A decade-old game suddenly looks brand new – but is that a blessing or a curse for the future of GTA?
GTA 5 is more than 10 years old, and apparently, people are still finding things that can create a small hype. Not somewhere in the vast valley, not in the concrete jungle that is Los Santos, but actually in the settings. A single graphical tweak is making the game look better than ever – and it’s got the community both amazed and terrified. Could this be a sign of what’s to come in GTA 6? And if so, is your hardware ready for it? Here’s everything you need to know about the latest GTA 5 discovery.
Ray Tracing – A Hidden Gem
For over a decade, GTA 5 has remained a visual benchmark, but now, an overlooked setting is breathing new life into the game. A viral Reddit post with nearly 55,000 upvotes showcases the dramatic difference ray tracing makes, transforming the city to look more realistic than ever. Many gamers had no idea their settings could unlock such a visual upgrade without mods. Ok, let’s be real – if you accidentally figured out you can play GTA 5 with ray tracing on, you probably also accidentally found a sauna in the west wing of your mansion.
The reason people are reacting with concern, posting comments like "Me to my GTX 1650: Don't worry, ray tracing in GTA 5 isn't real, it can't hurt you." is simple. If this is already possible in a game that’s over 10 years old, would it be so crazy to think that this could become the new standard for GTA 6, drastically raising the minimum requirements?
GTA 6 – A Hardware Nightmare?
So why does ray tracing look so much better? It calculates light rays in real-time, simulating how they hit surfaces, reflect, and refract – creating more realistic shadows, reflections, and lighting. Without ray tracing, games use techniques like screen-space reflections and baked lighting, which rely on pre-rendered effects and approximations rather than real physics. These traditional methods are less demanding but also less accurate, while ray tracing requires massive computing power because every light interaction needs to be constantly updated, pushing even high-end GPUs to their limits.
Why are graphics cards so expensive? The demand has exploded across different industries, making GPUs more valuable than ever. Crypto mining has driven prices up for years, as powerful GPUs are essential for mining cryptocurrencies efficiently. At the same time, AI development is pushing costs even higher, since training and running complex machine learning models require massive parallel processing power, which GPUs excel at. With skyrocketing demand and limited supply, the market remains tight, leaving gamers and PC enthusiasts struggling with ever-increasing prices. If you've ever wondered why the price of upgrading your setup made you consider selling an organ, that's why.
Is an upgrade for ray tracing worth it for you? Let us know in the comments!