Ray tracing test implemented in 3DMark

For the past few days, ray tracing and supersampling have been the focus of much discussion. Indeed, AMD's Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards appear to outperform Nvidia's GeForce 3000 series cards in standard graphics output mode (without ray tracing enabled). AMD did not provide benchmark data with ray tracing enabled during its presentation. However, the company promised to share details about ray tracing and supersampling within the next few days.

Measure the performance of the cards using 3DMark

3DMark is undoubtedly one of the leading software programs for benchmarking graphics cards. UL Benchmarks is keeping pace and has just implemented a new feature that allows users to test the performance of graphics cards on games with ray tracing enabled. 3DMark is now fully prepared for benchmarking these next-generation graphics cards.

Before November 2020, only Nvidia GeForce cards supported ray tracing. However, AMD has just broken Nvidia's dominance by producing cards compatible with this feature. The first AMD cards in the Radeon RX 6000 series will be released on November 18th, including the Radeon RX 6800 and the Radeon RX 6800 XT . Therefore, UL Benchmarks has updated its 3DMark software to allow for comparison.

How does the Ray Tracing test work?

The test's principle is to determine the time it takes the graphics card to render each pixel and the effects of ray tracing. UL doesn't rely on traditional rendering, which involves activating ray tracing for the pixels at the center of interest (field of view), but rather activates ray tracing for all pixels in the image . Performance is therefore measured by the time it takes the card to render each 2560 x 1440 pixel image and to draw shadows and various effects on each pixel. The number of samples for the test is configurable. The test thus calculates the average number of images displayed per second. With the 3DMark update, it is now possible to take screenshots and navigate the scene interactively.

To use this feature, you need the latest version of 3DMark. The update is available, among other places, on the UL Benchmarks . It's free for those with a 3DMark Advanced Edition . Once the software is updated, various new features are supported, including Ray Tracing and Nvidia DLSS (supersampling).