Ray tracing can make selected reflections, shadows, and lighting more responsive to the scene, but it does not replace rasterization in most games—and it does not carry one predictable FPS penalty. Many games rasterize most of each frame and use ray tracing for particular effects. The visual gain and performance cost depend on the game, effect, scene, settings, resolution, and GPU.
How rasterization and ray tracing differ
Rasterization turns geometry into the image
Rasterization projects scene geometry onto the screen, determines which surfaces contribute to each pixel, and shades the visible output through the graphics pipeline. It is a longstanding real-time rendering method, not an inherently low-quality one: games can produce sophisticated images using rasterization and carefully designed lighting approximations.
Ray tracing queries the scene along rays
Ray tracing follows rays through a scene to determine how selected light interactions behave. In Direct3D, a scene is represented with bottom-level acceleration structures for geometry and a top-level acceleration structure for instances. These structures let the system query scene geometry as rays travel through it. Microsoft documents the Direct3D acceleration-structure types.
Most games can combine both
Ray tracing is a rendering tool for particular effects, not necessarily a wholesale replacement for rasterization. AMD GPUOpen’s examples combine ray-traced shadows with rasterized shadow maps, and screen-space reflections with ray tracing. These hybrid approaches illustrate how a game can retain rasterization for much of a frame while using ray tracing where an engine’s chosen technique calls for it. AMD GPUOpen’s DirectX 12 resources describe these samples.
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What can look different with ray tracing
The visible result depends on which effect is ray traced and what the game uses when it is off. Ray tracing may improve a specific cue, but the improvement is not guaranteed in every scene or implementation.
- Reflections: Ray-traced reflections can represent objects outside the visible screen area, whereas a screen-space technique is limited by the information available on screen. The difference is most apparent when the reflected content is not directly visible to the camera.
- Shadows: Ray-traced shadows can respond to scene geometry and light placement. Whether they look more convincing than the game’s rasterized shadow technique depends on the scene and the game’s implementation.
- Indirect lighting: Ray tracing can capture lighting interactions shaped by scene geometry. The practical benefit depends on how the effect is implemented and what lighting approximation it replaces.
A useful comparison is therefore effect-by-effect, in the same location and under the same conditions—not simply “ray tracing on” versus “off” as if every game changes the same part of the image.
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Why ray tracing can reduce performance
Ray-traced effects add work to generate rays, traverse acceleration structures, process intersections and shader results, and often denoise the result when the ray count is limited. AMD’s developer guidance is to trace as few rays as needed to reach the intended quality; it notes that even one ray per pixel can produce high-quality results with a good denoiser. AMD’s RDNA Performance Guide discusses this optimization principle.
The cost also depends on how a game builds and updates its acceleration structures. Microsoft’s Direct3D API guidance describes a tradeoff between faster tracing and faster construction: PREFER_FAST_TRACE typically takes two to three times the default build time, while PREFER_FAST_BUILD typically takes one-half to one-third of the default build time and sacrifices tracing performance. These are API build-time comparisons, not estimates of a game’s FPS loss. Microsoft’s build-flags reference gives the option details.
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Scene organization matters, too. AMD’s Raytracing Analyzer article explains that higher-quality acceleration structures can take longer to build but improve traversal, while large overlapping bounding volumes can make traversal less efficient. In AMD’s terrain example, splitting terrain into chunks reduces overlap but increases top-level structure build time. AMD GPUOpen’s article, dated September 15, 2022, describes that tradeoff.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does ray tracing lower FPS by a fixed amount?
No universal percentage is established by the sources cited here. A percentage would only be meaningful when tied to a named game, scene, GPU, resolution, graphics settings, and test method. The API build-time figures above must not be converted into gameplay frame-rate claims.
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Compatibility is also distinct from performance. Microsoft’s Direct3D 12 ray-tracing sample collection lists a GPU and driver with DirectX 12 Ultimate support among its requirements. That is a requirement for those samples, not a guarantee that a particular GPU will deliver a specific frame rate in a retail game. Microsoft lists the sample requirements here.
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How to compare ray tracing on and off
- Identify the effect. Check whether the setting controls reflections, shadows, ambient occlusion, global illumination, or another specific feature. Compare the actual change in the same scene.
- Keep the test conditions the same. Use the same game scene, resolution, quality settings, and other graphics options for both runs.
- Record the GPU and performance measures. Compare average frame rate and frame-time stability, and include the GPU model and resolution so the result has context.
- Report upscaling and frame generation separately. If either is enabled, state that clearly rather than attributing the full result to ray tracing.
- Check the game’s implementation and options. Note whether it uses hybrid rendering and whether the effect offers a quality/performance choice. A supported feature alone does not tell you how fast it will run.
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