It does not require an RTX card. It does not require DLSS. It requires only patience and a few clicks. For JPRG fans, open-world explorers, and simulation enthusiasts, this shader breathes new life into decade-old games.
The keyword is patience. Tweak the settings per game. Watch the lighting bloom. Once you play with RTGI 0.33, you will find it impossible to go back to flat, static ambient occlusion again. Disclaimer: Always scan third-party shader files with antivirus software. This guide is for educational purposes. The author supports developers like Marty McFly; if you enjoy RTGI, consider subscribing to his Patreon for the latest versions. reshade ray tracing shader rtgi 033 free
A shader is a piece of code that tells your GPU how to render light, shadows, and color. The "ReShade Ray Tracing Shader" is technically a screen-space ray tracing effect, often abbreviated as (Ray Traced Global Illumination). RTGI Explained: Why 0.33 is a Legend Developed by the brilliant Pascal "Marty McFly" Gilcher, the RTGI shader simulates how light bounces off surfaces in real-time. Unlike traditional ambient occlusion (which only adds shadows in corners), RTGI calculates the intensity of incoming light and its color bleed. For example, a red brick wall will cast a faint red tint onto a white floor nearby. It does not require an RTX card
For a free tool that runs on almost any GPU from the last 8 years, RTGI 0.33 is a miracle. In static screenshots, it is often indistinguishable from RTX 20-series ray tracing. Final Verdict: Is RTGI 0.33 Still Worth It in 2025? Absolutely. While Marty McFly has moved on to paid "True Illumination" shaders costing $5/month, RTGI 0.33 Free remains the best entry-point into realistic lighting for budget PC gamers and modders. Watch the lighting bloom
The lighting looks "blocky" or has pixelated artifacts. Solution: Increase "Quality" to High or Ultra, but understand that this uses more VRAM. Alternatively, enable the "Temporal Anti-Aliasing" (TAA) shader included with ReShade. RTGI 0.33 vs. Native Hardware RT (Nvidia RTX) Let’s be realistic. RTGI 0.33 is screen-space . That means it only affects what you can see on the monitor. If you turn the camera away from a light source, the bounce light might disappear. True hardware RT (like in Cyberpunk 2077’s Psycho mode) is world-space and path-traced.
The effect flickers or looks like "soup." Solution: Screen-space ray tracing requires a depth buffer. Go to the ReShade "Add-ons" tab and ensure "Copy depth buffer before clear" is checked. Also, disable anti-aliasing in-game (use ReShade's SMAA instead).