YouTuber shows 007 First Light running on a GTX 1650 with software ray-tracing at playable frame rates

007 First Light launched a few days ago with a newly improved Glacier engine that comes with a number of graphical enhancements over the Hitman games, including software-based ray tracing that's enabled even at the game's low settings. YouTuber RandomGaminginHD tested the GTX 1650 4GB in the game and discovered the entry-level 16 series card can technically play the game at a playable frame rate despite being under the game's minimum GPU requirements.

The YouTuber tested the GPU at 1080p resolution using low settings. Running the game at native resolution proved to be overwhelming for the card, with frame rates running well under 30. However, using FSR upscaling catapulted frame rates above 30 FPS, with the GTX 1650 achieving around 35-40 FPS using FSR balanced mode. Performance mode failed to boost frame rates consistently above 40 FPS, but the YouTuber noted that FSR performance mode provided a more consistent experience.

The results are impressive considering the GTX 1650 falls short of the game's hardware requirements. IO Interactive states the minimum required GPU to run the game is the GTX 1660 or RX 5700, targeting 30 FPS at low settings using 1080p. As a reminder, the GTX 1650 is a significantly weaker card, featuring nearly 60% fewer cores, and a much narrower memory bus with just 4GB of GDDR5.

The GTX 1650 will by no means provide a great gaming experience in 007 First Light, but the fact it can play the game at all shows how optimized the graphics engine is. As previously mentioned, the game uses software ray-tracing for its global illumination, which is enabled even at the game's low settings. IO Interactive developed a custom ray-tracing pipeline for the Glacier engine that traces rays against signed distance fields and voxels to boost performance. This solution was chosen because the 007 First Light developers wanted an RTGI system that was capable of running on a variety of hardware, most notably lower-end GPUs that might lack hardware acceleration for ray-tracing workloads. If the game used a more conventional ray tracing solution with BVH, it is almost guaranteed the GTX 1650 would not be able to play 007 First Light at all.

007 First Light had a strong launch, amassing 1.5 million copies sold in just 24 hours. The game has been extremely well received by game critics, with many giving the game a 5 out of 5 score or a 9 out of 10 score.