WoW Forever Beta build 1.60.1.70009 is reporting rt:None and disabling Ray Traced Shadows on an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, despite Windows, the NVIDIA driver, DirectX 12, and WoW’s own detailed GPU capability reporting all confirming hardware ray-tracing support.
I performed several tests to determine whether this was a driver, Windows, DirectX, configuration, or hardware problem. The results appear to point toward a ray-tracing capability detection/mapping issue inside the Forever client.
System
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WoW Forever Beta: 1.60.1.70009
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OS: Windows 11 Pro, build 26200.9457
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CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K/KF
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GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB (Blackwell)
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NVIDIA driver: 617.14 / 32.0.16.1714
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DirectX: DirectX 12
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D3D feature level: 12_2
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WDDM: 3.2
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Display: 3840×2160 @ 144 Hz
DxDiag reports the RTX 5070 Ti operating normally, with no device problem, Feature Level 12_2, DDI 12, WDDM 3.2, and hardware scheduling enabled.
Forever startup result
The Forever gx.log correctly detects and selects the RTX 5070 Ti:
Force API D3D12
Adapter 0: "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti" 16GB family:Blackwell type:Discrete
NVIDIA driver_version:617.14
Choosing gpu by name: "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti"
However, immediately afterward it reports:
GpuInfo: sm:dx_6_0, rt:None, vrs:2, bary:1, mesh:1 pull:1
The D3D12 device then creates successfully:
Dx12 Device Create Successful
Using shader family dx_6_0
<IsGPUDriverOutOfDate> No
So this does not appear to be a D3D12 device-creation or outdated-driver failure.
Independent D3D12/DXR test
To verify what Windows actually exposes to applications, I created a small native C++ D3D12 test using:
ID3D12Device::CheckFeatureSupport(
D3D12_FEATURE_D3D12_OPTIONS5,
...
)
on the RTX 5070 Ti.
The result was:
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
RaytracingTier: TIER 1.2
Therefore, the D3D12 device presented by Windows/NVIDIA does expose hardware ray tracing.
This is important because Forever is reporting rt:None on a D3D12 device for which a direct OPTIONS5 capability query returns DXR Tier 1.2.
WoW’s own full GPU capability report
I then enabled:
/console GxLogFullGPUInfo 1
This produced an especially interesting result.
WoW’s own Prism GPU detection correctly identifies:
api: Dx12
supported: 1
vendorId: NVIDIA
deviceId: 0x2c05
nvidia.family: Blackwell
nvidia.brand: Geforce RTX
nvidia.driverVersion: 617.14
nvidia.rayTracingCores: 70
nvidia.tensorCores: 280
windowsVersion: 11
windowsBuildNumber: 26200
dxFeatureLevel: 12.2
preferredShaderModel: Dx67
In other words, the client clearly recognizes this as a Blackwell RTX GPU with 70 RT cores and D3D Feature Level 12.2.
The detailed D3D12 capability report also contains valid ray-tracing capabilities and reports a nonzero internal raytracingTier value. This is in contrast to the DX11 capability scan, where raytracingTier: 0 is reported as expected.
Yet the rendering initialization still ultimately reports:
GpuInfo: sm:dx_6_0, rt:None, vrs:2, bary:1, mesh:1 pull:1
So there appears to be a discrepancy between Prism’s detailed D3D12 capability detection and the ray-tracing support state eventually exposed to the Gx/rendering layer.
Additional executable observation
For diagnostic purposes, I also inspected the strings in the exact WowB.exe from build 1.60.1.70009.
The executable contains a ray-tracing support/name table with:
None
DXR 1.0
DXR 1.1
I could not find a corresponding:
DXR 1.2
string.
The executable also contains strings/references relating to:
GpuInfo: sm:%s, rt:%s, vrs:%u, bary:%d, mesh:%u pull:%u
raytracingTier: %u
GxCompatOptionalGpuFeatures
I am not claiming that the missing DXR 1.2 string proves the bug. It could simply be a display-name table, and the client could legitimately map newer DXR tiers to the DXR 1.1 rendering path.
However, it may be worth investigating because the observed behavior is consistent with a possible capability-enum/mapping problem:
D3D12/driver:
DXR Tier 1.2 supported
Prism:
ray tracing capability detected
Gx/render initialization:
rt:None
The question is whether the newer capability reported for this hardware is being correctly mapped to the existing DXR 1.1 rendering path.
Troubleshooting already performed
I have already tested/reset the normal user-side causes, including rebuilding the Forever configuration/cache, forcing D3D12, verifying the correct RTX 5070 Ti is selected, checking the current NVIDIA driver, checking DxDiag, testing Optional GPU Features, and directly querying the D3D12 device for DXR support.
The beta recreates its startup/configuration files normally, but gx.log continues to report:
rt:None
The NVIDIA driver is explicitly accepted by the client:
<IsGPUDriverOutOfDate> No
Not isolated to this PC/GPU
There are other Forever reports showing the same rt:None behavior on RTX 30-, 40-, and 50-series GPUs. One particularly useful comparison reports an RTX 3080 on the same machine/driver producing:
Forever: rt:None
Anniversary: rt:DXR 1.1
Retail: rt:DXR 1.1
Other reports include RTX 4090/5070 systems, and an RX 9070 report where Retail detects DXR 1.1 while Forever reports rt:None.
This suggests the issue may be broader than Blackwell/DXR Tier 1.2 specifically.
Requested investigation
Could the graphics/rendering team please check the DXR capability handoff between Prism GPU detection and Gx ray-tracing support initialization in the Forever branch?
In particular:
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Why does the detailed DX12 capability scan recognize ray-tracing hardware/capabilities while GpuInfo resolves to rt:None?
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Is the current Forever branch correctly handling newer DXR capability/tier values?
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Should DXR Tier 1.2 hardware fall back/map to the existing DXR 1.1 rendering path?
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Is Ray Traced Shadows intentionally disabled in the current Forever Beta, or is rt:None unintended?
The key reproduction on this machine is:
RTX 5070 Ti / Driver 617.14
↓
D3D12 device creation succeeds
↓
Direct D3D12 OPTIONS5 query = DXR Tier 1.2
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WoW Prism recognizes Blackwell + 70 RT cores + FL 12.2
↓
Forever GpuInfo = rt:None
↓
Ray Traced Shadows unavailable
I can provide the complete gx.log, DxDiag output, the small D3D12 capability-test source, and additional logs if useful.
