Ray-Tracing: Five Games to Make Your PC Sweat

One of the stand-out features of the NVIDIA RTX 30 and 40 Series graphics cards is real-time ray-tracing. More and more games are integrating this technology, which is great news for us but perhaps not for some of your gaming hardware. Whilst ray tracing creates enhances your graphics, it can take its toll on your gaming PC.

Ray-Tracing: Five Games to Make Your PC Sweat

Today, we’re looking at five games that really push your PC when ray-tracing is enabled. We will also suggest the hardware you need to keep up with the demand. You know the drill – biscuit, cuppa, and let’s go!


What is Ray-Tracing?

First of all, what is ray-tracing? It is a rendering technique used to simulate the way light behaves. Lighting can make or break a game’s realism, or any image that has been digitally rendered. Ray tracing takes the point of view of the camera, looks at an image, and then traces it back to the light source taking into account textures to create realistic shadows.  

This technique has been used in the film industry, too, but on a much larger scale with super-computers rendering multiple light sources. Of course, we don’t have access to, nor the budget for such monster machines, so the ray-tracing we see in games is not quite as complex. Still, it renders light and shadow behaviour to create incredibly realistic images. Check out this video of NVIDIA demonstrating ray tracing in action. 

Naturally, innovating technology and implementing it in-game is going to draw on a lot of power. Hence why having ray-tracing turned on for certain games can be more than your PC can handle. Now to name and shame! 


Cyberpunk 2077

It should be no surprise that Cyberpunk 2077 is the top of this list. This hefty game from CD Projekt Red is packed full of beautiful detail, just begging to be played at ultra-settings and 4K resolutions. Integration with ray-tracing was also one of the big selling points during the long wait for release. The futuristic, rainy setting with neon lighting is the perfect way to demonstrate this rendering technique, especially at night when Night City truly comes to life. We get an impressive display of light reflecting off puddles, adding depth and reality to gameplay. 

Cyberpunk 2077 with ray-rtacing on

The recommended specs for Cyberpunk 2077 are actually pretty modest, but more aimed at 1080p resolutions at 30 FPS. If you want to enjoy Cyberpunk 2077 the way it was meant to be played, 4K resolution with buttery smooth frame rates, then you’re going to need some high-end hardware.  

Recommended Hardware 

Sticking with graphics, to best run Cyberpunk 2077 in all its ray-traced glory, we recommend the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super. These harness the power of 10240 CUDA cores and 16GB of GDDR6X VRAM. Plus with boost speeds up to 2550MHz, the 4080 Super is lightning fast. To best support this performance, we recommend having an AMD Ryzen 7 7700 or Intel Core i5-14600K processor. Both of these processors are primed for handling multi-threaded tasks and demanding workloads. 

GeForce RTX 4080 Super GPU

Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Gaming OC 16GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics

AMD Ryzen 7 7700 CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU

Intel Core i5-14600K CPU

Intel Core i5 14th Gen CPU box

Our top PC recommendation has to be the Refract Indigo. This pre-built gaming PC was literally designed to play Cyberpunk 2077! 

Refract Indigo Pre-Built Gaming PC

  • Designed for 4K gaming
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super GPU
  • AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D processor
  • Dazzling RGB lighting
  • Three years parts and labour warranty
Refract Gaming Indigo 2023
In game image from Cyberpunk 2077 with the text "Cyberpunk 2077 is it good yet?" overlayed on top
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty
Cyberpunk 2077 is SteamDeck Verified

Minecraft

Minecraft is the crafting and building game that took the world by storm. For fifteen years, this game has been going strong – seeing roughly 166 million monthly players. In 2020, this game was upgraded to support ray tracing. Whilst it has a simplistic, blocky design, ray tracing has enhanced textures, lighting, shaders, and reflections. As a result, those amazing builds look even more breath-taking. 

Even standard gameplay is much more atmospheric with realistic light physics. I hesitate to say the overall graphics are realistic, it’s still cartoony blocks! But fires now reflect in nearby pools of water, shadows behave more naturally, and everything is smoother in general. 

Minecraft with RTX on

As a relatively older game, Minecraft’s recommended specifications are not that demanding. With ray-tracing enabled, however, we see a distinct jump in hardware requirements. 

Recommended Hardware

To play Minecraft with ray tracing, you need at least an NVIDIA RTX 20 Series GPU. If you want to enjoy it at 4K with high frame rates, you’re going to need something from the latest generation of graphics cards. We recommend at least an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, with 12GB of GDDR6X VRAM and boost clock speeds of 2.48GHz. For your processor, it’s recommended at least an Intel Core i5 to best enable ray-tracing. The Intel Core i5-13400F or AMD Ryzen 7 5700X both harness the power of optimised cores and technology to enhance performance. 

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU

Asus GeForce RTX 4070Ti TUF Gaming 12GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card

AMD Ryzen 7 5700X CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 5000 CPU

Intel Core i5-13400F CPU

Intel Core i5 13th Gen

The OcUK Gaming Empath Gaming PC is an excellent choice for Minecraft with ray-tracing enabled. This configurable PC offers a selection of AMD Ryzen 7000 Series CPUs and RTX 40 Series GPUs, allowing you to best craft a machine to suit you. 

OcUK Gaming Empath Gaming PC

  • Configurable gaming PC
  • AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU
  • Flexible storage options
  • Up to 64GB DDR4 RAM
OcUK Gaming Empath - AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, RTX 4070 Gaming PC
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Lego Builder’s Journey

Lego games are a firm favourite for us here at Overclockers UK. Their blend of exciting gameplay and humorous whimsy is a great way to unwind after a stressful day at the office. Lego Builder’s Journey swaps the destructive nature of their licensed games for chill music and building puzzles. It is a free-form puzzle solving game with an additional Creative Mode. Each puzzle is solved by building with the most accurately rendered Lego bricks to date. Complete with that iconic noise they make when pieced together.  

Each set floats in the middle of your screen, upon a coloured background with dynamic lighting. With ray tracing enabled, the shadows and reflections become phenomenal. The light reflects off each individual brick for an amazing overall effect. 

Lego Builder's Journey ray tracing comparison

While a simple game in premise, to play Lego Builder’s Journey in 4K with ray tracing at 60FPS you have to use DLSS. Currently, no graphics cards can do it natively. Thank goodness for Deep Learning Super Sampling, eh?! As a result, you are going to need a hefty PC to play this in all its glory. 

Recommended Hardware

To best help your PC render this game, we recommend the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card. This top-of-the-line model has the highest GDDR6X VRAM capacity, the most CUDA cores, and a 384-bit memory interface width. Plus, all the gaming technology we know and love from Ada Lovelace architecture. To best support this, an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Intel Core i7-14700K is an excellent choice for your processor. 

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU

Asus GeForce RTX 4090 TUF OC 24GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

Intel Core i7-14700K CPU

Intel Core i7 14th Gen CPU box

Considering that you can’t play this game at 4K without DLSS, our top PC recommendation is a future-proofed option. The 8Pack Comet MK2 already houses top-tier hardware, perfect for heavy gaming. 

Infin8 C99

  • Water-cooling gaming PC inspired by 8Pack PCs 
  • AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU with 3D V-Cache 
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU 
  • Custom water-cooling 
  • Configurable memory and storage 
Infin8 C99 - AMD Ryzen 7950X3D, RTX 4090 Watercooled Gaming PC
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lego builders journey
Rev Your Engines for Lego 2K Drive! 

Hitman III

When Hitman III dropped in 2021, one of its biggest draws was the incredibly detail-rich world. Agent 47 takes you across the globe to many stunning locations. In May 2022, the game was updated to support ray tracing. Ray-traced reflections and shadows have been integrated within the game for even more photo-realistic graphics – at great computational cost. All that detail requires a little help from AI DLSS. 

Hitman 3 with ray-tracing on

Played at modest settings, Hitman III does not require that much from your hardware. However, even with AI DLSS on, 4K resolutions and ray tracing are going to need components with a little more oomph. 

Recommended Hardware

For the graphics card, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super is an ideal model to utilise. With 16GB of GDDR6X VRAM and a boost clock up to 2.61Hz, this is an incredibly fast GPU designed for gaming at max settings. Paired with an Intel Core i9-14900K or AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, and you’re sure to experience smooth gameplay.

GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super

Asus GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER TUF OC White 16GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X CPU

AMD Ryzen 9 7000 CPU

Intel Core i9-14900K CPU

Intel Core i9 14th Gen CPU box

Our top PC recommendation for Hitman III at top settings has to be the beautiful and powerful Infin8 Obelisk. Configurable, armed with top-tier hardware, and sporting a stunning aesthetic, this gaming PC seems like the perfect choice for Agent 47. 

OcUK Gaming Katana

  • Configurable gaming PC 
  • Intel Core i7-14700KF CPU 
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super GPU 
  • Up to 64GB DDR5 RAM 
  • Flexible storage solution 
OcUK Gaming Katana - Intel i7 14700KF, GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC
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Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Released back in February 2022, Dying Light 2: Stay Human takes place 22 years after the first game. Thankfully, it was only a seven year wait for us! This new addition to the zombie apocalypse with parkour enhances its already beautiful graphics with ray tracing. Shadows, light sources, and reflections all get the magic touch, grounding this scary game in an all-too-real looking world. 

Dying Light 2: Stay Human RTX on

As a new, richly detailed, and fast-paced game, the recommended specs for Dying Light 2 feature a number of more recent generations of hardware. Likely due to the ray tracing support. 

Recommended Hardware

Once again, playing this game at 4K resolutions and max settings is going to take elite-tier hardware and a little support for AI DLSS. For a graphics card, we recommend an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 card, due to its high CUDA core count and VRAM capacity. When it comes to the processor, we suggest the Intel Core i9-13900KF or AMD Ryzen 7 7950X3D. 

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU

Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 4090 GPU

AMD Ryzen 7 7950X3D CPU

AMD Ryzen 9 7000 Series X3D Cache CPU

Intel Core i9-13900KF

Intel Core i9 13th Gen

To get the best out of this game, we recommend the OcUK Gaming Zirconium PC. This configurable PC offers a selection of elite-tier gaming hardware in a stylish, water-cooled setup. 

OcUK Gaming Zirconium Gaming PC

  • Configurable gaming PC
  • 14th generation Intel CPU
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super
  • Flexible storage options
  • Up to 64GB DDR5 RAM
OcUK Gaming Zirconium - Intel Core i7 14700KF, GeForce RTX 4080 Pro Gaming PC
The Official System Requirements for Dying Light 2: Stay Human on PC
Can My PC Run It?
Dying Light 2 DLC feature

More Ray Tracing

As more and more games are available with ray tracing, there are plenty out there to make your PC sweat. The Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, for one, is going to need a £2500 PC to run the game at max settings with ray tracing on! Here are some honourable mentions that could have made this list: 


Alternatives to Ray Tracing

Of course, with technology being constantly innovated and developed, it may be that we end up gaming with a new rendering technique. Another route being explored is Path Tracing, a further developed form of ray tracing. At the moment it is being used to create scenes that are nigh on indistinguishable from reality at first glance. We’re a way off having this at a consumer, gaming-grade level, but it’s exciting to think about! 


Game On, Friends

What are your favourite games to play with ray tracing? What hardware do you use? Drop us a comment below. 

PC specs are subject to change.

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