{"id":32055,"date":"2023-04-12T14:17:44","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T12:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1814506"},"modified":"2023-04-12T21:42:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T19:42:57","slug":"cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-explained-can-your-pc-run-the-rtx-update","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-explained-can-your-pc-run-the-rtx-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyberpunk 2077 Overdrive mode explained: Can your PC run the RTX update?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everything you need to know about how to use Cyberpunk 2077’s latest Overdrive RTX patch! <\/p>

By Cole Luke\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 12 April 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Cyberpunk 2077 has come a long way since its troubled launch, but \u200cCD Projekt RED\u2019s tireless work over the years has paid off and looks to be most evident in their new Cyberpunk 2077 Overdrive update.<\/p>\n

The Overdrive update allows players to crank the ray-tracing up to 11 to a form called Path Tracing. Previously, we have only seen this in NVIDIA remastered retro titles such as Quake II RTX and Portal RTX, where the old graphics of yore allowed enough breathing space to really go all in on the lighting.<\/p>\n

NVIDIA has once again woven its magic, but this time into a game that is still bringing most people\u2019s PCs to a grinding halt. The result? Perhaps the most impressive display of real-time graphics we have ever seen. Read on to learn more!<\/p>\n

What is Cyberpunk 2077 Overdrive mode? RTX update explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Cyberpunk 2077 Overdrive mode is essentially an enhancement to the game\u2019s graphics on PC, bringing Path Tracing to the fore in impressive new ways. This goes beyond the ray tracing the game was already doing. We\u2019ll try to explain what the difference is below.<\/p>\n\nRay tracing in games is a more accurate portrayal of how light works in the real world. Recently, games have only utilised certain ray tracing features such as reflections, shadows, global illumination and ambient occlusion to enhance the overall fidelity.<\/p>\nIt allows for things such as reflections showing what is behind you or providing shadows under objects where traditional rendering would have struggled to do so.<\/p>\nIt can also represent reflected light, such as when you shine a torch on a coloured object such as an orange and the resulting light bouncing off is orange, too.<\/p>\nSeeing each of these techniques employed at the same time is exceedingly rare and they do not fully replace traditional lighting methods. This may present itself as not all light sources using ray tracing. Dynamic lights such as muzzle flashes and headlights from a car typically use traditional methods.<\/p>\nCyperpunk 2077 was already one of the best examples using those techniques, but that has just become old hat.<\/p> Path Tracing does away with the mixing and matching. It is the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of real-time rendering \u2013 when lighting is no longer an effect, it simply is<\/i>.<\/p>\nPath Tracing is when all <\/i>light is accurately calculated to realistically simulate light\u2019s real-life properties. This results in physically correct shadows, global illumination on objects and reflections. Traditionally this was done in an \u2018offline\u2019 renderer, such as you would see in CGI heavy animations and movies such as Toy Story, so it is quite something to finally witness in a game.<\/p>\nThe most remarkable thing about path tracing is how seemingly unremarkably normal it looks at first glance. We see a 100 per cent accurate portrayal of light every day in real life and so it makes sense for our brains when we see it replicated in a virtual world. It is when a game transforms, one that we are used to seeing with older rendering techniques, that it becomes apparent just how game-changing it really is.<\/p>\nThere are moments during gameplay where it genuinely slips into something very close to photorealism. Considering ray tracing capable graphics cards only debuted in 2018 with the RTX 20-series, one can only dream where we might be in another five years.<\/p>\n<h2>When is the Cyberpunk 2077 Overdrive update?<\/strong><\/h2>\nFret not \u2013 you need not wait any longer as the Overdrive update dropped on Tuesday\u00a0<\/strong>11th<\/b> April<\/b>. You should be able to give it a go now if you have the latest Cyberpunk 2077 update installed.<\/p>\nYou\u2019ll find the Overdrive mode available in the game as a \u2018Technology Preview\u2019, accessible as a pre-set option in the graphics settings on PC.<\/p>\nThe developers from CDPR have committed themselves to continue improving the Overdrive experience and we will be sure to update you as soon as these updates are released.<\/p> <div class=\""brightcove\" embed=\"\"> <div class=\""embedintrinsic"\"> <div class=\""brightcoveplayer\" vjs-playlist-player-container=\"\"> <video data-video-id=\"6323881071112\" data-account=\"69912529001\" data-player=\"ByeOf0VZEl\" data-embed=\""default"\" data-application-id=\"\" controls=\"\" class=\""video-js"\"> <\/video> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<script src=\""\/\/players.brightcove.net\/69912529001\/ByeOf0VZEl_default\/index.min.js"\"\/> <h2>Can I run the Cyberpunk 2077 Overdrive update?<\/strong><\/h2>\nBe warned: here be dragons. To run the Overdrive update you need at<\/em> least <\/i>an NVIDIA RTX 3090 to get 30 frames per second at a measly 1080p, and this is by CDPR\u2019s own admission no less.<\/p>\nEven the mighty AMD Radeon 7900 XTX is no match, with benchmarks returning nine frames per second at a sub-4K resolution using AMDs upscaling technology FSR2 in its balanced mode. Yikes.<\/i><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\""twitter-tweet"\" data-dnt=\""true"\">Cyberpunk 2077 with Overdrive patch running on RX 7900 XTX. 3840x1600, FSR2 Balanced. <a href=\""https:\/\/t.co\/bnZ8S3Tl6Z"\">pic.twitter.com\/bnZ8S3Tl6Z<\/a><\/p>\u2014 CapFrameX (@CapFrameX) <a href=\""https:\/\/twitter.com\/CapFrameX\/status\/1645760301088878592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"\">April 11, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async=\"\" src=\""https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js"\" charset=\""utf-8"\"\/>\nTo really get the most out of the Overdrive update, you really need an <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/technology\/gaming\/nvidia-4080-4090-rtx\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">NVIDIA RTX 40-series<\/a> card where you can use DLSS 2 upscaling and DLSS 3 frame generation to get your frame rate up to a smooth and responsive experience.<\/p>\nUsing these allows 4,090 users to see their frame rates skyrocket from an average of 17 frames per second in the heaviest scenes to a markedly stratospheric 128 frames per second.<\/p>\nNVIDIA hasn\u2019t released the entire RTX 40 series stack, so it remains to be seen how the lower end of the scale will fare, but no doubt DLSS 3 especially will be the clutch here.<\/p>\n<h2>Can I play the Cyberpunk 2077 Overdrive update on console?<\/strong><\/h2>\nWe hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately the answer is no. Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 do have ray tracing, but it is only limited to shadows, the effect of which is only really noticeable in a few indoor scenes.<\/p>\nSo, if you want to try out the Overdrive mode in Cyberpunk 2077, you\u2019ll need to be playing on a powerful PC with a modern graphics card.<\/p>\nWhichever platform you\u2019re playing on, though, there\u2019s still the <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/technology\/gaming\/cyberpunk-2077-phantom-liberty-dlc\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty DLC<\/a> to look forward to!<\/p>\nSubscribe to our <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/gaming-newsletter\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">free Gaming Newsletter<\/a> for weekly insights, and visit our <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/technology\/gaming\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener noopener noreferrer\" noreferrer=\"\">Gaming<\/a> hub for all the latest news.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nLooking for something to watch? Check out our <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/tv-listings\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">TV Guide<\/a> or <a href=\"\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/streaming-guide\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">Streaming Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\nTry Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only \u00a31 with delivery to your home \u2014 <a title=\""http:\/\/radiotimes.com\/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article"\" href=\""http:\/\/radiotimes.com\/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article"\">subscribe now<\/a>. <\/strong>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to <a title=\""https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/audio\/podcasts\/"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/audio\/podcasts\/"\">The Radio Times Podcast<\/a><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Everything you need to know about how to use Cyberpunk 2077’s latest Overdrive RTX patch! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":32056,"template":"","categories":[6,8],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/04\/cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-explained-can-your-pc-run-the-rtx-update.png",1600,1066,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/04\/cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-explained-can-your-pc-run-the-rtx-update-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/04\/cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-explained-can-your-pc-run-the-rtx-update-300x200.png",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/04\/cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-explained-can-your-pc-run-the-rtx-update-768x512.png",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/04\/cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-explained-can-your-pc-run-the-rtx-update-1024x682.png",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/04\/cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-explained-can-your-pc-run-the-rtx-update-1536x1023.png",1536,1023,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/04\/cyberpunk-2077-overdrive-mode-explained-can-your-pc-run-the-rtx-update.png",1600,1066,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Everything you need to know about how to use Cyberpunk 2077's latest Overdrive RTX patch!","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/32055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}