All About New Ray Tracing Graphics Tech
If you haven’t heard about ray tracing, you probably will be in the near future. Ray tracing is the new technology being applied to video game graphics, and it is apparently the greatest thing since sliced bread. It comes to you courtesy of NVidia, the biggest manufacturer of commercial graphics cards in the world.
But you might be asking yourself; just what is ray tracing, is it worth your attention, and will it be revolutionising video games in a major way? More to the point; should you be running out to get yourself a ray tracing enabled GPU?
What Is Ray Tracing?
Ray tracing is a graphics technology, and it can be summed up by calling it a real time simulation of light. To be more specific; the rays of light are simulated, individually, form a source, and around an environment. The rays can bounce or be reflected in incredibly subtle ways, giving an astonishingly accurate representation of light in a 3D space. So, it is safe to say that if your gaming leans more towards online bingo NZ, you shouldn’t worry too much about it.
It sounds very cool, and it is. But the downside is that such simulation is not just demanding, it is monstrously demanding. There are few computers, gaming dedicated or otherwise, that have the power to implement this technology. The graphics cards that are capable, the RTX range from NVidia, are extremely expensive. So much so that they are beyond the price range of even the most dedicated gamers.
Do You Need It?
As with all graphics technology pushed by NVidia, no, you don’t need ray tracing in order to play video games. The effect is entirely cosmetic, and does not enhance a game beyond the way it looks. In other words; ray tracing is entirely unnecessary, unless you enjoy being on the cutting edge of technology.
The next range of consoles are set to have some ray tracing support built in, but not to any major degree. But again, the impact is entirely visual, and all games that support the technology will run just fine without it being enabled. This is important, given that future games will still be played by those who don’t have the most cutting edge hardware available.
A Future Option
As hardware and software companies forge into the future, they look for new ways to enhance the experience. This is important, as it helps the industry move forward, and justifies the sale of new products to consumers.
Ray tracing will indeed probably be adopted and gradually become a new future standard. But this will likely take years, or even a decade to happen. For those who play on consoles, the technology will be built in. For PC gamers, a new graphics card will need to be bought in order to enjoy the graphical update.
But rushing out and buying a new graphics card in order to chase the tech trend isn’t advised. Waiting a few years before jumping aboard is by far the cheaper option.