The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - PC System Requirements are here!

[GuyNwah]

I think I'm missing something.

I have:
Intel Core i5-2400
AMD Radeon HD6870 1GB
8GB RAM

According to this thread's information, my PC doesn't meet minimum system requirements.
I thought at first that it's fine - my PC is 3 years old now and it wasn't monster to start with.

I used to think about buying PS4 from time to time because of exclusives and because my fiancee would like to play games with PS4 Eye.
I thought that maybe I'll buy The Witcher 3 for PS4 then and be done with it. Unfortunately I decided to do little research.

I've found technical specs of PS4 (especially GPU) and mine.
PS4 My PC
Floating point performance: 1,84 Gflops 2,08 Gflops
Pixel rate 25,6GP/s 29,8GP/s
Texture rate 57,6GT/s 52,1GT/s
Clock 800MHz 900MHz
Bandwith 176GB/s 134,4GB/s (more than Xbox One)

Overall my GPU seems at least on par with PS4's. What is the reason for HD 7870 as minimum if it's a lot better than PS4's GPU?

I'm at loss.

One consideration that hasn't been given much attention is GPU architecture. AMD 77xx and later cards (as well as the console APUs) are GCN; earlier cards are VLIW. The two are very different and program very differently.

Both support DirectX 11, so there should not be "won't run because not compatible" issues. But a lot of inefficiencies due to the use of VLIW go away in GCN, and I would expect GCN cards to outperform comparable VLIW cards on new engines like TW3's.

There's also a difference between what will work and what your support department is prepared to deal with. You don't tell your customers that you will support hardware your support crew isn't prepared to deal with.

 

[Geralt_of_bsas]

Pretty much that, different things can drive different people mad.
For example I'm no fan of screen tearing but until I get G/Free- Synch I'll just keep Vsynch off because I don't like input lag, I'll just have to 'deal with' screen tearing.

Why don't you cap the frame rate at 1 or 2 frames less than your refresh rate, that eliminates the input lag and keeps the experience almost exactly as smooth.

I play all my games with V-Sync, even Battlefield 4 where I require precise and responsive controls, and it works great.

 

[truthinoneword]

Pretty much that, different things can drive different people mad.
For example I'm no fan of screen tearing but until I get G/Free- Synch I'll just keep Vsynch off because I don't like input lag, I'll just have to 'deal with' screen tearing.

I would actually take a small amount of input lag over screen tearing. To me screen tearing is the greatest example of a failure, for modern entertainment.

 

[Scholdarr.452]

Straight lines have nothing to do with aliasing, it'll apply just as well to curved, diagonal, circular, whatever figure you can think of, it's just how pixels work.

It's true that aliasing appears for every geometry but straight lines or better "clear geometries with a high contrast" (in the lack of a better term) are the most visible ones. The biggest aliasing issues in the first screenshots have (to me at least) the ships with their ropes and crossbars. So it's not just about the pure technical side but also how people see them in the game. There are certain geometries which are "in great danger" of big aliasing (but not necessarily "straight" lines, you're right)


You don't have any problem with screen tearing or input lag if you have not more than 60 FPS. Just turn the settings up until you have 50-60 FPS and you're good to go. And after all, input lag shouldn't be a big issue in a SP game like Witcher...

 

[Tracido]

I would actually take a small amount of input lag over screen tearing. To me screen tearing is the greatest example of a failure, for modern entertainment.

This, so this.

The bounds I will go to get Vsync working on old games even, (I will eat the damn FPS loss as long as above 35average in the roughest spots, 30max possible I'll break with tools if I can as well, but I never care about more than 60) trust me...

 

[zeus99]

Hello - trying to figure out if my PC can run this game - mostly concerned about the CPU spec.
PC I have is:
Intel core I7 -920 @ 2.67 Ghz
12GB RAM
NVIDIA GTX-660
64bit Windows 7

 

[truthinoneword]

Hello - trying to figure out if my PC can run this game - mostly concerned about the CPU spec.
PC I have is:
Intel core I7 -920 @ 2.67 Ghz
12GB RAM
NVIDIA GTX-660
64bit Windows 7

Your CPU is stronger than mine, and mine meets the minimum, so you will be able to run it.

 

[atc.710]

"Nvidia Geforce GTX 960 will launch at the $200 Price Point"

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960-gm206-210/

There might be hope for a witcher 3 budget pc after all ;_;

In Nvidia we trust <3

 

[M4xw0lf]

Awesome stuff, and the argument gets even more convincing with screenshots. However my original problem of barely noticing it while the game is running is still a pretty solid factor. I notice when a game drops off by 5 FPS way before the fact that foliage from 3 miles away looks mildly fuzzy. It will be an interesting balancing act for sure, but I expect the lowest AA will suffice for witcher 3.

Consider yourself very lucky - it saves you LOTS of shiny monies

---------- Updated at 07:09 AM ----------

"Nvidia Geforce GTX 960 will launch at the $200 Price Point"

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960-gm206-210/

There might be hope for a witcher 3 budget pc after all ;_;

In Nvidia we trust <3

There are still more than three months ahead of the TW3 launch - I wouldn't buy a card right now. Hopefully, also AMD will have released new cards before May, which then should compete better with Nvidia's Maxwell offerings, bringing lower prices for everyone. In competition I trust.

 

[wolfheart14]

Even Evolve downgraded req . It was gtx 660 or 670 at beggining now is gtx 560 , maybe it will be considered this till may .

 

[Hathur]

I'm mildly hopeful that my pc may actually run this on low settings.

I just tried shadows of mordor after finding a great sale.. thing is, neither my cpu or gpu meet the minimum (close, but not quite). However, despite this, I can still run the game at a mix of medium and low settings reliably at 30fps, even in large fights / bug scenes.

I'm hoping this will be the case also for Witcher 3.

 

[Scholdarr.452]

Even Evolve downgraded req . It was gtx 660 or 670 at beggining now is gtx 560 , maybe it will be considered this till may .

Even? Evolve is way less requiring than Witcher 3. Limited level sizes, limited objects, limited complexity.

 

[clst]

requirement setting is what devs think will be the best to have to play the game on good condition. it seems to me that sometimes some people think they don t have the minimum system can even play as a system with minimum below

 

[wolfheart14]

I am not posting for forum members , I am posting for the developers of Witcher 3 to read again this article :
"http://www.craveonline.com/gaming/articles/747133-microsoft-right-900p-unacceptable".
Please read it well . I do not want to be troll or a hater now. I am sincere in my posting.The marketing of Witcher 3 was shity and full of overstatements just like Ubishiet.For example witcher 2 with ubbersampling ...you think is played in this days ? Maybe it is but not by many. As witcher 2 , it will be the same in short time . So if you want to make history like Skyrim and beyound skyrim , please make a reasonable good job by optimizing the game )
Me as a gamer do not need another watchdogs or acreed Unity unoptimized game even for PS4/xbox one.And For PC which you!... you laugh at us that we need serious pc upgrade because you can not proper optimize well ...just like Ubishit.You do not make the pc port just for ppl who already upgraded with monster pc components . If you want bad sales pls do not take me serious or just stop doing for PC .
I am not the only one which is feeling frustrated because of huge pc req of the game. I had some expectations from you and obviously you dissapoint now.
Don't take this post to personal but Witcher 3 at this state is not well optimized for PC ....maybe it is for PS4/xbox one.We do not need next gen over ps4/xbox one gen. I know for pc already exists powerfull components but at what costs ....?
But if in final state , in July 19 on xbox one and ps4 will be at 900p it will mean that the game will be almost as bad as Assasins creed Unity maybe will not have performance and quality issues (glitches ...etc.)

 

[ReptilePZ]

Your entire argument hinges on the assumption that TW3 is unoptimized rather than just a demanding game, yet you provide zero proof. Until you do, I am afraid your criticism holds no water.

TW3 was always advertised as a game that will push your machine to the limit, so being surprised by the somewhat steep requirements (they're not even that high, really) is strange, too.

 

[Scholdarr.452]

I am not posting for forum members , I am posting for the developers of Witcher 3 to read again this article :
"http://www.craveonline.com/gaming/articles/747133-microsoft-right-900p-unacceptable".
Please read it well . I do not want to be troll or a hater now. I am sincere in my posting.The marketing of Witcher 3 was shity and full of overstatements just like Ubishiet.For example witcher 2 with ubbersampling ...you think is played in this days ? Maybe it is but not by many. As witcher 2 , it will be the same in short time . So if you want to make history like Skyrim and beyound skyrim , please make a reasonable good job by optimizing the game )
Me as a gamer do not need another watchdogs or acreed Unity unoptimized game even for PS4/xbox one.And For PC which you!... you laugh at us that we need serious pc upgrade because you can not proper optimize well ...just like Ubishit.You do not make the pc port just for ppl who already upgraded with monster pc components . If you want bad sales pls do not take me serious or just stop doing for PC .
I am not the only one which is feeling frustrated because of huge pc req of the game. I had some expectations from you and obviously you dissapoint now.
Don't take this post to personal but Witcher 3 at this state is not well optimized for PC ....maybe it is for PS4/xbox one.We do not need next gen over ps4/xbox one gen. I know for pc already exists powerfull components but at what costs ....?
But if in final state , in July 19 on xbox one and ps4 will be at 900p it will mean that the game will be almost as bad as Assasins creed Unity maybe will not have performance and quality issues (glitches ...etc.)

There is no "huge" requirement for the game. You basically need a system that is comparable to PS4 and XboxOne in performance to be able to play the game at decent frame rates (>30). What's wrong with that? Why does CDPR disappoint with that?

Witcher 3 was always marketed and announced as a state-of-the-art product in visual fidelity and a next-gen-only product. Nothing has changed here. The PC hardware requirements just reflect that. You don't want to invest money in hardware? Sorry, but that's just your loss and I understand that you might be disappointed because you maybe can't play the game with a weak PC system but that's not the developers fault and they don't have to apologize for pushing for the best possible (visual) experience. But to be honest: many people who call themselves kind of "serious gamers" (which means that they regularly play video games on core systems) already have such a system and I guess most of them will upgrade to one in the upcoming months and years. That's just how technology works. It's always progressing and changing and what you own today can be old and kind of useless tomorrow...

I agree that optimization is important and even more so bug-fixing and the fight against glitches and graphical issues. But optimization doesn't mean that the game should work on PCs that are more than two or three years old. That's not how modern tech is working. When you use certain shaders and graphical tools and effects you need a certain hardware performance baseline. Below that baseline the game won't work. It's the same thing with almost every new next-gen game, Assassin's Creed Unity included. Optimization means that above a certain threshold or baseline (the minimum requirements for basic tech used in the game) the hardware power you use should increase the visual quality in a proper ratio until a certain maximal threshold. To which extend that ratio works (and seems reasonable) is highly controversial. It depends on the engine (and how it works, for example streaming), on drivers and GPU integration, on specific system issues and even on the individual person who might see various effects differently (e.g. AA, soft shadows, particles and so on). And AC Unity DOES look gorgeous on PC if you have the proper hardware. And it works with proper framerates as well most of the time in the meantime as well...

In short: I don't see why the system requirements should give anyone reason to worry. Imho they fit to the game and its quality in the way CDPR marketed it so far.

 

[MacGruber.408]

Your entire argument hinges on the assumption that TW3 is unoptimized rather than just a demanding game, yet you provide zero proof. Until you do, I am afraid your criticism holds no water.

TW3 was always advertised as a game that will push your machine to the limit, so being surprised by the somewhat steep requirements (they're not even that high, really) is strange, too.

The absence of evidence is the evidence of absence. There also is no proof that the game is optimized. Being that they pushed back the game another 5 months one can assume that it is not fully optimized. It may be optimized for these very high specs though.

I have no doubt for the game to look as beautiful as it did on the 30 minute gameplay video one would have to meet or exceed those steep requirements.

It only cost me $130 to upgrade and make my PC capable of running this game somewhere between minimum and recommended. $550 approx. for every component. Good investment? I think so because I probably don't have to worry about playing any new games in the future.

Lets face it , the gaming industry went in the toilet for 2014 and the future looks grim for gaming. Nothing but remasteries and stupid 8-bit indie games neither of which require a boss PC. TW3 will be the gaming industry's saving grace along with EQN possibly.

 

[ReptilePZ]

The absence of evidence is the evidence of absence. There also is no proof that the game is optimized. Being that they pushed back the game another 5 months one can assume that it is not fully optimized. It may be optimized for these very high specs though.

I have no doubt for the game to look as beautiful as it did on the 30 minute gameplay video one would have to meet or exceed those steep requirements.

Sure, it could end up being unoptimized, but that's all that can be said on the matter. Claims that the game "at this state is not well optimized for PC" and providing that as the reason the requirements are set the way they are, without any evidence backing that, simply cannot be taken seriously, however.

 

[Scholdarr.452]

Lets face it , the gaming industry went in the toilet for 2014 and the future looks grim for gaming. Nothing but remasteries and stupid 8-bit indie games neither of which require a boss PC. TW3 will be the gaming industry's saving grace along with EQN possibly.

LOL, sure...because games can only be good if they require a "bos PC"... :coffee:

And again about optimization: the game will probably be best optimized for quality and hardware that is similar to those of the next-gen consoles. That's the sweet spot for multi-platform games. You can't make big mistakes here as a developer (which means: you shouldn't). Everything else is way less important, that's just how gaming business works. So if you have to worry about something at all, it's about those very high specs and those super awesome graphics.

 

[sidspyker]

There also is no proof that the game is optimized. Being that they pushed back the game another 5 months one can assume that it is not fully optimized. It may be optimized for these very high specs though.

There is also no proof that the world will not end tomorrow and yet here we are not banging drums about it.

Hypothetically yes it could end up not being very well optimized but the opposite applies too. They pushed back the game solely for polishing it, they're confident in their product content wise is exactly why they're doing hands-on so many months before release and have a general idea of how the game will perform(real world mass use and testing simply aren't the same) hence the system requirements. It can only get better from here not worse.