Ray Tracing Cores
Architecture
DEFINITION
Specialized hardware units designed to accelerate ray tracing calculations for realistic lighting and reflections.
OVERVIEW
Ray Tracing Cores (RT Cores) are dedicated hardware units that accelerate the ray-triangle intersection tests and bounding volume hierarchy (BVH) traversal required for real-time ray tracing.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
RT Cores can perform ray tracing calculations up to 10x faster than using CUDA cores alone. Each generation of RT Cores adds new features like motion blur support, improved BVH traversal, and opacity micromaps. While primarily designed for graphics, RT Cores can also accelerate certain scientific simulations involving ray propagation.
COMMON USE CASES
- Real-time ray traced rendering in games
- Architectural visualization
- Product design and CAD rendering
- Film and animation production
- Physics simulations involving light transport