Reshade Ray Tracing Shader Rtgi 0.33 May 2026

The most exciting feature for power users in 0.33 is the Multi-Pass capability. You can now run two instances of RTGI in a single preset:

When blended together, the result looks indistinguishable from native engine Ray Tracing, but running on hardware that is five years old.

ReShade RTGI 0.33 is not a replacement for native hardware-accelerated Path Tracing. But it doesn't need to be.

It is the ultimate "what if" machine. What if Assassin’s Creed: Unity had modern denoising? What if The Witcher 3 (pre-next-gen update) had bounce lighting? What if Mirror’s Edge Catalyst actually looked like the concept art?

With version 0.33, Marty McFly has proven that software ray tracing is not dead; it is just getting mature. If you haven't looked at ReShade in a year, go update your preset. The grain is gone. The future (of modding) is bright.

Ready to try it? You can find the shader on Marty McFly’s Patreon (usually free after a short exclusivity period) or via the ReShade Discord server. Pair it with qUINT_ssr for reflections and MXAO for ambient occlusion, and you won't recognize your old games.

Have you tried RTGI 0.33? What game did you test it on first? Let us know in the comments.

I’ve written this for a typical PC gaming/graphics enthusiast blog — informative, slightly technical, but not overly academic.

If you are playing a modern AAA game with native ray tracing, no—ignore this shader.

But. If you have a backlog of 50+ classic PC games, an aging GTX 1070 or RTX 2060, and you want to feel like you just installed a $700 graphics card upgrade for free, then Reshade Ray Tracing shader RTGI 0.33 is still the king. Reshade Ray Tracing shader RTGI 0.33

It represents a unique moment in PC history: When a single hobbyist developer democratized ray tracing three years before NVIDIA’s marketing team claimed they invented it. It isn't perfect. It has noise, ghosting, and edge artifacts. But when you first walk into the Bannered Mare in Skyrim and see the firelight naturally wrap around a wooden beam, you will forget it's a "fake."

Install it. Tune it. Play your favorites like you’ve never seen them before.

Marty McFly has since moved on to RTGI 0.50+ (currently in Patreon beta) which uses "ReSTIR GI" — similar to what NVIDIA uses in its developer SDKs. Furthermore, Reshade 6.0 now includes a native "Depth3D+" system that conflicts with older RTGI builds.

Does that kill RTGI 0.33? No. In the modding community, stability beats features. Because 0.33 is "finished" (no more updates), it will never break your game due to a Reshade update. It is the archival gold standard. For games built on the Creation Engine (Skyrim, Fallout 4) or Unreal Engine 3 (BioShock, Arkham Asylum), 0.33 remains the easiest, most crash-free path to ray traced illumination.

Reshade Ray Tracing (RTGI) version 0.33, developed by Pascal Gilcher (Marty McFly), represents a significant milestone in post-processing graphics. Unlike native hardware ray tracing, RTGI works at the screen-space level to simulate realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections in almost any 3D game. ⚡ Core Features of RTGI 0.33 Path Traced Global Illumination:

Simulates how light bounces off surfaces to illuminate dark corners naturally. Ambient Occlusion: Provides deep, accurate contact shadows where objects meet. Infinite Bounces:

Version 0.33 refined the "multi-bounce" logic to make lighting look softer and more realistic. Advanced Denoising:

Features a sophisticated spatio-temporal filter to remove "noise" without excessive blurring. Depth-Aware:

Uses the game's depth buffer to ensure light interacts correctly with 3D geometry. 🛠️ Key Technical Requirements The most exciting feature for power users in 0

To run RTGI 0.33 effectively, your setup must meet these criteria: Reshade Installed:

You need a recent version of Reshade (Addon version recommended for depth buffer access). Depth Buffer Access:

The game must allow Reshade to access depth data (often requires disabling in-game Anti-Aliasing/MSAA). GPU Power:

While it runs on non-RTX cards (GTX, Radeon), it is extremely demanding on frame rates. Shader Connectivity: Requires the framework to be present in your shaders folder. 📉 Version 0.33 Improvements

Compared to earlier iterations, 0.33 introduced specific refinements: Reduced Ghosting:

Improved temporal accumulation means moving objects leave fewer "trails" in the lighting. Better Material Detection:

Improved handling of "roughness" and "specular" values for more accurate light behavior. UI Optimization:

More intuitive slider ranges for "Ray Length" and "Z-Thickness" to prevent light leaking through walls. ⚠️ Known Limitations Screen Space Only:

It cannot "see" what is behind the camera or off-screen. Lighting may disappear at the screen edges. Ready to try it

In many games, the shader might apply lighting over the HUD or menus if not masked properly. Performance Hit:

Expect a 20% to 50% drop in FPS depending on your resolution and ray count. 🚀 How to Optimize Performance Lower Ray Count:

Keep "Ray Amount" between 3 and 5 for a balance of quality and speed. Step Size:

Increase "Ray Step Size" to cover more ground with fewer calculations. Resolution Scale:

Use the "Next Gen" internal scaling options if available to render the GI at a lower resolution than the game. What is your Are you seeing any specific issues like flickering black screens I can provide a custom settings guide tailored to your specific hardware.

While there isn't an "official" manual that comes with the download, the RTGI (Ray Traced Global Illumination) 0.33 shader by Pascal Gilcher is one of the most transformative but complex tools available in ReShade.

Because version 0.33 introduces significant changes (especially regarding ambient occlusion and temporal stability), here is an interesting, practical guide on how to get the most out of it.

No. And yes.

Native RTX (or DXR) gives you accurate, world-space lighting with multiple bounces and no edge artifacts. It’s objectively better.

But RTGI 0.33 runs on any GPU from the last 8 years, doesn’t require a 5-minute shader compilation, and costs a fraction of the performance. More importantly, it works in literally any DirectX 9–12 or Vulkan game.

You can’t inject DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction into Fallout New Vegas. But you can inject RTGI 0.33. That’s the beauty of it.