For years, gamers dreamed of lifelike lighting, realistic shadows, and reflections that didn’t feel like cheap tricks. Then came ray tracing—a graphics technology that promised to blur the line between reality and games.
But here’s the real question: is ray tracing actually worth turning on? Or is it just a flashy feature that tanks your frame rate?
Let’s dig in.
What Is Ray Tracing, Really?
Ray tracing is a rendering technique that simulates how light behaves in the real world. Instead of using baked-in lighting tricks (like shadow maps and screen-space reflections), it traces the actual path of light rays as they bounce around a scene.
This results in:
- Realistic shadows that change based on object shape and light direction
- Accurate reflections, even of off-screen objects
- Soft global illumination that makes scenes feel more “natural”
In other words: it’s not just eye candy. It’s a complete shift in how lighting is handled in-game.
What Games Support Ray Tracing?
Since NVIDIA introduced real-time ray tracing with their RTX 20-series GPUs in 2018, support has steadily grown. Today, many AAA titles feature ray tracing in various forms, including:
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Metro Exodus
- Control
- Alan Wake 2
- Minecraft RTX
Most offer a range of ray tracing effects like reflections, shadows, and ambient occlusion—which can be toggled on or off individually.
The Catch: Performance Cost
Here’s the downside: ray tracing is computationally expensive.
Even with modern GPUs like the RTX 40-series or Radeon RX 7000 cards, enabling full ray tracing can reduce FPS significantly—sometimes by 30% or more. That’s why many players opt to keep it off unless they’re prioritizing visuals over performance.
However, combining ray tracing with DLSS, FSR, or XeSS can help recover some of that lost performance.
Is It Worth Turning On?
Yes – but it depends. Here’s a breakdown to help you decide:
| You Should Turn It On If… | You Might Skip It If… |
|---|---|
| You have an RTX 30/40 or AMD RX 7000 GPU | You’re gaming on older hardware |
| You’re playing slow-paced or story-driven games | You play fast-paced shooters where FPS is king |
| You care about visuals and immersion | You prioritize responsiveness and high refresh rates |
| You’re benchmarking or experimenting | You’re aiming for competitive performance |
A balanced approach? Turn on only specific effects—like ray-traced shadows or reflections—and leave the rest off.
Final Verdict
Ray tracing is more than marketing—it’s a meaningful step toward photorealistic gaming. But like any powerful feature, it comes with trade-offs.
If you’ve got the hardware and you’re playing a game that supports it well, it’s absolutely worth trying. Just don’t be afraid to dial it back when frame rates start to drop.
Want to test different ray tracing presets across all your games from one place?
GGLauncher makes it easy to organize, launch, and tweak your setup in seconds—without the clutter.
