At this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC), NVIDIA has officially announced the integration of DLSS 3.5 technology into the RTX edition of "Portal." This announcement marks another significant upgrade for this classic sci-fi puzzle game.
The game "Portal" was initially launched by Valve in 2007 as part of "The Orange Box" collection, alongside "Half-Life 2," "Team Fortress 2," and their expansion chapters. Praised for its unique humor style and spatial concepts, the game allows players to utilize the portal gun to place two interconnected portals on walls, floors, and ceilings, enabling them to navigate through space in the test chambers of the Aperture Science research facility, solve puzzles, and challenge the laws of physics.
Until 2022, NVIDIA upgraded games with comprehensive enhancements using ray tracing technology and RTX series graphics cards, releasing the RTX version of "Portal". Now, with the addition of DLSS 3.5 technology, players will be able to utilize AI-driven ray tracing reconstruction techniques to enhance the realism of ray tracing and improve the responsiveness of dynamic lighting effects. Furthermore, the introduction of NVIDIA RTX IO has boosted texture loading speeds and reduced the size of game files. This upgrade not only revitalizes the RTX version of "Portal" but also reaffirms its creative and enduring appeal as a sci-fi puzzle game.
Enhanced with panoramic ray tracing effects, RTX Remix tools are also part of the upgrade.
In the original "Portal" RTX version, the game incorporated NVIDIA's ray tracing technology, also known as path tracing, aiming to create an immersive gaming world for players. This technology accurately simulates the properties of light in the real world, bringing realistic lighting, shadows, reflections, and refractions to surfaces and objects in the game. Every object in the game, including floors, walls, etc., has been redesigned to showcase more realistic material details, such as the reflection of glass and the gloss of metal. These improvements not only make the game's levels and effects appear more detailed and dynamic but also allow players to experience realistic changes in lighting and shadows, greatly enhancing the game's realism and immersion.
The official development team also utilized the RTX Remix tool to completely overhaul the game, meticulously adjusting every pixel to ensure that the floors, walls, and various objects exhibit a more realistic texture and reflection effects. This application of new technology enables the RTX version of "Portal" to achieve more intelligent and detailed global illumination methods as well as other ray tracing effects. Additionally, physics-based rendering technology adds realism to objects in the environment, with details such as surface scratches, wear and tear, and rivets clearly visible, while maintaining a balance of clinical and simplicity in the portal laboratory to ensure that players can easily identify interactive surfaces and portal placements. This remaster is not only a heartfelt reimagining of the original, but also a demonstration of the potential of RTX Remix mode. This automated tool is nearly as advanced as the sci-fi portal gun in the game, employing a combination of AI, hardware, and software to add ray tracing capabilities to any game.
NVIDIA DLSS 3.5: The perfect blend of image quality and performance.
The latest RTX version of "Portal" now supports NVIDIA DLSS 3.5. This DLSS ray tracing technology employs a brand-new AI model, replacing traditional denoisers. By generating higher-quality pixels, it enhances ray tracing image quality for all GeForce RTX GPU users. Compared to previous technologies, DLSS 3.5 offers significantly improved image quality, and as deep learning continues to advance, its performance will keep improving. DLSS ray tracing technology not only accelerates the updating speed of lighting effects but also crisply presents details in game scenes, delivering a more realistic and immersive visual experience for players.
Using AI-driven ray tracing technology, gaming experiences have been further enhanced in terms of realism and responsiveness. Additionally, with DLSS 3.5, not only is the visual quality improved, but higher frame rates are achieved without sacrificing performance, delivering a smoother and more detailed gaming experience for players. By enabling DLSS 3.5 and ray tracing technology, the upcoming GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards from NVIDIA will bring remarkable performance improvements, allowing gamers to fully immerse themselves in the joy of gaming at high resolutions.
Furthermore, NVIDIA RTX IO enhances loading speeds with all-new storage blocks and companion blocks.
Additionally, the latest version of the game has incorporated NVIDIA RTX IO. This technology brings revolutionary changes to game loading and asset decompression. Leveraging GPU decompression technology significantly boosts game loading speeds while reducing CPU usage. In the "Portal" RTX version, NVIDIA RTX IO can shorten texture loading times by up to 5 times and reduce the game's disk footprint by 37%. This will provide players with a smoother, faster gaming experience, allowing them to dive into the gaming world more quickly and enjoy the fun to the fullest.
In addition to technical upgrades, this update brings brand new storage blocks and companion blocks to the "Portal" RTX version. These blocks will accompany players as they traverse the game world, providing a richer and more diverse gaming experience. With Remix technology, players can use various alternative models to make the game's lighting effects more realistic, showcasing full panorama ray tracing technology in the game. By creating reward blocks, every player can participate in the game's creation, making the game world more colorful and diverse.
In a nutshell, Portal RTX is an absolute gem that shouldn't be missed. With its unique gameplay mechanics, intricate puzzle designs, and witty humor, it delivers extraordinary fun and challenges to players. The introduction of DLSS 3.5 technology further enhances the gaming experience, showcasing significant technological advancements. Thanks to NVIDIA's extensive technical support, the game offers an unprecedented level of immersion and visual realism. If you're a fan of puzzle-solving games, this game is definitely worth a try!
Live Testing Results
Next up are the results from live testing of the game. To evaluate the performance of Portal RTX in real gameplay scenarios, two graphics cards from GearUp, the GearUp GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Snowstorm Mini and the GearUp GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Radiance OC, were selected for this test. These two cards represent GearUp's 2K and 4K level graphics cards respectively. Not only do they boast excellent performance, but their sleek designs also provide players with an intuitive display of performance. The tests will be conducted at the highest graphics settings, covering three resolutions: 1080P, 2K, and 4K. Additionally, frame rate changes will be recorded by toggling DLSS 3.5 technology on and off in different modes. Furthermore, real-time game screenshots will be provided for a visual comparison of the graphics quality.
Frame Rate Testing at 1080P
First, let's start with the 1080P resolution test. As a remastered game with demanding hardware requirements, without DLSS 3.5 enabled, the game's frame rates aren't particularly high, with both GPUs only reaching an average of 33.52 frames and 43.55 frames, respectively. However, once DLSS 3.5 is enabled, there's a significant boost in frame rates, delivering smooth and stable gameplay even at the highest graphics settings. In auto mode, the frame rates for the Gainward GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER SnowStalker Mini can maintain a stable average of 117.46 frames, while the Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Aurora OC surpasses the 150 frames mark on average.
Next up, 2K resolution.
Moving on to the 2K resolution test. With DLSS 3.5 turned off, the average frame rates for both GPUs further dropped to 19.38 frames and 25.3 frames respectively. Upon enabling DLSS 3.5, there's a noticeable improvement in overall smoothness. The framerate for the Gainward GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Snow Stomper Mini remains stable at an average of 84.43 frames. Meanwhile, the Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Glittering OC still exceeds an average of 100 frames, reaching an impressive average of 116.57 frames.
4K
In the final 4K resolution test, we observed that the Gainward GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER SnowStomp Mini, with DLSS 3.5 enabled, achieved an average of 50.91 frames per second (FPS), but couldn't maintain smooth gameplay throughout. On the other hand, the Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER GlitterBeam OC lived up to its 4K graphics card status, maintaining an average of 74.05 FPS, ensuring smooth gaming experience.
The test results indicate that "Portal" RTX version demands high GPU performance. However, thanks to the support of DLSS 3.5 technology, both Gainward graphics cards demonstrated significant performance advantages in the game. Whether at 1080P or 2K resolution, players can enjoy high frame rates and smooth gameplay, while also experiencing outstanding visual effects. Even when facing 4K resolution, the Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER GlitterBeam OC can maintain smooth gameplay.
DLSS Comparison Screenshots
Next, we'll compare the real-time game visuals with DLSS enabled and disabled to evaluate the difference in picture quality.
(RTX ON DLSS 3.5/RTX ON DLSS OFF/RTX OFF DLSS OFF)
When comparing the visual enhancements of DLSS 3.5 mode, it's evident that DLSS 3.5 delivers more realistic lighting effects. Transparent and opaque reflections are better reproduced within the surrounding environment at full resolution, enhancing immersion. Even amidst complex terrain, the frame rate remains stable without noticeable fluctuations.
(RTX ON DLSS 3.5/RTX ON DLSS OFF/RTX OFF DLSS OFF)
From the visuals, with DLSS 3.5 enabled, the game displays clear and detailed imagery, maintaining high-quality graphics while eliminating issues like unrealistic diffuse lighting. Additionally, the portrayal of details is enhanced, with stains and other elements illuminated by light appearing clearer, offering a richer texture.
Conclusion
The integration of DLSS 3.5 technology acts as a potent catalyst, significantly boosting performance in the previously hardware-demanding "Portal" RTX edition. This technology enables the Geforce RTX 4080 SUPER graphics card to deliver over 70 FPS gaming experience at 4K resolution, marking a performance increase of 6.7 times. Similarly, users of the Geforce RTX 4070 SUPER graphics card can achieve a 4.7-fold performance boost at 2560x1440 resolution. Even at 1080P resolution, the performance boost ensures smooth gaming experiences for nearly all Geforce RTX 40 series graphics card users.
Compared to the original version from 2007, the "Portal" RTX edition not only brings comprehensive ray tracing effects visually but also enhances the gaming experience through DLSS 3.5 and full remastering. It retains the game's content and pacing while deepening its impact and design philosophy. As an exemplary remaster and reissue, it successfully blends classic design with modern technology, providing players with a fresh perspective to experience this iconic puzzle game. With the comprehensive update of such a classic game, it is believed that the "Half-Life 2" RTX edition will soon follow, offering players a new gaming experience.
After conducting real-world testing, it's evident that "Portal" RTX Edition demands higher computer specifications. Prior to diving into the game, players should pay attention to their graphics card model. It's recommended that players opt for pairing their setup with the latest GeForce RTX 40 SUPER series graphics cards by Gainward. This choice promises a more immersive gaming experience. These graphics cards feature the brand-new NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture, supporting various RTX technologies, including NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 and ray tracing, enhancing the realism and detail of game visuals.
Recently, NVIDIA released a beta version of their NVIDIA app, which integrates features from GeForce Experience, aiming to create a more convenient and hassle-free GPU control center for users. However, since this app is currently in beta testing, GeForce Experience will continue to provide its services. Users interested in trying out the NVIDIA app beta can download it from the official website for experimentation.
In addition, the latest GeForce RTX series graphics cards from Genshin support the newest Chat With RTX technology. This allows users to engage with customized chatbots to swiftly obtain tailored answers based on their queries.
Introducing Local Deployment and Enhanced Security with Chat with RTX
Exciting news! Chat with RTX now supports local deployment, offering both improved search efficiency and enhanced user security. Users can effortlessly leverage desktop data as datasets, connecting to various open-source large language models for swift inquiries related to context. Plus, Chat with RTX accommodates multiple file formats—all you need to do is specify the folder containing your target files within the application for seamless loading. Beyond local files, users can input URLs of video streaming playlists, enabling automatic transcription of video content for querying purposes.
GALAX has officially launched the GeForce RTX 40 SUPER series graphics cards! Among them, the GALAX GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Spectra OC features a sleek black exterior with dazzling lighting effects. The graphics card also supports customizable ARGB lighting effects, synchronized with mainstream motherboards. It is equipped with the new NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture. The core adopts the AD-103, with a boost frequency of up to 2610MHz. Providing a perfect balance of performance and power consumption for 4K gaming, it's definitely a must-have for high-end gamers.
