Why ray tracing still hits performance so hard (even on powerful GPUs)
Ray tracing is one of those “wow” graphics features that can make lighting and reflections look ridiculously lifelike. But it comes with a catch: you usually need top-tier hardware to run it well, and even then you’re often trading a big chunk of frame rate for prettier lighting.
Yes, techniques like supersampling and frame generation can soften the blow. But fundamentally, ray tracing is still expensive. You’re asking the GPU to do a ton of complex lighting work, and much of that work can end up being inefficient—especially when the rendering workload isn’t nicely ordered or predictable.
What Microsoft is updating in DirectX ray tracing
Microsoft is testing newer versions of DirectX ray tracing that could significantly improve ray tracing performance in games that support it—assuming the hardware supports it too.
The performance uplift being discussed isn’t small. According to Microsoft engineer Amar Patel, internal testing shows potential gains ranging from 40% to 90% in certain configurations. That’s the kind of jump that can take ray tracing from “nice screenshot mode” to “actually playable at high settings.”
Shader Execution Reordering (SER): the “special sauce” behind the big gains
The core technology behind these gains is Shader Execution Reordering (SER).
Here’s what matters: SER is described as a tool (working alongside other optimization tools) that can reduce rendering work that isn’t necessary, specifically around lighting calculations. In practice, that means the engine can avoid spending so much GPU time on lighting behavior that doesn’t meaningfully contribute to what you see—like cases where surfaces reflect light differently (or don’t reflect it much at all).
Ray tracing workloads can be chaotic. SER is essentially about getting that chaos under control so the GPU isn’t thrashing through inefficient execution patterns.
Performance claims: 40% on RTX 4090, up to 90% on Intel Arc B-Series
The testing results cited are very specific:
SER results on Nvidia RTX 4090
Patel stated that using SER (with the tested settings) on an Nvidia RTX 4090 produced a 40% frame rate increase versus not using SER.
That’s notable because the RTX 4090 already sits at the top end of consumer GPU performance. A gain like that suggests SER isn’t just “helpful for budget cards”—it can materially increase high-end ray tracing throughput too.
SER results on Intel Arc B-Series GPUs
Even more eye-catching: Patel said that a couple of configurations of Intel Arc B-Series GPUs each showed a 90% frame rate increase.
PCWorld also notes that increases were seen on some lower-cost Intel GPUs as well. So while the headline numbers are tied to specific test setups, the implication is that SER can benefit more than just one flagship card.
This isn’t a driver flip: what has to happen for gamers to see the gains
One important reality check: these improvements aren’t something you can expect to magically appear via a quick driver update and suddenly all your ray-traced games run faster.
This is described as “complex batch rendering tech with a lot of prerequisites,” and the biggest blocker is straightforward:
Game developers must implement DirectX 12 feature support
For SER-driven gains to show up broadly, developers need to do work to support the DirectX 12 feature in their games.
So the performance upside is real—but adoption is the whole game here. Until developers integrate it, the average player won’t see a difference, no matter what GPU they own.
Hardware ecosystem support: Intel, Nvidia, and work with AMD and Qualcomm
Microsoft’s testing and the specific results called out include Nvidia and Intel hardware, and Microsoft is also working with AMD and Qualcomm to broaden adoption.
That matters because ray tracing performance improvements only become “industry-changing” when they land across the ecosystem—GPUs, drivers, APIs, and real shipped games.
Where this is showing up now: demos first, games later
PCWorld notes this has been discussed for almost a year, and that it’s currently “mostly being seen in Microsoft’s own demos.”
So, realistically, we’re still in that phase where the tech is proving itself behind the scenes. The next step is the hard part: getting it into production pipelines, engines, and shipping titles.
Why SER could be the ray tracing boost PC gamers have been waiting for
What’s interesting here is the scale of the claimed uplift. A 10–15% improvement is nice. But 40–90% is the kind of performance jump that can change how people set graphics options.
PCWorld frames this as potentially combining with updates from Nvidia and AMD to create a “big jump in high-end performance.” If developer adoption follows, SER could help ray tracing feel less like a punishment and more like a default feature you leave on because… why not?