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TechQuiet 3d · day 4

Nvidia's RTX 2080, 2080 Ti turn 8: ray tracing's slow march to gaming mainstream

Eight years after Turing's launch, real-time ray tracing remains popular but adoption has been slow, requiring additional tech like DLSS to make it accessible.

newest coverage 2d agosummary written 2d ago3 pieces1 likes & upvotes NewswiresMastodon

What to know

  • Nvidia's RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti launched on September 20, 2018, introducing real-time ray tracing to consumer GPUs at $699–$1,200, with CEO Jensen Huang promising a transformative 'golden age' of gaming.
  • Eight years later, ray tracing adoption among PC gamers has been slow despite becoming standard in consoles and mobile—many players still disable it due to performance penalties.
  • Success required supplementary technologies like Nvidia's DLSS to make ray tracing practical for budget consumers; early game support at launch was sparse.

“Eight years later, we can say that realtime ray tracing has indeed proved popular. Even consoles and mobile games now use and boast of this visual tech, and probably couldn't ignore it without getting sidelined. But adoption has been slow.”

Tom's Hardware, Tech publication · Tom's Hardware ↗

Jensen HuangJensen Huang Nvidia CEONvidia GPU manufacturer

Nvidia's RTX 2080, 2080 Ti turn 8: ray tracing's slow march to gaming mainstream
Tom's Hardware

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

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Sep 21Sep 22yesterdaynow · 9:44 AM ET
  1. 1

    Ray tracing adoption remains gradual eight years on despite broad reach

    Eight years after launch, real-time ray tracing has become standard in consoles and mobile games and is no longer avoidable without being 'sidelined.' However, adoption among PC gamers has been slow. Many players still disable the feature due to performance penalties, and the technology required supplementary innovations like DLSS from Nvidia to become practically accessible at budget price points.

    “Turing opens up a new golden age of gaming, with realism only possible with ray tracing, which most people thought was still a decade away.”
    — Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO · source
    1. 1 outlet The PC gaming ray tracing obsession began with the first RTX 20 graphics cards released on this day in 2018 — the GeForce RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti led the charge, but games were thin on the ground

      first by Tom's Hardware, 3d ago

    • the_white_wolf@social.tchncs.de

      # gaming # hardware https:// videocardz.com/newz/geforce-rt x-turns-8-rtx-2080-ti-and-rtx-2080-launched-in-september-2018 Der Beginn einer neuen Grafik Ära. Happy Birthday, Turing🎉

      the_white_wolf@social.tchncs.deMastodon2d ago1▲view on Mastodon ↗
  2. background

    Nvidia touts ray tracing as transformative gaming technology — Nvidia positioned the Turing architecture as a '20 years in the making' breakthrough, claiming that real-time ray tracing would fundamentally change PC gaming visuals. The company promised that seeing an RTX game would make traditional rendering unacceptable to players.

  3. background

    Nvidia releases RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti with ray tracing — Nvidia made its Turing GPU architecture available to consumers for the first time, launching the GeForce RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti at the high end. The RTX 2080 Founders Edition launched at $799, while the RTX 2080 Ti flagship was priced at $1,200. The more mainstream RTX 2070 would follow in October.

  4. background

    Early game support sparse; ray tracing adoption faces skepticism — At launch, few games showcased ray tracing's potential. Early titles like Battlefield V, Metro Exodus, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider generated interest but limited enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the RTX 2080 offered only a ~26% performance gain over the GTX 1080 Ti despite a 71% price premium, and even the flagship RTX 2080 Ti was noted as 'out of reach for most gamers' at $1,200.