VR Wars: Ampere vs Turing – the RTX 3080 vs. the RTX 2080 Ti – FCAT-VR Performance benchmarked

Fallout 4

Fallout 4 uses the Creation Engine. We benchmark at its highest settings and with TAA.

Fallout 4 had some issues on both cards with stuttering and slowdowns that we suspect are driver-related. Here is the frametime plot for Fallout 4.

Here are the details are reported by FCAT-VR:

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 121.25 unconstrained FPS with 8 Warp Misses and 8 dropped frames, but 2% (122) of its frames had to be synthesized.

In contrast, the RTX 3080 delivered 154.89 unconstrained FPS with 4 Warp Misses and 4 dropped frames, but it only required 22 synthetic frames. The experience playing Fallout 4 on the highest settings would be superior on the RTX 3080 over playing on the RTX 2080 Ti if the driver issues or performance were solved.

Next we look at Half Life: Alyx:

Half Life: Alyx

Half Life: Alyx uses an adaptive/dynamic scaling algorithm which uses a card’s performance headroom to subsample in demanding scenes and to supersample in less demanding scenes. We used console commands to lock the SteamVR resolution to 100% so that it did not supersample or subsample.

Here is the frametime plot for Half Life Alyx.

Here are the details as reported by FCAT-VR.

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 181.07 unconstrained FPS with no dropped or synthetic frames.

The RTX 3080 delivered 218.13 unconstrained FPS and with no dropped or synthetic frames either. Half Life Alyx isn’t particularly demanding and there isn’t any difference playing on either card at our chosen settings so we would also recommending increasing the Super Resolution to 130% in SteamVR settings using the RTX 2080 Ti and higher for the RTX 3080, and let the game subsample or supersample further.

We are able to increase the Super Resolution to beyond 140% for the RTX 3080 for even better visuals.

Next we look at Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is a visually impressive game using the Unreal 4 engine. It is a dark and disturbing game that is far more intense in VR than playing the regular version. We benchmark at the Very Highest settings and with TAA, and we also increased the resolution to 130% in-game.

Here is the frametime plot for Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

Here are the FCAT-VR details.

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 102.50 unconstrained FPS with 1 dropped and 14 synthetic frames along with a Warp Miss.

The RTX 3080 delivered 139.34 unconstrained FPS with 1 dropped and 3 synthetic frames. It also suffered a Warp Miss.

Hellblade isn’t particularly demanding until the Resolution is increased to 130% in-game, and then the RTX 2080 Ti runs out of headroom – unlike with the RTX 3080 that may benefit from increasing the SteamVR Super Resolution even further.

Next we will check out another demanding VR game, No Man’s Sky.

No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is an action-adventure survival single and multiplayer game that emphasizes survival, exploration, fighting, and trading. It is set in a procedurally generated deterministic open universe, which includes over 18 quintillion unique planets using its own custom game engine.

The player takes the role of a Traveller in an uncharted universe by starting on a random planet with a damaged spacecraft equipped only with a jetpack-equipped exosuit and a versatile multi-tool that can also be used for defense. The player is encouraged to find resources to repair his spacecraft allowing for intra- and inter-planetary travel, and to interact with other players.

Here is the No Man’s Sky Frametime plot. We set the settings to “Ultra” which is above Enhanced and we set the anisotropic filtering to 16x, and also upgraded from FXAA to FXAA+TAA.

Here are the FCAT-VR details of our comparative run.

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 82.30 unconstrained FPS with 1 Warp Miss and 1 dropped frame, but 50% (3162) of its frames had to be synthesized. It wasn’t a great experience and we would recommend playing it on Enhanced instead of Ultra.

In contrast, the RTX 3080 delivered 115.07 unconstrained FPS with no dropped frames, and it only required 403 (6%) synthetic frames. The experience playing No Man’s Sky using Ultra settings is much better on the RTX 3080 than it is playing with the RTX 2080 Ti.

Next we will check out another VR game, Obduction.

Obduction

Obduction is considered the spiritual successor to Myst and Riven. It is an adventure game developed by Cyan Worlds using the Unreal 4 engine. There is an emphasis on puzzle solving which get more and more difficult as a player progresses.

Here is Obduction’s frametime plot.

Here are the details.

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 116.83 unconstrained FPS with 4 synthetic frames.

The RTX 3080 delivered 129.45 unconstrained FPS and with 5 synthetic frames. You may be able to increase RTX 3080’s Super Resolution slightly beyond the 120% we set in-game for both cards, but the experience playing Obduction is very similar on both cards.

Next we will check out another demanding VR game, Project CARS 2.

Project CARS 2

There is no way to convey the incredible sense of immersion that comes from playing Project CARS 2 in VR using a wheel and pedals. It uses its in-house Madness engine and the physics implementation is outstanding. We are a bit disappointed with Project CARS 3, and may continue to use the older game instead for VR benching.

Project CARS 2 offers many performance options and settings and we prefer playing with SMAA Ultra.

We used maximum settings except for Motion Blur which look best to us on Low. We would also recommend lowering grass and reflections to maximize framerate delivery if necessary as motion smoothing or reprojection tends to cause visible artifacting. Here is the frametime plot.

Here are the FCAT-VR details.

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 99.36 unconstrained FPS, and 21% (1596) of its frames had to be synthesized. It isn’t a great experience playing with Motion Smoothing on, and we would recommend lowering settings instead.

In contrast, the RTX 3080 delivered 121.99 unconstrained FPS with no dropped frames, and it didn’t require any synthetic frames either. The experience playing Project CARS 2 on our chosen near-maximum settings is significantly better on the RTX 3080 than it is on the RTX 2080 Ti.

Let’s benchmark Skyrim VR.

Skyrim VR

Skyrim VR is an older game that is not as demanding as many of the newer VR ports so its performance is still very good on maxed-out settings using its Creation engine.

We benchmarked Skyrim VR using its highest settings, but we also increased the resolution to its in-game maximum. Here are the frametime results.

Here are the details of our comparative runs as reported by FCAT-VR.

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 126.02 unconstrained FPS yet 60 of its frames had to be synthesized.

In contrast, the RTX 3080 delivered 159.30 unconstrained FPS and it didn’t require any synthetic frames. The RTX 3080 can also benefit visually from increasing the Super Resolution further, but not the RTX 2080 Ti. Of course, many players would prefer adding more mods to the game rather than increasing the resolution.

Let’s check out Subnautica next.

Subnautica

Subnautica uses the Unity engine. As the sole survivor of a crash landing, the player ventures into the depths of a visually impressive alien underwater world. Here you can explore, craft equipment and build bases, pilot underwater craft, and solve mysteries all while attempting to survive a hostile environment.

We benchmarked Subnautica using its highest settings plus TAA, but we left its resolution at 100%, and here are the frametime results.

Here are the details.

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 84.66 unconstrained FPS, but 48% (2792) of its frames had to be synthesized.

In contrast, the RTX 3080 delivered 102.07 unconstrained FPS with 1 Warp Misses and 4 dropped frames, but it only required 28% (1722) synthetic frames. The experience playing Subnautica using its highest settings is not ideal as it doesn’t appear to be very well optimized and there are obvious stutters at times which may also be driver related.

Next up, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is built on the Unreal 4 engine and it boasts amazing visuals although it is not demanding. Although it is considered by some to be a walking simulator, it is also an excellent detective game with great puzzles. Be aware that its style of locomotion tends to make some of its players VR sick.

There are just a few in-game graphics options available, so we set 130% resolution in-game with TAA. Here is the frametime plot.

Here are the FCAT-VR details.

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 260.08 unconstrained FPS and the RTX 3080 delivered 356.19 unconstrained FPS. Neither card dropped any frames.

Although it is a beautiful game visually, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter isn’t particularly demanding even after the Super Resolution is increased to 130% in-game, and then both cards may benefit further by increasing the Super Resolution in SteamVR.

Last up, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinner is the last of BTR’s 13 VR game benching suite. It is a first person survival horror adventure RPG with a strong emphasis on crafting. Its visuals using the Unreal 4 engine are outstanding and it makes good use of physics for interactions.

We benchmarked Saints and Sinners using its highest settings, but this time we increased the Pixel Density to 150% in game. Here is the frametime chart.

Here are the details as reported by FCAT-VR.

The RTX 2080 Ti delivered 94.34 unconstrained FPS with 1 dropped frame and 1 Warp Miss, and 33% (2101) of its frames had to be synthesized. It’s an awful experience playing this game with Motion Smoothing on, and we would recommend dropping the Pixel Density instead.

In contrast, the RTX 3080 delivered 120.75 unconstrained FPS with 1 dropped frames and 1 Warp Miss, but it didn’t require any synthetic frames. The experience playing The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners using the in-game maximum settings and highest Pixel Density is much better on the RTX 3080 than it is on the RTX 2080 Ti.

Let’s look at our overall Unconstrained Framerates Chart.

Unconstrained Framerates

The following chart summarizes the overall Unconstrained Framerates (the performance headroom) of our two cards using thirteen test games and four synthetic benches: Superposition, VRMark’s Cyan and Blue Rooms, and the OpenVR benchmark.

Synthetic benchmarks are only useful for ranking cards. They don’t predict how any game will actually play in VR on any particular video card.

Let’s check out our conclusion.

Conclusion

We are surprised that the RTX 3080 – although Ampere has no VR optimizations over Turing – is able to give a superior VR experience at more demanding settings than the RTX 2080 Ti. We think that the RTX 3080 is a good upgrade over the RTX 2080 Ti for VR, even more so than for pancake gaming.