I have a PC with an RTX 4070 and I'd like to know if it's really worth maxing everything out in BG3 or if medium-high settings run just as well. Some friends say it eats up a ton of resources and the visual difference isn't that big.
Basically your friends are right that the visual jump from high to ultra is pretty small compared to what it costs you in fps 😅 The 4070 definitely handles it, but in BG3 specifically ultra ray tracing is a beast of a power hog and you barely notice the difference if you leave it on high. I'd go with ultra everything EXCEPT ray tracing (put that on high) and then you'll be playing with good smoothness without sacrificing much visually.
with a 4070 you're more than set to max everything out at 1440p and hit 60-80 fps without any issues, so technically yeah it's worth it. the difference between high and ultra in BG3 is pretty noticeable, especially in ray tracing reflections, shadows, and distant textures - it's not just a cosmetic change. that said, if you'd rather go for 4k or keep 120+ fps, then yeah you'd want to dial down some settings, but with high graphics at 1440p you'll be really comfortable without sacrificing anything visually.
The RTX 4070 handles maxed-out settings without breaking a sweat, but watch out for ray tracing reflections on ultra because that's where you'll really see the performance hit and the fps drop is pretty significant. I'd say it's worth it if you've got the patience to dial ray tracing reflections down to high instead of ultra, because the image still looks amazing and you'll hold 60+ fps much better than if you crank everything to maximum!
Your card is plenty for maxed-out settings, but what most people don't mention is that in BG3 it's better to leave ray tracing on high instead of ultra - the visual difference is minimal but the fps shoot up, especially in the cutscenes. If you want the best balance, max out textures, shadows and view distance, and just tweak the ray tracing based on how it feels in the areas you visit most.
What resolution exactly do you want to play at? Because honestly the guys above are right that the 4070 can handle maxed out settings, but I think they're going overboard with ultra ray tracing. I'd say max out everything EXCEPT ray tracing on reflections - leave that on high or medium-high instead - that's where you really notice the fps drop and the visual difference is so subtle it's not worth tanking your framerate over. At 1440p with that config it'll run flawlessly and the game looks incredible anyway! The rest of the graphics (shadows, textures, antialiasing) definitely deserve to be at the top.
I have a 4070 too and what you notice is that maxed-out graphics really stand out when you're in open scenes or certain interiors with a lot of dynamic lighting, but once you're into the game for 2-3 hours you don't pay as much attention to those details. The thing is the game is pretty well optimized so technically it runs without any problem, but the power consumption and heat are real - my case fans ramp up way harder than with high settings. My advice: max out textures and particle effects, but keep ray tracing on high instead of ultra. That last one is where it really eats most of your fps without a visual difference that justifies the performance hit.
What's really going to make the difference is setting ray tracing to high instead of ultra, and keeping reflections on medium. The 4070 handles maxed-out settings no problem, but the bottleneck is those ultra ray tracing options that eat up tons of GPU without you really noticing much visually. Making that change you'll easily get 70-80 fps at 1440p without sacrificing the quality you see on screen.
But there's a trick most people overlook: use DLSS 3 with Frame Generation. It's not just upscaling, it generates full frames in between. With that set to quality you're gonna get almost ridiculous fps numbers and the image will still be sharp. That's where BG3 really shines with your card. The difference between that and playing without DLSS is night and day, especially if you leave ray tracing on high.
As for whether it's "worth it" to max everything out, it depends on the player. Some people notice the difference between medium-high and ultra, others don't see anything. But with the 4070 you're not sacrificing performance by cranking up the graphics, so at that point, why not? Just don't be a purist about ultra ray tracing, that's all.
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