Portal with RTX Update Adds NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 With Ray Reconstruction, RTX IO & New Content

Portal with RTX reimagines Valve’s timeless classic using full ray tracing, also known as path tracing, to accurately model the real-world properties of light, and how that light affects every surface and object. Illumination, shadows, reflections, refraction, and everything in between are all a result of the fully ray traced world and their interactions with upgraded assets, adding dazzling detail and dynamism to levels and effects.

Today, Portal with RTX is upgrading to NVIDIA DLSS 3.5, leveraging its AI-powered Ray Reconstruction technology to improve the fidelity of full ray tracing, and the responsiveness of dynamic lighting effects. And with the introduction of NVIDIA RTX IO, texture loading times are accelerated, and the file size of the game has been reduced. Read on to learn more.

To deliver the definitive experience, Portal with RTX includes the complete suite of DLSS technologies, maximizing frame rates and image quality using the power of AI. Super Resolution enables all GeForce RTX gamers to significantly accelerate frame rates. Frame Generation creates additional frames on GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards, desktops and laptops. Reflex reduces system latency, making gameplay even more responsive. And our newest groundbreaking feature, Ray Reconstruction, elevates the image quality of ray-traced effects and full ray tracing to new heights.

DLSS Ray Reconstruction is an enhanced AI-powered neural renderer that improves ray-traced image quality for all GeForce RTX GPUs by replacing hand-tuned denoisers with an NVIDIA supercomputer-trained AI network, which generates higher-quality pixels in between sampled rays. Compared to previous techniques, quality is visibly enhanced, and as DLSS is always learning, the benefits keep on improving.

Ray Reconstruction in Portal with RTX updates lighting effects faster - previously the denoiser struggled with spatial interpolation, where it didn’t blend enough pixels, creating a blotchy effect. Additionally, it was unable to accumulate enough good pixels from previous frames, resulting in a boiling effect in the light.

With DLSS Ray Reconstruction, certain patterns associated with reflections are recognized, keeping the image stable and generating high quality reflections. The result is near-instantaneous lighting updates that are nigh on unnoticeable during the course of normal gameplay. Additionally, Ray Reconstruction greatly improves the clarity and fidelity of water reflections, eliminates light speckle artifacts on fine details, such as chain link fences, eliminates ghosting on moving objects, such as ventilation fans, and increases the fidelity of shadows cast from aforementioned moving game elements.

Enabling DLSS 3.5 with Ray Reconstruction multiples frame rates on the GeForce RTX 4090 by 6.2X, enabling max setting, fully ray-traced 4K gameplay at over 100 FPS; on the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, performance is multiplied by 6.7X to deliver a 70 FPS-plus experience.

At 2560x1440, a 4.7X performance multiplier enables owners of the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, 4070 Ti SUPER, 4080, 4080 SUPER and 4090 to max everything out and play at over 80 FPS, and up to 160 FPS on the GeForce RTX 4090.

At 1920x1080, a 3.6X performance multiplier enables owners of virtually all GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards to play at over 70 FPS, with frame rates climbing rapidly as you move up the stack, all the way up to 210 FPS on the GeForce RTX 4090.

NVIDIA RTX IO enables fast GPU-based loading and game asset decompression, massively accelerating IO performance compared to hard drives and traditional storage APIs. NVIDIA RTX IO leverages GPU decompression for smaller data packages, enabling faster texture load times and lower CPU utilization, allowing developers to create a new generation of games with massive highly detailed worlds.

NVIDIA RTX IO made its debut alongside the free Portal: Prelude RTX NVIDIA RTX Remix mod and in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Now it’s also available in Portal with RTX:

In Portal with RTX, NVIDIA RTX IO reduces texture load times by up to 5X, and reduces the game’s disk drive footprint by 37%:

Learn more about NVIDIA RTX IO in our launch article.

The cubes of Portal are one of the game’s most popular aspects, accompanying the player throughout their journey, and helping them overcome all manner of challenges. In Portal with RTX, Remix technology enables you to replace the cubes with alternative models, some of which cast light that realistically illuminates the test chambers and is reflected by shiny surfaces. Other cubes showcase Physically Based Materials, or have their own reflective properties to further highlight the fully ray traced technology at play.

The creation of bonus cubes for Portal with RTX allowed our talented artists to showcase their skills by crafting their own unique Storage and Companions to accompany players as they attempt to escape GLaDOS. Each individual artist received minimal direction in the form of a short concept prompt (such as space, clockwork, wood, magnify, arts & crafts, health, frozen, roll cage, power on, 4090), and were given free rein to design, model and texture their new friend in their own style.

Leveraging the power of our custom PBR shader and the ability to utilize emissive materials to dynamically affect the lighting in the game world, the results were breathtaking. These unique cubes enhance the player's experience, encouraging them to revisit their favorite chambers time and again.

In our new Portal with RTX update we’ve included 6 new cubes, featuring a variety of materials that interact realistically with the environment and lighting. Check them out in 4K gallery below:

In Portal with RTX, press Alt+X, navigate to the “Developer Settings” menu, select the “About” tab, and scroll down to the “Secrets” section, where you’ll find a number of alternative Storage and Companion Cube models you can use. Pick a new cube, click “Save Settings” on the bottom left, and the cube models will be instantly updated on-screen.

DLSS 3.5 with Ray Reconstruction is coming soon to the NVIDIA RTX Remix Open Beta, enabling all modders to upgrade their work. Stay tuned to the RTX Remix changelog to learn when the tech is added, so you can upgrade your mods with game-enhancing Ray Reconstruction technology.

Portal with RTX and our new NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 and RTX IO update are available on Steam now, for free for all Portal owners. Download, install our latest Game Ready Driver, and get ready to enjoy the classic game in an entirely new light, now with even better image quality, even faster performance, and reduced texture load times.

For more announcements, and news about games leveraging our range of incredible RTX technologies, head over to GeForce.com.

If you don’t have a GeForce RTX PC or laptop, you can play Portal with RTX in the cloud using the same technologies as GeForce RTX 40 Series owners, including DLSS 3.5, and Full Ray Tracing, thanks to NVIDIA GeForce NOW Ultimate.