Cyberpunk 2077 Benchmark RTX 3090 – Ultra Settings 4K 60 FPS with RTX ON Not Possible

CG writes: As expected and not too much of a change from the 1.31 version (perhaps slightly worse performance), based on our own playing Cyberpunk 2077 with all the bells-and-whistles running in 4K Ultra settings will destroy most GPUs. Our RTX 3090 struggles to maintain reasonable framerate running the game using these settings without resorting to Nvidia’s DLSS. See our results below (with the video timestamps). Please bear in mind, add a few FPS to account for Shadowplay recording (between 5-10%). The FPS figure is the average according to the in-game benchmark tool which became available with the 1.5 Update.

[bunt-custardly]

Results from article and video timestamps.

0:00 Ultra 4K DLSS Auto – 52.55 FPS

01:36 Ultra 4K NO DLSS – 19.09 FPS

02:55 Ultra 4K DLSS Quality – 36.22 FPS

04:11 Ultra 4K DLSS Balanced – 43.53 FPS

05:27 Ultra 4K DLSS Performance – 52.70 FPS

06:44 Ultra 4K DLSS Ultra Performance – 75.64 FPS

08:01 Ultra 4K NO DLSS NO RTX – 42.83 FPS

09:17 Ultra 4K DLSS Quality No RTX – 50.97 FPS

10:32 Ultra 4K DLSS AUTO No RTX – 75.62 FPS

11:47 Ultra 2K DLSS Quality RTX ON – 61.68

[LordoftheCritics]

Ray Tracing makes a huge difference to the look.

I forgot that while adjusting settings I turned off Ray Tracing. Drove around and ran some side missions for about and hour. Thought maybe I can up my fps limiter and suddenly noticed Ray Tracing was turned off. As soon as I turned it on, mind blown. It was night and day difference in the same scene. Also it seems they have refined it even more compared to first release. Looks amazing.

I wish I could point out areas to look at without spoiling anything. Though one of the first times you'll see the absolute visual power of Ray Tracing is one of the earliest Cyberpsycho fights. She is on the water and the water gets electrocuted. She runs at you and jeebus the effects on the water. The neon signs around fully reflects, well soften and even reflects accurately through every step she takes during the run towards you. The water ripples and the reflections perfectly adapt. So much goes on in the scene. I had to literally reload a save to play it without Ray Tracing and it felt dead.

The sheer number of NPC's. The markets are so dense. It's so well done. Its not Assasins Creed Unity mindless dense but more lively moving around and multiple clothes/artstyle dense. Whats seriously impressive is the sunlight feel. Non ray traced feels ok. Decent illusion. With ray tracing the lighting feels full. The sun feels powerful. The ridiculous number of Ray Traced shadows just makes the world come alive.

Best looking open world game I have ever played. There are soooo many atmospheric sections. Like even going up and down elevators into changing lighting zones. Its insane what they did. There are too many sections where you'll start thinking of Blade Runner 2049. I find it even more fascinating to be a part of than RDR2.

[Fntastic]

RTX 4000 series should have greatly improved RT performance, hoping for a ton of raster performance too. If these cards are decent should see a nice 40+% uptick in fps.

The gen after consoles come out is always the best, I think 3060Ti is rough equivalent of the new consoles, 4080 should be blazing fast later this yr.

[CrimsonIdol]

I wouldn't get your hopes that far up dude. been a while since we've seen a 40% bump. the 30 series was already a pretty big jump but not that big, and mostly because the 20 series was such a pissweak jump, barely improving raster performance over the 10 series with RTX in its infancy expected to pull it over the line. Already the top end 30 series are monolithic and incredibly power hungry. Though perhaps AMD nipping at their heels might push them along a bit further this time.

[lonewolf10]

They added extra RT effects in this patch as well didn't they?

On a 3080 I get an average of 64 fps (RT at Ultra and DLSS set to quality) @ 1440p in that benchmark, I have always maintained the 3080 is a 2k/1440p card (with ultra/high settings). Seems odd you only got 61 on a 3090, seems like something is wrong along the line.

[jeromeface]

4k makes a big difference in case you didn't know...

[lonewolf10]

I did know but I was referring to this, in case you missed it:

11:47 Ultra 2K DLSS Quality RTX ON – 61.68

[CrimsonIdol]

@lonewolf ah yeah that doesn't seem right does it? I've got a 3080 too and will have to look into the new update, sounds like the new Ultra settings must really be pushing it. I've got a 4K monitor and by and large that's achievable at 60fps but not with Cyberpunk without cutting a few corners haha. 1440 has always been the more sensible and achievable resolution though I agree.

[bunt-custardly]

They improved the RTX shadows in this update which is why the performance is less than before.

[lonewolf10]

Yeah, not much less, or so I have observed so far but only at 2k, did try the Nvida downscaling from 4k and that was a no no for me, not too bad in the outside scene but that indoor/bar scene kills it.

[--Onilink--]

A 3090 is only marginally better than a 3080 in most gaming scenarios. Its really not meant as a gaming card, its more for creation

[lonewolf10]

True but I would of expected a gain over the 3080 at 2k not a drop (ever so slight).

[XxINFERNUSxX]

I would like to see 1080p with RTX and settings at ultra with this 3090. This is how I would play and maybe DLSS for more FPS. It would be a much better experience with much higher FPS and a bit lower res. It would feel much smoother.

[FPS_D3TH]

DLSS exists for a reason

[Father__Merrin]

Chasing full literal 4k is a waste

[frostypants]

Total marketing gimmick unless you sit incredibly close to a very large screen. Sad that so much bandwidth is wasted pursuing it.

[Duke19]

Just wait for 8k!!

…

[frostypants]

Raytracing of any sort is an absolute GPU pig. This isn't unexpected at 4K. You might get a GPU that handles it better than others, but it will ALWAYS be a big performance hit relative to turning it off. Ten years from now: "XYZ Gigachad 9000 can't handle raytracing at 8K 240fps"...so?

[mixelon]

That sounds pretty good to me.. Order of priority for me on games like this goes Smoothness (not total fps, just, smooth 50+) > IQ > total FPS > resolution. If I have to use dlss or a slightly lower resolution whatever to hit high framerate that really doesn’t matter, particularly if gaming on the tv from the usual distance. 1440p is a great resolution if it’s antialiased well enough.

It’s nice to see games that are too demanding for current hardware at their highest settings too, means it could look modern for longer.