The GeForce RTX 20 series is a line of graphics cards developed by NVIDIA and released in 2018. It is based on the Turing architecture and is the first consumer-level graphics card series to support real-time ray tracing technology. The RTX 20 series includes models such as the RTX 2060, RTX 2070, RTX 2080, and RTX 2080 Ti, with varying levels of performance and features to cater to different budgets and needs.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX laptops are top-performing gaming machines that deliver excellent performance and incredibly lifelike graphics in a compact design. They are powered by DirectX 12 Ultimate, the new standard for modern video games. The addition of ray tracing in the Nvidia 20 series RTX elevates the level of realism and performance in games. The GeForce RTX has demonstrated its ability to provide an advanced and graphically intense PC gaming experience.
The RTX 20 series also includes other advanced technologies, such as AI-accelerated features, support for high-quality VR experiences,. The GPU has a strong and specialized ray tracing hardware that facilitates fast and real-time ray tracing and provides sharp shadows, reflections, and global illumination. Artificial intelligence is a major technological breakthrough in history and is becoming increasingly prominent in the world. Turing technology incorporates AI into the field of computer graphics. NVIDIA DLSS holds the promise of delivering AI processing capabilities that will improve gaming performance.
- Technical specifications and performance: This include the GPU architecture, core clock speeds, memory sizes, and benchmarks for the different models in the GeForce RTX 20 series.
- Ray tracing technology: The RTX 20 series was the first to introduce real-time ray tracing technology to consumer-level graphics cards, allowing for more realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections in games and other graphics-intensive applications.
- AI-accelerated features: The RTX 20 series also includes AI-accelerated features, such as deep learning super-sampling (DLSS), which enhances image quality by using artificial intelligence to upscale images in real-time.
- Virtual Reality (VR) compatibility: The RTX 20 series is designed to deliver high-quality VR experiences, with support for VR technologies like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
- Gaming performance and capabilities: The GeForce RTX 20 series is specifically designed for gamers, with support for the latest games and technologies, such as 4K gaming, high refresh rate displays, and more.
The Turing-generation GPUs have introduced the RTX Core, a new component specifically geared towards real-time ray tracing. While ray tracing has been used to produce photorealistic images and effects in films, the process typically involves pre-rendering, which can take considerable time. The fast calculations necessary for games and interactive computer programs, which require a minimum of 30 to 60 frames per second, were thought to be impossible using ray tracing. Thus, game developers and VR designers have relied on rasterization, a faster but less precise method, for visual representation.
The integration of hardware dedicated to ray tracing in GPUs marks a potential shift towards the use of ray tracing instead of rasterization for real-time 3D graphics. However, this is currently limited to a few high-end NVIDIA video cards and its potential may still be uncertain as it is yet to be seen if these RTX cores can handle full ray-traced games with both high resolution and high frame rates. It may take another generation or two of GPUs to achieve this. Additionally, widespread adoption of ray tracing as the primary method of rendering graphics may take a while as it requires more people to have these cards and for AMD, a major player in the video card market, to adopt similar technology.
There was speculation that the Volta technology might not be incorporated into the mainstream GeForce lineup, and that Tensor Cores would only be available on professional-oriented cards like the Titan, Quadro, and Tesla. However, the inclusion of Tensor Cores in the GeForce RTX 20 series of graphics cards indicates that NVIDIA believes there are advantages to having these capabilities at the consumer level. NVIDIA has shown how Tensor Cores can enhance the resolution of still images in video games, but there may be other uses for this technology in machine learning. For deeper insights into machine learning, it is suggested to consult Dr. Don Kinghorn’s HPC Blog.