Although ray tracing demands powerful hardware, ongoing optimizations and technologies like DLSS and FSR have made it more accessible to gamers. Nowadays, quite a few games support ray tracing. If you want to see if ray tracing really lives up to the hype or just want to test your PC’s power, here are the top 10 games that look absolutely stunning thanks to ray tracing.
Minecraft
“The magical block world” has always been one of the least demanding games hardware-wise. While theoretically it can push hardware limits with huge maps, most players rarely hit that ceiling. But ray tracing changed everything. It started with the gorgeous SEUS Renewed v1.0.0 path tracing mod by Sonic Ether, requiring at least a GTX 1080 GPU, then NVIDIA’s official ray tracing version arrived. To run Minecraft with ray tracing, you’ll need a pretty beefy PC with an RTX GPU.
Once ray tracing is enabled, Minecraft transforms into a completely different game. It looks stunning and can surprise even longtime fans. Unlike many games where you have to compare on and off to notice the difference, in Minecraft, just turning on ray tracing makes the change instantly obvious. If any game in this list has the biggest glow-up thanks to ray tracing, it’s definitely Minecraft.
Battlefield V
Battlefield is famous for its top-notch graphics. Battlefield V introduced impressive ray tracing effects that previous entries didn’t have. Explosions, heavy gunfire, and intense battles combined with lighting effects like lens flare make you feel like you’re truly on the battlefield. Ray tracing shines most on reflective surfaces like floors, puddles, windows, and glossy paint, creating a breathtaking experience. Even the latest Battlefield games don’t show as much ray tracing impact as Battlefield V.
Of course, to enjoy everything Battlefield V offers with ray tracing, you’ll need a powerful PC. The developers recommend at least a 2nd gen AMD Ryzen 7 or 8th gen Intel Core i7 CPU, an RTX 2080 GPU, and 16GB of RAM. So if you can run Battlefield V with ray tracing on without major FPS drops or stutters, your PC is definitely high-end.
Control
Control looked great on PS4 and Xbox One, but on PC it’s even more stunning. With ray tracing added, NVIDIA GeForce RTX users get immersed in the Oldest House’s shifting corridors, where lighting effects are recreated in incredible detail. Explosions, debris, and reflective surfaces all look incredibly lifelike. Although ray tracing in Control was still early-stage when introduced, the visual impact is undeniable.
Calling Control one of the best games to showcase ray tracing’s potential is no exaggeration. Plus, with DLSS 2.0 on GeForce RTX 20-series GPUs, you can enjoy impressive FPS without sacrificing the stunning graphics quality you want.
Translated from The Gamer by GVN360
