DOOM: Dark Ages Path Tracing PC Performance Review – Experience Enhanced Demon Slaying with NVIDIA DLSS 4

DOOM: The Dark Ages has received a long-awaited path tracing update, drastically enhancing its visual quality and incorporating NVIDIA’s DLSS 4 technology.

The Game-Changing Path Tracing Update: Elevating DOOM: The Dark Ages with NVIDIA Technologies

Id Software has once again delivered an exhilarating installment in the DOOM series with DOOM: The Dark Ages. This title continues the tradition established by its predecessors, offering intense demon-slaying action reminiscent of the 2016 release and the frenetic pace of DOOM: Eternal.

The previous games benefitted from the advanced capabilities of the Id Tech engine, and with Id Tech 8, the focus remains on improving visual fidelity without sacrificing the dynamic gameplay. The introduction of Path Tracing marks a significant advancement, dramatically enhancing the game’s graphics.

Previously, DOOM: Eternal was the inaugural title in the franchise to incorporate ray tracing, while DOOM: The Dark Ages had ray tracing features integrated from launch. High-performance graphics cards like NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series can achieve astonishing frame rates, providing an incredibly smooth gaming experience even with the demanding DLSS 4 capabilities.

Path Tracing enhances visual quality further but demands substantial GPU resources. Similar to titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake II, running Path Tracing efficiently requires robust ray tracing capabilities. DOOM: The Dark Ages follows suit.

In-Game Graphics Settings for Path Tracing

Before we dive into performance evaluations, let’s review the graphics settings available in the game’s configuration menu. While there isn’t an option to adjust ray tracing settings directly, the new Path Tracing updates empower users to customize various settings after activating Path Tracing.

Toggle Ray Traced Shadows: Options include Off, Sun Only, or All Light Sources.
Enable/disable Ray Traced Transparency and Path Traced Water Reflections.
Select between two Denoisers: NVIDIA Real-Time Denoiser or DLSS Ray Reconstruction.

NVIDIA’s DLSS Ray Reconstruction Denoiser is available for RTX 50 and RTX 40 series GPUs, while the Real-Time Denoiser is suitable for older models, like the RTX 20 and RTX 30 series. Though the Real-Time Denoiser can also be enabled on the newer RTX GPUs, it runs at a slightly reduced speed compared to Ray Reconstruction but still offers enhanced visuals over the in-game denoiser.

Performance Benchmarks: Testing the Capabilities

We assessed performance using an Intel Core i9-13900K paired with various GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs, utilizing the latest GRD 576.76 drivers.

Performance was particularly striking when testing the flagship NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, revealing averages of approximately 90 FPS at native resolution with ray tracing enabled. However, activating Path Tracing leads to a drop to around 35 FPS on average – that’s a staggering 61% decline in performance. Thus, enabling upscaling and frame generation becomes essential.

Upon activating DLSS with the 2x MFG mode, players can enjoy averages of over 60 FPS with DLAA and upwards of 100 FPS using the DLSS Quality preset. Higher settings such as 3x and 4x modes can boost it further to about 200 FPS on average with DLSS Quality, while DLAA can achieve approximately 120 FPS. When relying on standard ray tracing, the combination of DLSS 4 Quality and 4x MFG results in over 300 FPS, whereas DLAA maintains over 200 FPS with MFG at the same multiplier.

For enthusiasts aiming for a high-refresh-screen experience, DLSS 4 Performance and Balanced modes offer similar visual quality, with average frame rates reaching 240 FPS.

Latency readings for various modes with the GeForce RTX 5090 are provided below:

The entire GeForce RTX 50 series exhibits impressive performance. The GPUs from the 5070 Ti and above can easily push beyond 100 FPS at 4K resolution with frame generation enabled, while lower-tier models may average below that mark.

Comparing Image Quality: Path Traced vs. Ray Traced

The differences between the Path Traced and Ray Traced (RT) graphics are immediately evident, starting from the Main Menu. The DOOM Slayer’s surroundings are initially dim with ray tracing, making the environmental elements seem flat, whereas Path Tracing enhances illumination and texture detail significantly.

Image Comparison Highlights

Ray-Traced Image #1:

Path-Traced Image #1:

Examining shadows reveals further improvement. The Path Traced rendering offers depth and shadowing that feels more natural compared to the RT version, which gives an impression of an embedded light source where none exists.

Ray-Traced Image #2:

Path-Traced Image #2:

In the forest regions, Global Illumination (GI) in the Path Traced version results in a more organic lighting setup compared to the flat radiance observed in the RT counterpart, enhancing overall immersion.

Conclusion: Path Tracing and DLSS 4 Transform DOOM: The Dark Ages

The latest entries in the DOOM franchise have consistently raised the bar for first-person shooters. With DOOM: The Dark Ages powered by the Id Tech 8 engine, visual fidelity sees remarkable advancements, particularly with the introduction of Path Tracing.

While the game already boasted exceptional graphics thanks to standard ray tracing, the new Path Tracing update takes it to an entirely new level. The improvements in lighting, shadow quality, and reflection detail are immediately apparent once enabled.

However, this increased visual fidelity comes at a cost, leading to significant performance drops—often over 50% when utilizing maximum settings. Enter NVIDIA’s DLSS 4 upscaling and frame generation capabilities, which can help counterbalance these losses, enabling gameplay at high FPS levels. The top-of-the-line RTX 50 GPUs can achieve over 200 FPS in MFG 4x, with minimal latency impact thanks to Reflex technology. For those using RTX 30 and 20 series GPUs who lack frame-gen support, DLSS enhancements still manage to yield playable frame rates above 100 FPS.

This being the initial release of Path Tracing for DOOM: The Dark Ages, it is expected that future updates will refine performance further. For players eager to experience this masterpiece, enabling Path Tracing with DLSS 4 is undeniably the optimum way to delve into the DOOM universe.