RTX 2060 Ray Tracing: A Failed Promise?

RTX 2060 Ray Tracing: A Failed Promise?

This article revisits the RTX 2060’s ray tracing capabilities, five years after its launch. Nvidia promised it would bring ray tracing to mid-range gamers. This analysis explores whether that promise was fulfilled.

The RTX 2060 in Proper Context

The RTX 2060, launched in early 2019 at a mid-range price point, aimed for 1440p 60 FPS gaming. While initially considered decent value, it didn’t significantly outperform its predecessor, the GTX 1070. Nvidia’s focus shifted towards selling RTX features like ray tracing and DLSS.

Gaming Benchmarks

Testing at 1080p revealed mixed results. Games like Guardians of the Galaxy allowed for playable ray tracing at 60 FPS, while others like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Doom Eternal required significant compromises to enable it. Many games suffered from VRAM limitations (6GB) leading to stuttering and performance issues even at low settings.

Performance Summary: Can It Do 60 FPS?

The RTX 2060 struggled to maintain 60 FPS with ray tracing enabled in most tested games, even at 1080p and with low settings. Only a handful of titles offered a genuinely playable experience with ray tracing enabled.

Wrap Up: Never Fast Enough

Nvidia’s marketing of the RTX 2060’s ray tracing capabilities was overstated. The