Microsoft recently released the most significant update to DirectX Raytracing since 2018, introducing Clustered Geometry and Partitioned Top-Level Acceleration Structures (PTLAS). These technologies aim to optimize ray tracing performance in specific scenarios.
Independent tester Osvaldo Pinali Doderlein evaluated the update using an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080. In a specialized test scene, the graphics card demonstrated a performance increase of 220 times, with frame rates rising from 1.3 fps to 310 fps.
The test also compared the RTX 5080 against the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT. While the AMD card held a lead before the update, the RTX 5080 outperformed it by nearly 3.5 times after the new technologies were activated.
Microsoft previously reported a 66-fold performance gain for the Radeon RX 9070 XT in similar test environments. The current results remain limited to controlled scenes, and real-world gaming performance will depend on future software implementation.
