Digital Foundry | Watch Dogs Legion - Xbox Series X/S Ray Tracing vs PC RTX - Features, Quality, Performance + More

[Uzupedro]

Watch Dogs Legion is the first PC title supporting DirectX Ray Tracing to arrive on the next-gen consoles - and in this detailed analysis, Alex Battaglia stacks up the console RT implementation against the PC version. Consoles are running on lower-than-PC settings, so what are the differences and what happens when we mod the PC game to run at Series X quality levels? And from *there*, what kind of PC graphics hardware does it take to match and exceed console quality? The results will surprise you.

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Text Version: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...dogs-legion-console-ray-tracing-vs-nvidia-rtx

I came away from this testing with several conclusions. We may well be seeing a different level of scaling from AMD's console GPUs with RT enabled. After all, in the non-RT Gears 5, an RTX 2080 is said to be comparable to Series X, yet here in Watch Dogs: Legion with RT features active, an RTX 2060 Super seems to be more performant. This means that consoles may require reduced resolution, distance, or material settings compared to mid-range PC graphics hardware. As for Ubisoft taking all of the console compromises and porting them back to PC, I'd say that this may well be a worthwhile option depending on how AMD RDNA 2 cards run the game. With Nvidia tech, there's no real need to reduce RT settings lower than medium - turn on DLSS and you get performance back that mostly covers the hit RT incurs. However, with that said, I found the test highly enlightening and I would love for PC versions to feature console configurations as an option - it would be great for our analyses, but more importantly it would greatly benefit users who just want an easy console-like experience without having to think about graphical settings too deeply. After all, consoles typically deliver the best bang for the buck and those optimisations do tend to transfer across nicely to PC as well.

Of course, it's important not to take too much away from this very early test. After all, this is just one game - and a launch title at that, likely finished in an accelerated window of development with non-final tools and console APIs. We will return to Watch Dogs: Legion to investigate PlayStation 5, but we can offer up some spoilers based on the in-game config files. They suggest that 'Prospero' (the development codename for PS5) features identical settings across the board compared to 'Anaconda' (Xbox Series X) and if that's the case, it may be just performance or dynamic resolution scaling quality that separates the two machines. We'll report back on that as soon as we can.

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[ShapeGSX]

Not unexpected results. AMD's ray tracing was bound to be less performant than nVidias.

The game still looks great on Xbox Series X, though. The reflections add a lot in that environment.

Alex did an amazing job, as usual. This is a brilliant way to tackle this analysis.

 

[Uzupedro]

Amazing video, the XSX configuration on PC is crazy stuff, and being able to see the numbers for each version is really cool.

 

[arsene_P5]

Amazing video Dictator. The way you analyse and talk about RT always amazes me. Great job. Do you have a PS5 now?

 

[lost7]

Insane level of details as always in this analysis. This is why DF is the best at what they do.

It'll be very interesting to see how ray tracing will be handled in this console generation. As it is now, I think it is too expensive on console to be worth the lost performance, so I'm hoping they'll find ways to make it more efficient

 

[ghostcrew]

Alex is a treasure. This is insanely detailed.

 

[arsene_P5]

Amazing video, the XSX configuration on PC is crazy stuff, and being able to see the numbers for each version is really cool.

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I think the most interesting part here is the Lockhart. I just took a quick look and it seems to have the exact same settings as PS5 and Series X. With the RT resolution being lower.

 

[Qassim]

It's interesting, but I guess not unexpected that ray tracing is makes the consoles less competitive with current PC hardware. That's even against first gen RTX cards, I'm curious to see what a 3060 would be like against these consoles, especially in ray traced games.

 

[TooBusyLookinGud]

Thanks for the content DF. Your schedules are going to be slammed in the coming months.

 

[brawndolicious]

I think the biggest benefit of developers potentially giving out the console-equivalent config settings is that those settings were well tuned to provide the best combination of detail and performance. If you look at the Series consoles, there are definitely cut backs relative to a top end PC but they do a good job of getting most of the ray tracing benefits at an acceptable performance.

Is there any particular reason why dynamic resolution is not an option on PC games? Seems perfect when you're playing a game that falls below the framerate that VRR can handle.

 

[tusharngf]

mimicking XSX setting. thats just next level

 

[Alexandros]

Alex really is in a league of his own, this video is both incredibly in-depth and so well explained that even laymen like us can plainly understand it. I am really impressed.

 

[pulsemyne]

I think the biggest benefit of developers potentially giving out the console-equivalent config settings is that those settings were well tuned to provide the best combination of detail and performance. If you look at the Series consoles, there are definitely cut backs relative to a top end PC but they do a good job of getting most of the ray tracing benefits at an acceptable performance.

Is there any particular reason why dynamic resolution is not an option on PC games? Seems perfect when you're playing a game that falls below the framerate that VRR can handle.

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Because ubisoft ports to PC are pretty bad optimization wise.

 

[Doc Cottle]

Kinda cool seeing the Prospero devkit code name being referred to

 

[JahIthBer]

Ah the infamous Watch Dogs config files make a return, the one that said "this is PC, it doesn't matter" or something like that, classic Ubisoft.

More importantly than PC vs Console, this could be a good look at RDNA2 vs Turing in Ray Tracing & it seems AMD really doesn't compete with Nvidia in this regard, which is just shit because the 6000 series has lots of yummy VRAM & better price/performance, but the poor RT performance is going to be hard to swallow, especially if devs are going to just dial up the RT quality on PC ports because Nvidia has the majority of the market share & not care if RDNA2 lags behind.

 

[gofreak]

I think the most interesting part here is the Lockhart. I just took a quick look and it seems to have the exact same settings as PS5 and Series X. With the RT resolution being lower.

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The ray decay setting for rough reflections is also lower on Series S. But yeah, it's not a bad outing all things considered.

 

[Alexandros]

Is there any particular reason why dynamic resolution is not an option on PC games? Seems perfect when you're playing a game that falls below the framerate that VRR can handle

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Valhalla does have a dynamic resolution option, maybe the Watch Dogs devs couldn't implement it in time for release.

 

[JahIthBer]

Valhalla does have a dynamic resolution option, maybe the Watch Dogs devs couldn't implement it in time for release.

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Probably more because it has DLSS. a problem for non RTX/AMD users though.

 

[Dictator]

The ray decay setting for rough reflections is also lower on Series S. But yeah, it's not a bad outing all things considered.

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I did not explain it in the video since the video had a shorter production time - but ray decay is neat. It shortens the length of a ray after it hits a rougher surface. So changes to ray decay change the chance of a rougher surface has of getting a reflection from a further away object. It is a neat idea actually to preserve performance... but also it could at a lower ray count perhaps help the denoiser reconstruct a more consistent reflection on a rougher surface.

This video easily could have been half an hour long if I went through everything.

Alex is a treasure. This is insanely detailed.

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Thanks :)

And thanks Alexandros

 

[Nintendo]

Valhalla does have a dynamic resolution option, maybe the Watch Dogs devs couldn't implement it in time for release.

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Valhalla runs on a different engine.

 

[Unkindled]

Edit: nvm Doesn't have PS5 yet.

 

[christocolus]

Great job Alex. well done.

 

[ILikeFeet]

This video easily could have been half an hour long if I went through everything.

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I would totally watch that...

wish PC games should have a "console" setting or something. especially when they're running a custom blend like watch dogs

 

[Alexandros]

Probably more because it has DLSS. a problem for non RTX/AMD users though.

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Oh, you might be right, I forgot about DLSS.

Valhalla runs on a different engine.

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True, but I can't imagine that the engine can't do dynamic resolution on PC if it can on console.

 

[Deleted member 51957]

does Legion stay locked at 30 on the XSX? any major performance dips?

 

[bob100]

Amazing Video....i learn so much from Dictator and the DF team.

As Series X and PS5 have the exact same settings are we likely to get a DF comparison video in terms of performance?

Dictator Does Series X or PS5 perform better than the other in terms of Frame Rate or is it locked 30?

 

[Uhtred]

Is there any particular reason why dynamic resolution is not an option on PC games? Seems perfect when you're playing a game that falls below the framerate that VRR can handle.

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It definitely is an option in some PC games, but it's something the devs have to implement themselves. Why didn't Ubi do it for this game?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[hussien-11]

This is one of the best technical videos I've ever seen.

I don't see the point of console settings on PC though.... in the end, users do have different machines and there is no escape configuring settings here and there.

 

[Rebel777]

He should mention power consumption on XSX and PC with 2060 Super. Im assuming in this comparison XSX clearly wins.

 

[Uhtred]

This is one of the best technical videos I've ever seen.

I don't see the point of console settings on PC though.... in the end, users do have different machines and there is no escape configuring settings here and there.

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It would be a nice starting point at least.

Sure in this game in particular and with a DLSS capable card it doesn't necessarily make sense to pick those over higher settings + DLSS for the same performance, but at least there's a starting place.

At the very least I'd like to see those optimizations surfaced on the settings menu.

 

[Uhtred]

He should mention power consumption on XSX and PC with 2060 Super. Im assuming in this comparison XSX clearly wins.

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I don't know about you but whenever I'm playing a game I say, who cares about frame rate and graphics, and lighting, and textures... give me that power consumption baby!

;p

Yeah I mean I definitely wouldn't be surprised if the overall power draw even at console settings would benefit the console. PC is just more generalist hardware so you'd need to control a ton of variables to get any sort of meaningful answer.

 

[Convasse]

Good grief, Dictator. This is a wunderbar analysis. Hats off, sir. That RTX 2060 performance should relieve people who are investing in 30 series GPUs.

 

[catswaller]

Seems about right. Gamers everywhere have been downplaying the RT and Tensor cores in nvidia cards (going as far as to widely see the 200 series cards as a ripoff and overpriced) but there's no way cards without comparable dedicated hardware are going to get anywhere close to otherwise similar (TF-wise) rtx cards in rt performance.

XSX has a great raster gpu but im impressed they manage to even make it look this good in terms of RT.

 

[Andromeda]

What about the performance on console? Shouldn't it be important?

 

[GhostofWar]

Ah the infamous Watch Dogs config files make a return, the one that said "this is PC, it doesn't matter" or something like that, classic Ubisoft.

More importantly than PC vs Console, this could be a good look at RDNA2 vs Turing in Ray Tracing & it seems AMD really doesn't compete with Nvidia in this regard, which is just shit because the 6000 series has lots of yummy VRAM & better price/performance, but the poor RT performance is going to be hard to swallow, especially if devs are going to just dial up the RT quality on PC ports because Nvidia has the majority of the market share & not care if RDNA2 lags behind.

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AMD do seem to be avoiding talking about RT. With godfall delaying the RT mode im wondering if the drivers at release for the 6000 cards are going to not have dxr support to push those numbers away from release.

 

[Poison Jam]

He should mention power consumption on XSX and PC with 2060 Super. Im assuming in this comparison XSX clearly wins.

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That would require building a PC with a single NVME SSD, and 3700X in Eco Mode or something. There's so many variables depending on the system. But the 2060S has a TDP of just 175W, so both systems would be very efficient.

Thanks to Dictator and DF for making this video. I've been craving a good comparison to PC.

 

[chandoog]

Why oh why didn't Ubisoft add an optional non-RT Performance mode on the consoles.

 

[sweetmini]

I did not explain it in the video since the video had a shorter production time - but ray decay is neat. It shortens the length of a ray after it hits a rougher surface. So changes to ray decay change the chance of a rougher surface has of getting a reflection from a further away object. It is a neat idea actually to preserve performance... but also it could at a lower ray count perhaps help the denoiser reconstruct a more consistent reflection on a rougher surface.
This video easily could have been half an hour long if I went through everything.

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Damn... i wish the video were half an hour long :P

The "behind the settings" of how consoles achieved their performance target may be not as "rewarding" as your settings dives for PC on a budget, but they sure are as interesting.

You are to be cherished, you save people a loooooot of trial and error with settings to try to figure stuff out and give very clear explanations.

Again, thanks !

 

[gofreak]

What about the performance on console? Shouldn't it be important?

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There'll be a separate video for that it, sounds like. This one is purely to examine the RT implementation.

 

[Rebel777]

I don't know about you but whenever I'm playing a game I say, who cares about frame rate and graphics, and lighting, and textures... give me that power consumption baby!

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I don't know about you but for me XSX may have little bit lower graphical settings but for me it's all bout how comfortable my gameplay time is, and with features like Auto-HDR and Quick Resume console version is the winner. Not to mention XSX controller works better with console than PC cuz Microsoft improved stronger signal. On PC you can connect only via Bluetooth with lot of other problems (not talking about dongle connection cuz its introduces even more input lag).

 

[Uhtred]

Why oh why didn't Ubisoft add an optional non-RT Performance mode on the consoles.

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You're going to be asking this and similar questions all the time when it comes to consoles. Because it's always something the devs or publisher decide and not you. And they won't always choose what you would have chosen. It's the nature of consoles.

 

[rokkerkory]

Great video DF

 

[Krakatoa]

Amazing video. Very insightful analysis.

 

[Yopis]

I don't know about you but for me XSX may have little bit lower graphical settings but for me it's all bout how comfortable my gameplay time is, and with features like Auto-HDR and Quick Resume console version is the winner. Not to mention XSX controller works better with console than PC cuz Microsoft improved stronger signal. On PC you can connect only via Bluetooth with lot of other problems (not talking about dongle connection cuz its introduces even more input lag).

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You need a dongle? Guess my motherboard covers that. And my xbox controller is plug and play on PC. The graphical power is more than a little compared to top end PC gpus.

For bluetooth just turn on and connect no dongle.

 

[Qassim]

On PC you can connect only via Bluetooth with lot of other problems (not talking about dongle connection cuz its introduces even more input lag).

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That isn't true. They have the official wireless adapter that works perfectly fine & doesn't use bluetooth, unless that's what you're referring to with the 'dongle' - not aware of any extra input lag with that.

 

[Ada]

Either AMD RT is too taxing or the GPU isn't as strong as it looks on paper. The 2060S wasn't even using DLSS and still matched.

 

[chandoog]

You're going to be asking this and similar questions all the time when it comes to consoles. Because it's always something the devs or publisher decide and not you. And they won't always choose what you would have chosen. It's the nature of consoles.

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You're right .. but we've already seen a handful of games add optional performance toggles in the launch window. This is a trend I hope increases.

With AC Valhalla it's not much of an issue since that game is already targeting a performance profile without any RT effects to hog the resources.

 

[Uhtred]

I don't know about you but for me XSX may have little bit lower graphical settings but for me it's all bout how comfortable my gameplay time is, and with features like Auto-HDR and Quick Resume console version is the winner. Not to mention XSX controller works better with console than PC cuz Microsoft improved stronger signal. On PC you can connect only via Bluetooth with lot of other problems (not talking about dongle connection cuz its introduces even more input lag).

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The difference in input lag is not significant in any way shape or form, don't know what you are talking about. And load times on my PC vs at least this game on Xbox X are FASTER on my PC.

And on my PC the game runs at a mostly stable 60 FPS, something you can't do on Series X at all.

I'm not even sure why you're preference in gamepads are relevant in this discussion. Why can't we have a technical graphics comparison without fanboys desperately looking to score points?

You don't have to justify your purchase to us man. Enjoy your console. The fact that PC hardware can do better doesn't diminish your enjoyment, or it shouldn't, but for some reason it appears to.

 

[MrBob]

What a comparison. Agreed about graphics settings. Would like to see more pc games have actual console setting mode preset. Could literally be labeled as series x or series s preset mode. Especially when a 2060 super can look better and perform better than next gen consoles.

 

[nib95]

Fantastic video and analysis Dictator .

Never seen one of these comparisons with the config files detailed like that. You can literally see individual specific option and settings differences.

Would be interesting to compare the PS5 and XSX versions given they use exactly the same settings, so presumably there'd only be FPS and resolution scaling differences between them.

Really dislike how the delayed screen space reflections looks on the One X. The way it slowly teleports in just looks jarring, and in that sense RT does indeed look far more immersive.

I also don't mind the lower RT resolution (in some instances it makes reflections look less jaggy if that makes sense) on the next-gen consoles, but the draw distance on RT at medium is too low imo. Just looks poor. Basically a building or two onwards in the example given, and things start blurring out.

Finally, I think it's disappointing an RTX 2060 Super performs better than the XSX (and presumably PS5 too) at present, given that is a 7.18 Tflop GPU vs the XSX's 12.15 Tflops (albeit different architecture). That Nvidia RT HW doing work I guess.