The naming of the demo is of course, no coincidence. It shows off not only the new visual effects for DX12, but also the raw power of the new GTX 980 Ti, which Nvidia recently debuted. Sitting between the Titan and 980 cards, it’s a very powerful piece of kit; reflected in its circa $649 price tag.
As pretty as the ray traced shadows are though, for us (and TR) the real takehome here is that smoke. It’s beautifully done, swirling around the mech as it stomps about and even interacting with the machine as it pushes through its swirling mass. It’s particularly impressive to watch it dissipate in a realistic manner, with different transparency levels throughout the various columns.
Special mention also goes to the real time reflections on multiple surfaces. It’s a subtle effect, but one that really helps bring the scene to life.
It just seems a shame that Nvidia didn’t use GSync during this demo, as there is a lot of screen tearing going on. It could be because GSync does cause a small, but measurable, performance hit and perhaps the 980 Ti wouldn’t have looked quite as hefty. Surely that would have been better than showing screen tearing. the very thing Nvidia has claimed to have killed with its new display technology.
