DOOM Eternal’s June 2021 update added Vulkan ray-traced reflections—not a wholesale overhaul of its lighting or shadows. The reflections can make glass, metal, water, weapons, and other surfaces feel more grounded, but their impact varies by scene and can be easy to miss at the game’s pace. Ray tracing is listed for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X; it is not available on Xbox Series S.
What ray tracing changes in DOOM Eternal
The June 2021 PC update introduced ray-traced reflections through the Vulkan API, alongside NVIDIA DLSS. The feature is focused on reflections: HotHardware’s review describes shadows and most lighting as largely unchanged from the pre-update game. This is not a broad ray-traced global-illumination or shadow upgrade. Khronos Group’s June 30, 2021 item says the Vulkan implementation enables the effects on NVIDIA and AMD GPUs.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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DOOM Eternal: Standard Edition - PC | $34.88 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
![Doom Eternal - Playstation 4 (Ps4) [video game]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yQgPrgubL._SL160_.jpg)
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Doom Eternal - Playstation 4 (Ps4) [video game] | $34.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Cog's Collection Doom Machine Solo Card and Dice Game, Mint Tin Portable Game, Ages 14+, 1 Player,... | $27.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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The Ultimate Doom | $29.99 | Buy on Amazon |
NVIDIA’s June 29, 2021 announcement describes reflective materials that include metal, water, glass, the Doom Slayer, demons, and weapons fire. NVIDIA also says some scenes combine ray-traced reflections with screen-space reflections, which can show details outside the current view or behind occluding geometry—information a reflection limited to what is on-screen cannot provide. NVIDIA’s announcement is the source for that technical description.
How visible are the reflections during play?
Visibility depends on the surface, scene, and camera movement. HotHardware’s July 6, 2021 review illustrates changes on a platform edge, a reflective bottle, a fallen bell, large glass panes, surrounding scenery, and the Slayer’s weapons. Some reflections stand out; others are subtle. In a fast-moving firefight, a small change in a surface can be difficult to notice even when it is present. The view that the effect adds immersion when noticed, but may be easy to miss in normal play, is HotHardware’s review judgment—not a universal measure of visual impact. Read the dated review and its examples.
#1 Best Overall
- Developed by id Software, DOOM Eternal is the direct sequel to the award-winning and best-selling DOOM (2016).
- Hell’s armies have invaded Earth. Become the Slayer in an epic single-player campaign to conquer demons across dimensions and stop the final destruction of humanity.
- Experience the ultimate combination of speed and power in DOOM Eternal - the next leap in push-forward, first-person combat.
- Discover the Slayer’s origins and his enduring mission to Raze Hell
- No disk included; Redeem the game via code inside the box
Which platforms support ray tracing?
Bethesda lists ray tracing for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X, but not Xbox Series S. Its support page says the feature cannot be selected in Balanced or Performance modes on any platform. On PC, Bethesda also says at least 16 GB of RAM must be available to avoid performance issues or crashes. These are the support page’s stated requirements and restrictions, accessed October 8, 2026; check the page again before relying on them because support guidance can change. Bethesda’s ray-tracing support page.
For Xbox Series X, Xbox Wire’s June 29, 2021 Update 6 article lists Ray Tracing Mode at 1800p / 60 FPS with dynamic resolution scaling. The same article lists Performance at 1800p / 120 FPS and Balanced at 2160p / 60 FPS for Series X. Series S is listed with Performance and Balanced modes, but no ray-tracing mode. These are the modes and targets reported in that 2021 announcement, not a claim about later platform updates. Xbox Wire’s Update 6 announcement.
Bethesda’s PC ray-tracing requirements
Bethesda’s support page groups PC hardware around target resolution, frame rate, and quality preset. These are listed targets, not a guarantee that every system will sustain the stated frame rate in every scene. All three tiers list 80 GB of disk space; the minimum and recommended tiers list 16 GB RAM, while Ultra Nightmare lists 32 GB.
| Tier and target | Operating system and memory | Processor | Graphics card | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum: 1080p / 60 FPS / Low | 64-bit Windows 10; 16 GB RAM | Intel Core i5 at 3.3 GHz or better, or AMD Ryzen 3 at 3.1 GHz or better | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | 80 GB |
| Recommended: 1440p / 60 FPS / High | 64-bit Windows 10; 16 GB RAM | Intel Core i7-6700K or better, or AMD Ryzen 7 1800X or better | RTX-series GPU with at least 8 GB VRAM, or Radeon RX 6800 | 80 GB |
| Ultra Nightmare: 2160p / 60 FPS | 64-bit Windows 10; 32 GB RAM | Intel Core i9-9900K or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or better | RTX 3090, RTX 3080 Ti, or RX 6900 XT | 80 GB |
| Ultra Nightmare: 1440p / 120 FPS | 64-bit Windows 10; 32 GB RAM | Intel Core i9-9900K or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or better | RTX-series GPU with at least 11 GB VRAM, or RX 6800 XT | 80 GB |
The figures above are Bethesda’s published PC tiers, accessed October 8, 2026. The support page also says DLSS is available in Video Settings for NVIDIA RTX 20- and 30-series GPUs. That is Bethesda’s stated compatibility; verify current compatibility if you are making a hardware decision. Bethesda’s requirements and DLSS guidance.
Rank #3
- SOLO GAMEPLAY EXPERIENCE: Intense pressure-cooker card and dice game designed specifically for 1 player, offering a challenging solo adventure against an evolving doom machine
- PORTABLE DESIGN: Compact mint tin packaging makes this game perfect for travel, fitting easily in your pocket or bag for gaming on the go
- GAME COMPONENTS: Includes 20 dice, 16 machine cards, 2 tracking cards, 7 rule cards, and 3 tracking tokens for a complete gameplay experience
- QUICK PLAY TIME: Engaging 15-30 minute game sessions ideal for quick entertainment breaks, with recommended age of 14 and up
- STRATEGIC CHALLENGE: Face off against an ever-evolving machine of death and destruction, racing to find and defeat the doom core before humanity is annihilated
What the July 2021 benchmark can—and cannot—show
HotHardware’s results are a historical snapshot, not a current ranking of graphics cards. The July 6, 2021 review tested GeForce RTX 3070, RTX 3060, RTX 2080 SUPER, and Radeon RX 6800 XT cards. It varied settings by card and memory capacity, so results from unlike settings should not be treated as a direct comparison. The review reported about 1.5 GB of additional memory use with ray tracing in its own workload; that is an observation from those tests, not a general memory requirement.
In those tests, HotHardware reported that DLSS helped NVIDIA cards recover performance at higher resolutions, while the Radeon RX 6800 XT ran with ray tracing without DLSS. The article’s settings, cards, and drivers describe its 2021 test environment only. They cannot establish how current GPU generations or drivers perform.
Rank #4
NVIDIA’s 2021 announcement said DLSS could improve performance by up to 60% at 4K. That is NVIDIA’s vendor claim, not an independently established guarantee or a result every system should expect. NVIDIA’s June 29, 2021 announcement provides the claim; HotHardware’s dated review provides its own test results.
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