3DMark gets a new benchmark for ray tracing

Developer UL adds a test to 3DMark that purely measures the ray tracing performance of video cards. The DirectX Raytracing feature test consists of a scene that is almost completely built up with raytracing.

3DMark already has the Port Royale benchmark for ray tracing performance, but it combines traditional rasterized rendering with ray tracing for shadows and reflections. This results in a situation that is comparable to the current implementation of ray tracing in games.

The new benchmark is a so-called feature test. No realistic scenario is simulated, but one specific technology of the video card is tested. For example, the DirectX Raytracing feature test should be able to uncover how the ray tracing implementations of the AMD Radeon RX 6000 and Nvidia GeForce RTX video cards compare.

In a technical explanation document, UL writes that the ray tracing test ensures that the ray tracing performance is the limiting factor. The entire scene is constructed with ray tracing at a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels. The test shows performance in frames per second and uses features of DirectX Raytracing Tier 1.1.

The test also has an interactive mode where users can explore the environment and take screenshots. The DirectX Raytracing feature test is available as part of 3DMark Advanced Edition and 3DMark Professional Edition.