PC World - USA (2021-01)

JANUARY 2021 PCWorld 51

gaming experiences, too. We said the same
thing about the GeForce RTX 3090 (go.
pcworld.com/5t39) in comparison to the RTX
3080.
Our guide to the best graphics cards for
every budget (go.pcworld.com/pcgm) and
display resolution can help you select the
right GPU for you.

3. AMD NEEDS A DLSS
   EQUIVALENT FOR RAY
   TR AC I N G, S TAT
   RDNA 2-based cards like the Radeon RX 6900
   XT offer dedicated real-time ray tracing for the

first time, and as the biggest “Big Navi”

offering, the 6900 XT performs the best in

AMD’s GPU lineup with the cutting-edge

lighting effects active. That said, AMD’s

first-gen implementation isn’t quite as potent

as Nvidia’s more mature ray-tracing hardware,

and Radeon currently lacks an alternative to

Nvidia’s fantastic DLSS 2.0 AI upscaling

technology (go.pcworld.com/dl20), which

claws back many of the frames lost to ray

tracing’s substantial performance impact. The

company says it’s working on a more open

feature dubbed “FidelityFX Super Resolution”

that accomplishes similar tricks, but details

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti FE

59.4

88.3

88.6

AMD Radeon RX 6800

50.8

N/A

92.6

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE

75.9

105.8

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

60.5

N/A

109.1

AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT N/A

61.1

112.9

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 FE

77.5

98.4

112.9

73.2

Metro Exodus (1440p)

Frames per second

RT + DLSS RT on RT off

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti FE

31.6

62.1

56.4

AMD Radeon RX 6800

26.4

N/A

57.3

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FE

41.8

69.4

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

31.6

N/A

68.9

AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT N/A

32.3

71.9

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 FE

46.3

71.5

80.1

50.2

Metro Exodus (4K)

Frames per second

RT + DLSS RT on RT off