Variable rate shading

VRS brings the same benefit of increased performance but works on a slightly different principle. Again, the challenge is to focus on a substantial part of the scene, such as a car that needs to be detailed. An environment that moves quickly, i.e. the edge of the road, trees, grass, etc. is no longer so important and at high speed you can’t even notice its details. Thus, VRS allows these objects not to be drawn in every frame, again saving performance and ultimately increasing fps. This method can also be applied to objects that do not change often, such as the walls of buildings and the like. The amount of rendering will be reduced which will increase performance again. The VRS implementation by Nvidia in Wolfenstein Youngblood enabled a 15% increase in performance. Even more important is this function in VR, where thanks to Foveated Rendering it is possible to draw a detailed image in the middle of your field of view and remove details in peripheral vision that you do not see in detail which again dramatically increases performance that is always lacking in VR.

Sampler feedback

The latest new feature is Sampler feedback which allows reusing already rendered shaders or using colors that were calculated in the previous frame. It also allows streaming of detailed textures in large open world games. As with previous methods, the goal here is to reduce GPU load and divert performance to more important aspects of the scene.

Conclusion

We believe that with this article we have brought you new useful information and clarified the issues surrounding ray-tracing or DLSS with practical examples. Let us know if you use any of these technologies when gaming, or which new titles you are looking forward to. Personally, I am most curious about Cyberpunk 2077 where both RTX and DLSS should be implemented which we will definitely test after the release.

In conclusion, we can only thank our partners Nvidia and Asus for the opportunity to create such an informative article.
Special thanks to Stella from Asus

English translation and edit by Lukáš Terényi

• Contents
• Graphics cards overview
• RTX
• DLSS
• NVENC
• DX12 Ultimate