Ray tracing could soon be coming to a CPU near you, thanks to one developer

Not anytime soon mind you

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Ray tracing is one of the most cutting-edge technologies in the PC gaming world, with its full potential remaining locked despite how much more powerful thebest graphics cardshave gotten. However, one developer seeks to test whether a processor can ray tracing in any capacity.

So far the answer is: kind of? According to the developer, Konstantin Seurer, and reported on byPCGamesN, they’ve been “adding features to a CPU-run Vulkan-based version of the open-source Mesa graphics library.” The dev enabled the function Implement VK_KHR_ray_query, which then allowed ray tracing to run on a processor. They tested this on the classic titleQuake 2.

We don’t know what kind of processor was used in testing, meaning it could range from a consumer-typeIntel Core i9to an extremely powerfulThreadrippertype. What we do know, however, is the information gleaned from the single screenshot Seurer released. It shows us that 34% of the processor’s power is being used, that the results are a paltry 1fps, and that the processor is solely running ray tracing due to the 0% GPU utilization.

But why though?

Now that we know it’s technically possible for a processor to run ray tracing, even though it’s barely running and onQuake 2no less, there’s another question that bears bringing up. Is it worth having a processor run ray-tracing technology in the first place?

On one hand, it’s a fascinating process and one that I’m curious about, because why not push components to their limits and see what you can accomplish with them. Thebest processorsare only getting stronger and more efficient with each generation, with some of them even being able to handle some of thebest PC gameswithout a dedicated graphics card. So it stands to reason that they could handle more advanced tools someday.

On the other hand, for what benefit would this be in the long run? As stated before, graphics cards can barely bring out the best in ray tracing, and often it needs the help ofDLSSto pull it off without tanking the framerate. From a practical point, it makes sense to leave the ray tracing to the cards that are built to handle it.

Regardless, I’m still curious to see if anyone else can pull off this feat in the future.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

You might also like

Named by the CTA as a CES 2023 Media Trailblazer, Allisa is a Computing Staff Writer who covers breaking news and rumors in the computing industry, as well as reviews, hands-on previews, featured articles, and the latest deals and trends. In her spare time you can find her chatting it up on her two podcasts, Megaten Marathon and Combo Chain, as well as playing any JRPGs she can get her hands on.

AMD Ryzen 9800X3D overclocking potential shown: CPU hits jaw-dropping 6.9GHz, exceeds 1,200 fps in Counter-Strike 2

Gigabyte spoils AMD’s Ryzen 9000X3D surprise by leaking flagship 16-core CPU, which could be something special for gamers with X3D ‘turbo mode’

Wales vs Fiji live stream: how to watch 2024 rugby union Autumn International online from anywhere