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There is no universal “RTX On” switch in Windows or the NVIDIA Control Panel. On a compatible PC, you enable specific RTX features—such as ray tracing, DLSS, Ray Reconstruction, or Frame Generation—inside each supported game.
To get started, confirm that your graphics card is a GeForce RTX model, install the latest NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Driver, update the game, and open its graphics or video settings. The exact menu names and hardware requirements vary by title.
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What “enable RTX” actually means
“RTX” is an umbrella term rather than one setting. A game may support one RTX feature but not another, and the controls are usually independent:
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- Ray tracing: Hardware-accelerated lighting, reflections, shadows, ambient occlusion, or global illumination.
- Path tracing: A more comprehensive and substantially more demanding form of ray-traced rendering.
- DLSS Super Resolution: Renders internally at a lower resolution and uses AI to reconstruct the image, improving performance.
- DLSS Ray Reconstruction: Uses an AI model to replace traditional denoisers for supported ray-traced effects.
- DLSS Frame Generation: Generates additional frames between traditionally rendered frames. NVIDIA lists support for RTX 40- and RTX 50-series GPUs in supported games.
- DLSS Multi Frame Generation: A newer feature associated with RTX 50-series GPUs and supported configurations.
- NVIDIA Reflex: Reduces system latency in supported games. It is not ray tracing and does not improve image quality.
Therefore, enabling an RTX GPU can mean different things: selecting the NVIDIA card as the game’s active adapter, turning on ray-traced effects, enabling DLSS to recover performance, or activating frame generation. Work through these separately.
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Check whether your PC supports RTX
Identify the graphics card
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Select Performance.
- Choose GPU.
- Check the model name, such as GeForce RTX 3060, RTX 4070, or RTX 5080.
You can also press Windows key + R, enter dxdiag, select the Display tab, and check the listed adapter.
An NVIDIA card is not automatically an RTX card. GTX models and older NVIDIA GPUs may not provide the same hardware ray-tracing or DLSS features. On laptops, Windows may list both integrated Intel or AMD graphics and the discrete NVIDIA GPU. That is normal; the game must simply be routed to the high-performance adapter.
Confirm game support
Ray tracing and DLSS are implemented by individual games. Check the game’s current requirements, patch notes, and graphics documentation, then compare them with NVIDIA’s RTX games and applications list. Support can change with patches, and an RTX card does not guarantee that every title exposes every RTX feature.
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- The game is fully updated.
- Windows and its DirectX components are current.
- Your GPU has enough VRAM for the selected resolution and preset.
- A desktop monitor is connected to the discrete GPU when your system configuration requires it.
- A laptop is connected to AC power and set to a performance or discrete-GPU mode.
Install or update the NVIDIA driver
Download the driver for your exact GPU and operating system from NVIDIA’s official driver page, or install the free NVIDIA App and use it to manage drivers.
- Install the latest GeForce Game Ready Driver for gaming.
- Restart Windows if prompted.
- Open the NVIDIA App and check for additional updates.
- Update the game through Steam, Epic Games Launcher, the Xbox app, or its relevant launcher.
NVIDIA identifies Studio Drivers primarily for creative applications. They can work for games, but Game Ready Drivers are the more relevant choice when your priority is current game support.
Try a clean installation if a working feature breaks
- Download the correct driver directly from NVIDIA.
- Start the installer.
- Choose Custom installation if that option is offered.
- Select Perform a clean installation.
- Restart the PC.
A clean install can remove corrupted driver settings, but it will not necessarily fix a game patch, shader compilation, overheating, insufficient VRAM, or an incompatible mod.
How to turn on ray tracing in a supported game
- Launch the game and open Settings, Options, or Video/Graphics.
- Find the renderer or API setting. Some games require DirectX 12 or Vulkan.
- Apply the renderer change and restart the game if requested.
- Return to the graphics settings.
- Enable Ray Tracing, RT, Path Tracing, Full Ray Tracing, or the game’s equivalent label.
- Configure individual effects such as reflections, shadows, global illumination, ambient occlusion, and lighting.
- Apply the settings and restart again if the game requires it.
There is normally no need to enable ray tracing in the NVIDIA Control Panel. The game must contain the relevant implementation and expose the setting.
Enable DLSS to recover performance
DLSS is a separate in-game feature. Ray tracing can work without DLSS, and DLSS can work without ray tracing.
- Enable ray tracing at a moderate preset.
- Find NVIDIA DLSS, DLSS Super Resolution, or the game’s Upscaling menu.
- Start with Quality.
- Apply the setting and compare image quality and frame rate.
NVIDIA’s published starting recommendations are Quality at 1920×1080 and 2560×1440, Performance at 3840×2160, and Ultra Performance at 7680×4320. These are not universal rules. A powerful GPU may use Quality at 4K, while a demanding path-traced game may require Balanced or Performance at 1440p.
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- Quality: Best image quality among the upscaling modes, with a smaller performance gain.
- Balanced: A compromise between clarity and performance.
- Performance: More performance at the cost of a lower internal render resolution.
- Ultra Performance: Intended for extremely high output resolutions and can look soft at lower resolutions.
- DLAA: Uses DLSS technology for anti-aliasing at native resolution rather than upscaling for performance.
Aggressive modes can produce softness, shimmering, ghosting, or HUD artifacts. If the image looks unstable, move back toward Quality before lowering more graphics settings.
Enable DLSS Ray Reconstruction
In a supported game, Ray Reconstruction usually appears only after ray tracing and DLSS Super Resolution are enabled.
- Turn on ray tracing.
- Enable DLSS Super Resolution.
- Find Ray Reconstruction in the DLSS or ray-tracing section.
- Turn it on and compare fine detail, reflections, lighting stability, and ghosting.
NVIDIA describes Ray Reconstruction as an AI model that replaces traditional hand-tuned ray-tracing denoisers. It is not available in every game, and its absence does not necessarily indicate a driver problem.
Enable DLSS Frame Generation
Frame Generation is not ray tracing and does not make the GPU render every displayed frame. It creates additional frames from information supplied by traditionally rendered frames, so it is best used when the underlying frame rate is already reasonably high.
- Enable DLSS Super Resolution if the game requires it.
- Turn on DLSS Frame Generation.
- Restart the game if requested.
- Enable NVIDIA Reflex when offered.
- If frame pacing or latency feels poor, test a suitable frame-rate cap and compare the result.
Frame Generation can raise the displayed frame rate, but generated frames do not provide the same responsiveness as increasing the number of traditionally rendered frames. It may also introduce visual artifacts or latency concerns. Competitive players may prefer a lower-latency rasterized configuration.
NVIDIA lists DLSS Frame Generation for RTX 40- and RTX 50-series graphics cards, while Multi Frame Generation is associated with RTX 50-series GPUs. Both the GPU generation and the game must support the feature.
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CD PROJEKT RED’s Cyberpunk 2077 instructions specify an RTX 40-series card and Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling for that game’s Frame Generation feature. On Windows 10:
- Press the Windows key and type graphics.
- Open Graphics settings.
- Enable Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling.
- Restart the PC.
The developer states that this setting is enabled by default in Windows 11. This is a Cyberpunk 2077 requirement, not a universal requirement for every game.
Use NVIDIA App DLSS overrides carefully
For compatible games, the NVIDIA App can provide per-game DLSS overrides:
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- Install the current Game Ready Driver and NVIDIA App.
- Open the app’s Graphics section.
- Select the game under Program settings.
- Scroll to Driver Settings.
- Choose the relevant DLSS override.
- Apply the change, then close and reopen the game.
NVIDIA’s support article for its documented DLSS 4 override feature lists minimum requirements of Game Ready Driver 572.16 and NVIDIA App 11.0.2.312. Those numbers are historical minimums for that support documentation, not a claim that they are the latest versions now; use NVIDIA’s live downloads for current versions.
Possible overrides include Multi Frame Generation for RTX 50-series users, Frame Generation model upgrades for RTX 40- and RTX 50-series users, and Transformer model upgrades for Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, and DLAA on RTX GPUs. The game’s native feature generally must already be enabled. NVIDIA specifically says Frame Generation must be activated in-game before its corresponding override is applied.
If an override causes problems or does nothing, return to the game’s native behavior by selecting Use the 3D application setting.
Game examples
Fortnite
NVIDIA’s Fortnite RTX instructions use this sequence:
- Install current Windows updates, the latest Game Ready Driver, and the latest Fortnite version.
- Open Settings → Video Settings.
- Change DirectX Version to DirectX 12.
- Restart Fortnite.
- Return to Video Settings and enable Ray Tracing.
- Configure reflections, global illumination, ambient occlusion, and shadows.
- Enable DLSS separately if desired.
NVIDIA recommends DLSS Quality for 1080p, Balanced for 1440p, and Performance for 4K in Fortnite. Treat those as Fortnite-specific starting points rather than universal settings.
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Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 separates conventional ray tracing from path tracing:
- Ray Tracing: Overdrive: Settings → Graphics → Quick Preset.
- Path Tracing: Settings → Graphics, then the Ray Tracing section.
CD PROJEKT RED describes Overdrive as a path-traced preset above Ray Tracing: Ultra and recommends it on RTX 40-series cards from the RTX 4070 Ti upward. Its documentation also describes RTX 3090 support at 1080p and 30 fps. These are developer guidance for that game, not a general performance guarantee.
For Cyberpunk 2077’s documented Photo Mode path-tracing option, the listed minimum VRAM amounts are:
| Resolution | Minimum VRAM |
|---|---|
| 1080p | 8 GB |
| 1440p | 10 GB |
| 2160p | 12 GB |
These figures apply to that Photo Mode feature and should not be treated as universal VRAM requirements for gameplay, other games, or every ray-tracing preset.
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Practical RTX settings by resolution
| Resolution | Good starting point | Adjust first when performance is low |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p | Moderate or high ray tracing; DLSS Quality if needed | Reflections, then global illumination |
| 1440p | High ray tracing; DLSS Quality or Balanced | Ray-tracing effects and output resolution |
| 4K | Use ray tracing selectively; DLSS Quality or Performance depending on the GPU | Reflections, lighting, and resolution |
| Any resolution with path tracing | Reserve it for high-end hardware or combine it with lower resolution and upscaling | Disable path tracing before abandoning all ray tracing |
There is no reliable frame-rate promise without the exact GPU, CPU, game, resolution, preset, driver, and scene. Benchmark the same area before and after each change rather than changing several settings at once.
Troubleshooting missing or broken RTX features
Ray tracing is missing
- Confirm the exact GPU model; it must be a compatible RTX card for the game’s implementation.
- Check the game’s current requirements and support documentation.
- Update the game.
- Switch to DirectX 12 or the renderer documented by the developer.
- Restart the game.
- Update or clean-install the NVIDIA driver.
- Temporarily remove graphics mods, launch options, or configuration files that may override the renderer.
The game may also hide the setting under an advanced graphics menu. If the title does not support ray tracing, no driver setting can add native support.
DLSS is missing
Check whether the game supports DLSS, whether the GPU is an RTX model, whether the game is updated, and whether it is using an unsupported renderer or the wrong GPU. A different upscaler may also be selected. NVIDIA’s RTX list is useful for checking support, but the developer’s current documentation takes precedence over older menu paths.
Frame Generation is greyed out
- Check the GPU-generation requirement for the specific game.
- Enable DLSS Super Resolution if required.
- Use DirectX 12 where required.
- Check Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling if that title requires it.
- Update the game and driver.
- Temporarily disable overlays or mods that may interfere.
For Cyberpunk 2077 specifically, the documented requirement is RTX 40-series hardware plus Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling.
The game is using integrated graphics
On a laptop, plug in the charger, select the manufacturer’s Performance or Discrete GPU mode, and assign the game to the high-performance GPU in Windows Graphics settings. On a desktop, connect the monitor to the appropriate output on the discrete graphics card where applicable. Laptop power limits and cooling can make two systems with the same RTX model perform very differently.
If NVIDIA’s generic driver causes problems on a laptop, check the manufacturer’s BIOS, chipset, and graphics-driver updates. Thermal throttling can also reduce performance even when the correct GPU is selected.
Ray tracing works but performance is poor
- Start with DLSS Quality, then try Balanced if necessary.
- Reduce ray-traced reflections first.
- Lower global illumination or lighting quality.
- Reduce output resolution.
- Disable path tracing or Overdrive.
- Close overlays and background applications using the GPU.
- Check GPU temperature, clock speed, utilization, and VRAM usage.
- Allow shader compilation to finish after a driver or game update.
Reduce textures only when VRAM is the limiting factor. If the problem is shader compilation or thermal throttling, lowering textures may not help.
The image looks blurry or unstable
Move from DLSS Performance or Ultra Performance toward Quality, compare DLSS with native rendering or DLAA where available, and inspect reflections, fine foliage, motion, and HUD elements. Ray Reconstruction can improve some ray-traced details but can also produce game-specific artifacts, so compare it rather than assuming it is always better.
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Confirm that the game is supported, that its native feature is already enabled, and that the game was closed while the override was applied. Refresh the NVIDIA App, verify that the driver and app meet NVIDIA’s documented requirements, then restart the game. To remove the override, select Use the 3D application setting.
Should you leave ray tracing enabled?
Enable it when the improvement to lighting, reflections, or shadows is visible and the game maintains your target frame rate. Reduce or disable it when frame time becomes unstable, VRAM is nearly full, stutter or crashes appear, or competitive latency matters more than visual fidelity.
A sensible order is:
- Confirm the game is using the RTX GPU.
- Update the game and driver.
- Enable moderate ray tracing.
- Try DLSS Quality.
- Move to DLSS Balanced if performance remains low.
- Reduce reflections or global illumination.
- Reduce textures only if VRAM is the problem.
- Use Frame Generation only when supported and the base frame rate is already reasonable.
- Disable path tracing before disabling every ray-traced effect.
You do not need to buy anything if you already own a compatible RTX GPU. The NVIDIA App and Game Ready Driver are free, and activation normally happens in the game’s own graphics menu.
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