Metro Exodus: performance comparison with AMD and NVIDIA graphics.
Contents
The new Metro Exodus is now available, and in its PC version it shows off the latest NVIDIA graphic advances since it is compatible with the Ray Tracing and DLSS technologies that the brand’s new generation GeForce RTX debuted. Today, we show you our graphic performance analysis in which we are going to check how well the game works with the entire range of graphics cards from both AMD and NVIDIA that we have available, including in this case the new NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 2060.
To test this game, we have used our usual test bench, consisting of the following hardware:
- Intel Core i7 8700K @ stock
- MSI Z370 Gaming M5.
- 2×8 GB G.Skill Sniper X DDR4 3600 Mhz
- Corsair MP500 480GB M.2 PCI-Express NVMe.
- Corsair RM1000i.
And in this case, this is the list of graphics cards we had available for testing (we’ve removed some of the older or less powerful ones, and added the new ones we’ve been borrowed, including the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX ones):
- AMD Radeon RX Vega 64(Built by AMD, reference model).
- AMD Radeon R9 Nano.
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Founders Edition.
- MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X.
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Founders Edition.
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition.
In all cases, the data shown is the average FPS obtained, measured at both Full HD (1920 x 1080) and Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) resolutions. In the case of NVIDIA graphics cards we have used the latest drivers available, GeForce 418.91 WHQL) and in the case of AMD, likewise the latest available (Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.2.2). In both cases, they are drivers optimized for Metro Exodus, so we will be on equal terms.
However, first of all we must qualify one thing: obviously RT and DLSS are only available with NVIDIA RTX graphics, and not with the others, and in this case the performance is penalized (around 30%), so I recommend it. we will put it separately. Additionally, to comment on the fact that the game does not gain performance using DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 (in fact the results are almost exactly the same), so we have used DirectX 12 for testing.
Difference with and without Ray Tracing and DLSS
For this section we have collected a few screenshots (which, by the way, neither the game nor Epic Launcher have the option to take screenshots and I had to associate the game on Steam to take them) with and without Ray Tracing and DLSS so that you can see for yourself the difference.
On the other hand, a problem is known in which, with DLSS activated, the game loses graphic definition, but NVIDIA assures that with the latest version of drivers used it has been solved, so we wanted to see it for ourselves.
I don’t know about you, but both images look identical to me.
Metro Exodus: Graphical Performance Analysis
To measure the performance we have made use of the benchmarking tool that comes with the game itself, although we already tell you that the performance within the game is much higher than that obtained with the benchmark, even configuring the same graphic parameters. I don’t know the reason why this is so, but to give you an idea, if with the RTX 2080 Ti in Full HD the average is 97 FPS in the benchmark, in the game it is normal that we are around 110 FPS.
With that said, let’s get there with performance. We start with the comparative test in Full HD (1920 x 1080) and Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) resolutions, always with the preset set to Ultra, RTX and DLSS turned off (since AMD does not have it), advanced physics activated, and in DirectX 11.
It is clear that Metro Exodus works much better with NVIDIA graphics, and even the Radeon RX Vega 64 barely passes 60 FPS on average at Full HD resolution. However, not even the powerful RTX 2080 Ti is capable of reaching 60 FPS on average at 4K resolution, which will force us to relax the graphics settings if we want to have a more fluid game.
NVIDIA has always benefited, for a long time, from Physx technology, so advanced physics can become a determining value in game performance, so we wanted to make a small comparison with the most powerful NVIDIA graphics and from AMD we have to measure performance with advanced physics on and off. The test has been carried out at Full HD resolution, in DirectX 12 Ultra mode and, of course, with RayTracing and DLSS turned off. This has been the result.
The fact is that, indeed, AMD’s graphics card loses some performance by activating physics while NVIDIA’s has almost no loss, but it’s not that the difference is too noticeable either (the RX Vega 64 loses about 2 FPS) .
Finally, the test that surely many of you were waiting for: the difference with RayTracing and DLSS. You already know that RayTracing usually reduces performance and DLSS improves it -this is something that, if you are unaware, we encourage you to read about it in our analysis of the RTX graphics that we have linked above-, so let’s see how having these activated or deactivated influences parameters with RTX graphics. The test has been carried out in Full HD and Ultra HD with DirectX 12 and the preset at High instead of Ultra.
As you can see, in general terms performance is affected quite a bit by enabling these new technologies. For example, at Full HD resolution, the RTX 2080 Ti drops from 97 to 84 FPS, while in the RTX 2060 the average FPS drops from almost 59 to just 44.5 FPS, which is quite a significant performance detriment.
conclusion
Metro Exodus is a game that lives up to the fame of its previous versions, and is extremely demanding in terms of graphic power. As we have been able to see, NVIDIA graphics cards take a significant advantage in terms of performance, providing a much smoother gaming experience than their AMD counterparts and especially at high resolutions.
On the other hand, it should be noted that Metro Exodus is one of the first titles to truly benefit from the new RayTracing and DLSS technologies incorporated by the new generation of NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics cards, providing better graphic quality -especially in terms of lighting. – and more realistic, but as we have seen, penalizing performance.
