elementalSG
Posts: 270 +481
Yes, there was not much I could see on the screenshots, but will check gameplay videos to see the difference. Though you got to remember that with a 2080ti you are the top 1% and rest of us won't be able to get playable framerates with RTX on for quite a while. I welcome ray tracing as I am convinced it is the way forward, however, with these 1st gen RTX GPUs it is an extremely expensive visual effect. I expect this to be widely affordable in a few years. I will hop on the train when it arrives to the mid-range in a playable fashion.Started playing Metro Exodus with Ray Tracing on and also off on my RTX 2080 Ti. The difference is interesting; because the lighting is now so realistic with Ray Tracing on, my brain no longer rejects the environment as fake and so the feeling of fear goes up (at least for me). With Ray Tracing off, it's just less scary since the lighting just still looks and feels fake to me.
Too bad you can't really see this gaming experience difference in the screenshots, but you can definitely feel the difference when you play Metro Exodus with Ray Tracing on.
For now, I think playing in 4K without RTX is more affordable and gives a better visual upgrade from 1080p than RTX.
I don't disagree with anything you said. That said, the Extremetech article does say that the RTX 2070 (a more "affordable" card at less than half the price of the 2080 Ti) does seem to be able to do 50fps with ray tracing on and at RTX High settings @ 1080p. Given that Metro Exodus isn't a run-and-gun, insanely high pace FPS, 50FPS is very playable. Ray tracing isn't a "top 1%" only feature as a result; I believe that is what the Extremetech article was trying to say. It can be enjoyed even this 1st generation on lesser hardware than the 2080 Ti, such as the RTX 2070.
Especially with this game, the more realistic lighting from ray tracing really does change the atmosphere and the fear-factor, even more so than a jump from 1080p to 4k resolution, in my opinion. I literally FEEL the difference when I switch ray tracing from off to on in Metro Exodus.