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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallShort answer: Elden Ring’s ray tracing improves selected shadows and ambient-occlusion detail, but it is not a full lighting overhaul. The difference is easiest to see around characters, walls, ruins, foliage and other nearby geometry; during ordinary play, it is often subtle. Because the setting can make an otherwise acceptable 60-fps experience unstable, most PC players should leave it off. PS5 and Xbox Series X owners should treat it as an optional quality mode rather than a default recommendation.
Ray tracing arrived with patch 1.09 on March 23, 2023. The comparisons and benchmarks available publicly are largely from the 1.09 era, so they remain useful for explaining the feature’s character but should not be treated as a 2026 hardware benchmark. An official Japanese notice dated May 28, 2026 lists PC App Ver. 1.16.2 and Regulation Ver. 1.16.1; check the version shown in your own regional build before comparing results.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Elden Ring - Xbox Series X | $52.97 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Steamforged Games, Elden Ring the Board Game: Stormveil Castle | $119.95 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Elden Ring (PS5) (European Version) | $34.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Elden Ring Official Strategy Guide, Vol. 2: Shards of the Shattering | $49.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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What Elden Ring ray tracing actually changes
Elden Ring’s implementation is principally a shadow and occlusion enhancement. Technical analysis from Digital Trends and DSOGaming identifies improvements in ray-traced shadows, contact shading and ambient-occlusion detail.
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That is narrower than the term “ray tracing” may suggest. Elden Ring does not deliver the sort of broad ray-traced global illumination, path-traced lighting or dramatic reflection overhaul seen in some newer showcase titles. The feature does not fundamentally redesign the lighting of every scene.
#1 Best Overall
- ELDEN RING is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki—creator of the influential DARK SOULS video game series; and George R.R. Martin—author of The New York Times best-selling fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire
- Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to-date
- HIDETAKA MIYAZAKI: President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls
- GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: the #1 The New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire—A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons
- Most visible: contact shadows and shadow definition around characters, rocks, walls, trees, ruins and nearby foliage.
- Sometimes visible: more natural shading in interiors or semi-enclosed spaces and stronger directional shadows from architecture.
- Less convincing: distant landscapes, scenes without strong cast shadows and water or reflective surfaces. A Laptop Mag comparison found that water changes were not especially persuasive in at least one test scene.
- Not the main benefit: reflections, full-scene indirect lighting or a wholesale transformation of the game’s atmosphere.
The fairest description is that ray tracing makes some nearby lighting relationships more physically convincing. It does not turn Elden Ring into a different-looking game.
Ray tracing on versus off: what you can see
For a useful comparison, capture the same camera position with ray tracing set to Off, Low, Medium, High and Maximum where those levels are available. Keep the rasterized graphics preset, resolution, HDR, exposure, weather and time of day unchanged.
Characters and nearby geometry
A character standing beside a wall, tree, rock or ruin is one of the better demonstrations. Look for darker, more accurately placed contact shading and a clearer relationship between the character and the surface behind it. These changes can be identifiable in synchronized screenshots, especially when you know where to look.
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Foliage and grass
Dense vegetation can reveal additional shading around overlapping leaves, grass and nearby objects. The improvement is scene-dependent, however, and camera movement, foliage motion and the game’s normal visual noise make it less obvious during exploration.
Ruins, architecture and interiors
Strong directional light and nearby walls or columns provide the most favorable conditions. Ray tracing can give cast shadows more convincing boundaries and make enclosed spaces feel better grounded. This is where a carefully composed screenshot may show a stronger advantage than a normal gameplay session.
Open landscapes
Large outdoor views with distant objects are not the setting’s strongest showcase. If the scene contains few nearby surfaces receiving cast shadows, the visual difference can be difficult to notice while riding or rotating the camera.
Rank #2
- Elden Ring board game campaign featuring tactical combat, exploration, treasure hunting, and cinematic boss encounters for 1–4 players
- 20+ hour replayable campaign that can be played as a standalone adventure or combined with other Elden Ring: The Board Game content
- Card-driven, diceless combat system rewards strategic positioning, timing, resource management, and tactical decision-making
- New playable Tarnished classes including the Confessor and Prisoner, adding fresh character options and strategic play styles
- Detailed tabletop miniatures include 22 figures and a massive Godrick the Grafted miniature on a 120mm base, with components varying by selected edition
Water and reflections
Do not enable the setting expecting a major reflection upgrade. The available comparisons do not establish water as a compelling benefit, and the feature’s documented scope is primarily shadows and occlusion.
Practical interpretation: the difference exists, but it is concentrated in shadows and occlusion rather than the overall lighting design. As an editorial judgment from those comparisons, ray tracing tends to look more worthwhile in side-by-side stills or screenshot-style inspection than during combat, traversal and rapid camera movement.
How much performance does it cost?
There is no honest universal percentage. The cost changes with the GPU, CPU, resolution, ray-tracing level, base graphics preset, location and whether the system is GPU- or CPU-limited. The player’s tolerance for frame-time spikes matters as much as the average frame rate.
Bandai Namco’s official specifications set a useful hardware reference, not a guarantee of a locked 60 fps:
| Official target | Resolution and settings | Listed GPU |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum ray tracing specification | 1080p, Low quality, Low ray tracing | GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (8GB) or Radeon RX 6700 XT (12GB) |
| Recommended ray tracing specification | 1080p, High quality, High ray tracing | GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (8GB) or Radeon RX 6900 XT (16GB) |
Bandai Namco also warns that ray tracing can affect both frame rate and resolution. One independent settings analysis estimated roughly a 40% reduction at Maximum, but that is a test-specific result—not a prediction for every GPU, resolution or area.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Expect the cost to be large enough that ray tracing can turn a previously acceptable 60-fps experience into an unstable or sub-60-fps one. In some scenes, a powerful GPU may not scale as expected because Elden Ring’s CPU behavior, traversal stutter, shader behavior and engine limitations can remain relevant. A later Shadow of the Erdtree analysis reported approximately 46 fps at 4K Maximum ray tracing on an RTX 4060 in its particular test context, with only several frames separating it from an RTX 4090. That result illustrates the danger of treating GPU tier alone as a guarantee, but it is not a universal benchmark.
Rank #3
- Collaborating with George R.R. Martin to create the ELDEN RING mythos has been a genuinely delightful experience and a source of wonderful inspiration. The team is working hard to ensure that the world of ELDEN RING will be a fascinating place for players to explore, filled with peril and wonder from its furthest reaches to its lowest depths. This is a FromSoftware title through and through, rich in fantasy and RPG action. We sincerely hope you look forward to it.
- Building the world of ELDEN RING with Miyazaki-san and his team was a treat! The graphics, mythos, and action-RPG gameplay will deliver an unforgettable experience. I can’t wait for people to see what ELDEN RING has in store for them.” Said George R.R. Martin.
Average fps is not the whole result
- Average frame rate: how quickly the game renders across a test interval.
- 1% lows and frame time: how consistent that rendering feels during demanding moments.
- Traversal stutter: a separate engine or streaming-related problem that ray tracing may worsen but does not necessarily cause.
- Resolution: particularly important on consoles, where ray tracing can affect the resolution behavior of a more constrained presentation.
A system averaging close to 60 fps can still feel poor if it suffers frequent frame-time spikes. That is why stable rasterized performance is generally more valuable here than a modest shadow improvement.
PC requirements, controls and the best default
On PC, open the game’s system menu and go to the graphics settings. Depending on the build and menu wording, the option may appear as Graphics > Ray Tracing Quality or System > Graphics Settings > Raytracing Quality. Set it to Off, then confirm the change. If the game remains unstable, restart it before retesting.
For most systems, begin with this baseline:
- Ray tracing: Off
- Rasterized graphics: High or Maximum where performance allows
- Motion blur: Off if you prefer a clearer image
- Depth of field: Off if you prefer sharper presentation
If you have substantial headroom, try Low first, then Medium. High and Maximum make the most sense for screenshot-focused play or a system that remains comfortably near its target after testing demanding areas. Do not lower every setting uniformly simply to make room for ray tracing; adjust settings with a measurable effect on your particular system.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The best test is repeatable: use the same route in an outdoor area, a dense foliage area, an interior and a combat encounter. Record average fps, 1% lows or frame-time data, the worst repeatable traversal dip, GPU utilization and CPU utilization. Compare Maximum rasterized graphics with ray tracing Off against the same rasterized preset at Low, Medium, High and Maximum ray tracing. Mixing different overall presets makes the visual and performance conclusions unreliable.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.PS5 and Xbox Series X
The official 1.09 notes list ray-tracing support for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC. They do not list PS4, Xbox One or Xbox Series S. Do not assume that an omitted platform has the same feature without current platform-specific documentation.
Console results should not be copied directly from PC testing. PS5 and Xbox Series X players face a more constrained quality-versus-performance trade-off. Ray tracing can improve shadow presentation, but the relevant question is whether that benefit is worth reduced frame-rate consistency or resolution behavior on your display.
- Prioritize responsiveness or difficult boss fights: favor the non-ray-traced presentation.
- Use a large 4K display and value visual inspection more than consistency: test ray tracing, but expect a trade-off.
- Use a VRR display: variable performance may feel less disruptive, but VRR does not remove the underlying cost.
The strongest cross-platform comparison available is Digital Foundry’s PS5, Xbox Series X and PC analysis. It is useful evidence about the 1.09 implementation, not a fresh 2026 console benchmark.
Does Shadow of the Erdtree change the recommendation?
It can make the recommendation more conservative. The expansion’s large outdoor spaces and dense scenery can expose GPU limits, CPU-side behavior and traversal issues more readily than simpler interiors. A setting that seems acceptable in a quiet area may be less suitable in a demanding DLC region.
If the expansion is where you spend most of your time, test a representative route there rather than relying on a base-game interior. Ray tracing does not appear to have received a broad renderer overhaul in the later notices covered here. The 2024 calibration update addressed an issue in which older save data could cause ray tracing to turn on automatically; it did not announce a wholesale visual redesign.
When ray tracing turns itself on or causes problems
Bandai Namco documented cases of ray tracing being unintentionally enabled, including a save-data-related issue. Check the setting at the title screen after an update or after loading older save data, before assuming that a sudden performance drop is caused by a new GPU or driver.
Recovery sequence for instability
- Launch Elden Ring and remain at the title screen.
- Open the graphics settings and set ray tracing to Off.
- Update the GPU driver if the problem continues.
- On Steam, verify the integrity of the game files.
- Close overlays and third-party utilities that hook into input or graphics.
- Retest with the normal rasterized preset.
Do not start by deleting save data or reinstalling the operating system. If performance remains poor with ray tracing disabled, investigate CPU saturation, traversal stutter, shader or driver behavior, background applications, thermal throttling, resolution scaling and demanding rasterized settings such as shadows, volumetrics or global illumination.
Who should use Elden Ring ray tracing?
| Player priority | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Stable 60 fps and consistent response | Leave ray tracing Off. |
| Best possible nearby shadow quality | Try Low or Medium first. |
| Screenshots and visual inspection | High or Maximum may be worthwhile if performance has ample headroom. |
| Older or midrange PC GPU | Leave it Off and prioritize rasterized settings. |
| PS5 or Xbox Series X quality-focused player | Test it, but expect a performance or resolution trade-off. |
| Considering a new GPU only for Elden Ring ray tracing | Usually poor value; CPU limits, stutter and the 60-fps ceiling can remain. |
Final verdict
Elden Ring ray tracing is a real but restrained visual upgrade. Its strongest contribution is better nearby shadowing and occlusion—not reflections, path tracing or a radically different lighting model. That makes the setting easy to appreciate in controlled comparisons and much harder to justify during normal play.
On PC, leave it off unless you have performance headroom and specifically value the shadow changes. If you want to experiment, Low or Medium is the sensible starting point. On PS5 and Xbox Series X, treat it as an optional quality mode for players willing to trade some consistency for improved shading. For Shadow of the Erdtree, judge it in the expansion’s demanding outdoor areas rather than assuming that a quiet base-game scene represents the whole experience.
In short: ray tracing makes Elden Ring look somewhat better in the right places, but usually performs worse by enough that the original rasterized presentation is the better way to play.
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