Some time ago, CD Projekt Red officially launched the next-generation version of Cyberpunk 2077, which is version 1.5. The new version allows for more full exploitation of the sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X/S, fixes a number of bugs in the game, and adds a free DLC, the largest update since the release of Cyberpunk 2077.
On the PC platform, CD Projekt Red added support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) and also enabled Variable Rate Shading/VRS, allowing games to improve rendering performance and quality by changing the shading rate for different areas of the frame. Nvidia partnered with CD Projekt RED to improve the ray-traced image quality of Cyberpunk 2077 by adding ray-traced localized light shadows that were previously only ray-traced sun-oriented shadows. In addition, CD Projekt Red has added a benchmark mode to Cyberpunk 2077 to make it easier for players to evaluate how well their console is performing.
After more than a year of polishing on CD Projekt Red, the original semi-finished product has finally become a relatively complete AAA game, showing what it should look like. The soaring popularity of Cyberpunk 2077 by gamers over the past period is proof of this. In light of cyberpunk 2077's many improvements, we're conducting a new test to focus on updates to cyberpunk 2077-related technologies and features.
Test platform with description
In terms of test platforms, the CPU uses the Intel Core i9-11900K, and the motherboard is MSI's MAG Z590 TORPEDPO, which installs two DDR4-3600 16GB of memory. Graphics cards are the products of Nvidia and AMD's latest generation architecture, with Nvidia's GeForceRTX 3080 Ti/RTX 3070 Ti/RTX 3060 Ti/RTX 3060 and AMD's Radeon RX 6800 XT/RX 6700 XT/RX 6600 XT.
Since Nvidia has discontinued support for the relevant graphics drivers, CD Projekt Red has decided to no longer support NVIDIA GTX 700 series graphics cards and will stop testing on this series of graphics cards. The requirements for Nvidia graphics cards in the minimum requirements have also been changed to the GTX 970. Based on past testing experience (Cyberpunk 2077 hardware requirements testing), this level of graphics card can be said to be difficult to meet the performance requirements of Cyberpunk 2077.
Image options and picture effects
The game's settings have various special effects and parameters that can be adjusted by themselves, and there are more choices. To simplify operation, preset schemes are also provided. There are two options for ray tracing, Ray Tracing: Super and Ray Tracing: Medium. The normal setting of not turning on light chase is divided into four options, namely "Super", "High", "Medium", and "Low". If the player makes additional changes to the original settings, they are categorized and displayed as "Custom". In order to facilitate the comparison of test data and take care of the player's actual game selection, the preset scheme of the game is preferentially selected in the test, and no separate adjustment of non-essential items is made.
The introduction of AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution replaces the original Constant Adaptive Sharpening (CAS) technology, which can be enabled by "Settings" > "Graphics" > "Resolution Scale". CD Projekt Red also added a previously highly called benchmark mode to Cyberpunk 2077, which can be run by "settings" > "run benchmarks".
DLSS and FSR screen display
Primitive screen
DLSS quality
All of the above screenshots are based on 4K resolution and super quality, including native, four DLSS modes (Quality, Balance, Performance, Super Performance), and five FSR modes (Super Quality, Quality, Balance, Performance, Super Performance). In the actual game process, players will be aware of the difference in image quality between different modes, and the difference between static screens is not as obvious as that of dynamic screens. If the resolution is reduced, the difference is even greater.
Graphics requirements testing
Since Cyberpunk 2077 has added a benchmark mode, it abandons the officially recommended test route in the past and runs Benchmark directly to complete it.
In ray tracing testing, "Ray Tracing: Medium" in the preset scheme is selected with "DLSS: Balanced" or "FSR: Quality" to test. The difference between Ray Tracing: Super and Ray Tracing: Medium doesn't have a particularly large impact on the picture and frame count, but considering that AMD's ray tracing performance will always be worse, the latter was chosen. In traditional raster testing, the preset "Super" is selected with "DLSS: Balanced" or "FSR: Quality" for testing. NVIDIA graphics cards can choose to turn on DLSS or FSR, while AMD graphics cards can only turn on FSR.
2160P resolution test
It can be seen that after turning on the light chase at 4K resolution, even with DLSS or FSR support, the average frame number of the best RTX 3080 Ti is still lower than 50 frames. Referring to past tests, such results are low, and perhaps there are some extreme lighting effects in Benchmark, resulting in a significant decrease in frame rates.
In the traditional raster test, although the highest "super" in the preset scheme is selected, the average frame count of the high-end graphics card can still be maintained at more than 60 frames under the blessing of DLSS or FSR. Compared with "DLSS: Balanced", Nvidia graphics cards choose "FSR: Quality" at 4K resolution, and the average frame count will be higher, making the RTX 3070 Ti also have more than 60 frames.
1440P resolution test
When light tracking is turned on at 2K resolution, with "DLSS: Balanced" or "FSR: Quality", the average frame number also needs RTX 3070 Ti to remain above 60 frames. The average frame count of the RTX 3060 Ti or RX 6800 XT is around 55 frames, which is basically acceptable. It is recommended that users who use AMD graphics cards to play Cyberpunk 2077 must at least reach the level of Radeon RX 6800 XT to consider turning on light chasing at 2K resolution, which is obviously much higher than that of users of Nvidia graphics cards.
In traditional raster tests with 2K resolution, the RX 6800 XT has a very good performance, and the average frame rate is even higher than the RTX 3080 Ti. With DLSS or FSR, graphics cards at mainstream performance levels such as the RX 6600 XT and RTX 3060 can also run smoothly. Similar to the situation of many previous games, when the light chase is not turned on, the Radeon RX 6000 series will narrow the frame rate gap between the Radeon RX 6000 series and the GeForce RTX 30 series as the resolution decreases, and even achieves overtaking.
1080P resolution test
When Cyberpunk 2077 was launched, it was officially recommended to use the RTX 3060 Ti, selecting raytracing: Super in the preset scheme to run the game. In the current test, with "Ray Tracing: Mid-Range" with DLSS or FSR, the RTX 3060 can also run smoothly. However, at 1080P resolution, if the game frame rate can be maintained at more than 60 frames, it is recommended that players try not to turn on DLSS or FSR, after all, the picture quality will be lost.
At present, the mainstream/mid-range graphics cards on the market have little problem of running Cyberpunk 2077 smoothly at 1080P resolution. Similarly, at lower resolutions, as long as the performance meets the needs, there is no need to turn on DLSS or FSR to enjoy better picture results.
DLSS and FSR testing
The updated Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that supports both NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). After a long period of continuous promotion by NVIDIA, I believe that many players are very familiar with the technology of DLSS, hardware acceleration through a dedicated AI processing unit, plus the addition of algorithms, the low-resolution rendered images into high-resolution images, while maintaining higher resolution image quality. FidelityFX Super Resolution uses low-resolution images for multi-frame synthesis, which is not the same as the principle of NVIDIA DLSS.
In Cyberpunk 2077, DLSS and FSR are divided into four and five gears, respectively. The four gears of the DLSS are Quality, Balance, Performance and Super Performance, and the five gears of FSR are Super Quality, Quality, Balance, Performance and Super Performance. According to our past testing experience, DLSS and FSR in the same gear, the actual game graphics of DLSS will be better than FSR. Players can only choose FSR if they use AMD graphics cards, NVIDIA graphics cards can choose DLSS and FSR respectively, so the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti will be used in the test, set to 4K resolution, through the different options of DLSS and FSR, see how much it will affect the frame count.
As long as DLSS or FSR is turned on, the frame count of geForce RTX 3070 Ti at 4K resolution will increase to varying degrees. Under normal circumstances, the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti has only about 33 frames in 4K resolution, and if you choose the performance mode of DLSS or the quality mode of FSR, you can reach the level of 60 frames. In terms of the increase in the number of frames, the DLSS balanced mode is approximately equal to the FSR super quality mode, the DLSS performance mode is approximately equal to the FSR quality mode, and the DLSS super performance mode is approximately equal to the FSR performance mode. It is recommended that in Cyberpunk 2077, if they choose DLSS, they can choose the balance mode at most, while the FSR is best selected as the quality mode.
summary
The next-generation version of "Cyberpunk 2077" does allow players to see the sincerity of CD Projekt Red, and the optimization of the hardware is better than the original, at least there is no flashback, and the performance is more stable. For users using AMD graphics cards, the introduction of FidelityFX Super Resolution is crucial, and the efficiency in the game is very good, even allowing high-end GPUs with RDNA 2 architecture to choose to turn on ray tracing for gaming. Even Nvidia's Ampere architecture GPUs, at high resolution, fidelityFX Super Resolution is a useful addition.
Cyberpunk 2077's benchmarking model has some reference value, but it seems to be a little different from the frame count in our actual games in the past. Overall, Cyberpunk 2077 is still a game with very high requirements on hardware, if the player turns on ray tracing at 4K resolution, adjusts all options to the highest level, the current top graphics card is also difficult to bear, perhaps until the next generation of GPU will have a more obvious improvement. If you want to enjoy the graphics effects of Cyberpunk 2077 more completely, 2K resolution is still a more appropriate choice, provided you have a high-end graphics card.
It is worth reminding that in past tests (Cyberpunk 2077 hardware requirements tests), it has been found that the impact of THE CPU on game performance in Cyberpunk 2077 is still relatively obvious. Players need at least a 6-core, 12-threaded processor to avoid performance bottlenecks. Some players with relatively old platforms face not only graphics card problems, but also cpu barriers to the game experience.
For ray tracing, a new technology, Cyberpunk 2077 is an iconic work that I believe will continue to be mentioned by players in the future.