Game Crashing at end of loading save (Ray Tracing On Only)

[Kantz_]

As of recently I can't activate Ray Tracing within the game without it either freezing for a minute+ or crashing (after being unresponsive for while I just force quit the application). Yes my drivers are updated (I even did a clean install) and while I had mods when the problem started I also did a completely clean install of the game and the problem is still persisting. The game seems to be failing to activate my GPU when it finishes loading with Ray-tracing on because the performance analytics when the screen freezes show that while the CPU and RAM are being used the GPU is at 0%.
I'll also add that when the game does actually load in after a while it seems to run well enough.

The game runs and loads perfectly fine without ray-tracing on. I've toggled different settings, fresh starts, old saves etc.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

4090, 32 GBs of DDR5 Ram, 13900k
I played some Portal RTX and Quake 2 RTX after hours of troubleshooting because I was starting to fear there was something wrong with my new GPU, both games ran perfectly.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

With Ray Tracing enabled, are you able to start a new game?
If yes, if you save the game right at the beginning and load this save, the game freeze/crash too?
By "clean install of the game", you mean that you also removed all the files/folders (except your saves) here?
> %UserProfile%\Documents\The Witcher 3\
If no, maybe a good idea to remove everything related to the game in /Document folder (except your save files), then verify the game files, launch the game, start a new playthrough and see if the game still freeze/crash when loading a save.

 

[Kantz_]

With Ray Tracing enabled I am not able to start a new game. I did do that refresh to the Documents\The Witcher 3\ Folder as well by deleting them and re-verifying them (without the cloud-sync enabled). It was after doing that and it still wasn't working that I came on here.

It is as if something with the activation of Ray-Tracing isn't working properly. Just tested again and when it froze the CPU was at about 20% GPU at 0% and RAM at 20% as well, Sometimes if I wait literal minutes it will eventually work but other times it just crashes to desktop without an error report.

 

[Alina_T]

Try the settings (theoretically, it may help):
Ambient Occlusion --- ON
RT Global Illumination --- ON
DLSS_2 --- OFF
DLSS_3 --- OFF
Steam/GOG overlay --- OFF

 

[LeKill3rFou]

With Ray Tracing enabled I am not able to start a new game. I did do that refresh to the Documents\The Witcher 3\ Folder as well by deleting them and re-verifying them (without the cloud-sync enabled). It was after doing that and it still wasn't working that I came on here.

It is as if something with the activation of Ray-Tracing isn't working properly. Just tested again and when it froze the CPU was at about 20% GPU at 0% and RAM at 20% as well, Sometimes if I wait literal minutes it will eventually work but other times it just crashes to desktop without an error report.

Ok, that's annoying
(you don't have Cyberpunk in case? just to see if the game run with Ray Tracing)
If you didn't, I highly suggest to directly send a ticket to the support ("contact us" button). In the report, you can also include the link of this thread in case.

My game crashes — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Technical Support — CD PROJEKT RED

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[Kantz_]

I appreciate the suggestion, this didn't work though. Ray tracing seemingly can't be on at all for it to load anything properly (switching it on after I load something with it off also crashes the game though).

Post automatically merged: Aug 2, 2023

I don't have Cyberpunk on PC currently. This is a new PC and I used to just game on Xbox. It is quite the bummer because while the game does run pretty much perfectly with ray tracing off I was really looking forward to playing one of my favorite games without having to compromise on settings.

I'll file a support ticket and see how that goes.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

I don't have Cyberpunk on PC currently. This is a new PC and I used to just game on Xbox. I is quite the bummer because while the game does run pretty much perfectly with ray tracing off I was really looking forward to playing one of my favorite games without having to compromise on settings.

Yeah, sure. Investing in a 4090 and not be able to play with RT enable should be annoying to say the least

 

[Kantz_]

So I seemingly fixed this, btw. I have the GOG version of the game and assumed since it is DRM free I could play the game without GOG open on my computer. That is not the case. The game won't load with Ray Tracing on unless GOG is running in the background. Posting this in case it might help someone else who has the same problem.

 

[John_Russell]

New PC .... Is it a pre-built? I would suspect the problem may be some of the crap software AKA bloatware that manufacturers add to all their computers. First thing I would do is uninstall anything that isn't Windows native or software you yourself installed. Also check to see if your motherboard drivers and BIOS are up to date. Most systems and motherboards have the original BIOS and it's almost always not good and will have several BIOS updates since release to fix problems and increase system stability.

More details about your system would be helpful. If it's a prebuilt then the manufacturer and model number, if you built it yourself then the motherboard manufacturer and model number

 

[Kantz_]

New PC .... Is it a pre-built? I would suspect the problem may be some of the crap software AKA bloatware that manufacturers add to all their computers. First thing I would do is uninstall anything that isn't Windows native or software you yourself installed. Also check to see if your motherboard drivers and BIOS are up to date. Most systems and motherboards have the original BIOS and it's almost always not good and will have several BIOS updates since release to fix problems and increase system stability.

Appreciate the help, it is a prebuilt (it has HP's version of the Intel Z790 chipset), but considering I only have this problem with Witcher 3 and having one specific app open fixes the problem I doubt it has to do with my motherboard's driver (although when I was initially troubleshooting this I went through all of that stuff anyways).

You are right though; the manufacturer software is garbage and did cause me problems the first week or so I had the computer because I was naive enough to think/assume it would actually be helpful.

 

[SigilFey]

Appreciate the help, it is a prebuilt (it has HP's version of the Intel Z790 chipset)...

Oof.

Hewlet Packard and Packard Bell are my two, all-time, most-hated prebuilts. Granted, I think things are more manageable now than they were, but the problems will continue. (Bloody, proprietary tech.)

My recommendation is to totally gut your drivers using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), clean your Registry with CCleaner, then install the latest Nvidia reference drivers, downloaded directly from nvidia.com. The order here is important:

1.) Download the driver package (being sure that it's for the correct version of your OS.) Do not install them yet. Download the DDU and CCleaner and install them if you don't already have them.

2.) You need to now disconnect from the internet permanently. Don't just turn it off in the taskbar, because it will auto-reconnect when you restart and mess everything up. So, disable wireless and Bluetooth and unplug your LAN cable (if you're using one). Be sure you're 100% offline with no hope of the PC reconnecting on its own.

3.) Run DDU, and gut everything Nvidia related -- graphics, audio, and PhysX.

4.) Run CCleaner to scan and fix the Registry. It will find and delete any empty keys. Then run it again. (As you continue running the scan, the keys that were deleted previously will create new empty keys.) Keep doing the scan over and over until it reports "No issues found."

5.) Restart the PC. Run CCleaner over and over until it reports "No Issues found." Restart. Run CCleaner repeatedly. Etc. Keep this up until CCleaner reports "No issues" immediately after a restart.

6.) Run the Nvida reference driver installation package. Be sure to select the CLEAN installation option. I also strongly recommend you do NOT install Geforce Experience. Just install the base video, audio, and PhysX drivers and manage everything on your own. (Your screen will flicker, change resolution, and/or black out here and there. It's fine. Just let it finish.)

7.) Once it's done, restart one more time. When back in Windows, go ahead and reactivate wireless, Bluetooth, plug the LAN cable back in, etc.

^ That all may sound really technical and involved, but it's really not. Once familiar with the process, it takes around 10-15 minutes to do all of that. This will ensure that you're system is running what Nvidia intended...not...whatever HP decided it should do instead.

 

[John_Russell]

I'd like to point out that this is extremely important and the part most people don't do correctly .....

2.) You need to now disconnect from the internet permanently. Don't just turn it off in the taskbar, because it will auto-reconnect when you restart and mess everything up. So, disable wireless and Bluetooth and unplug your LAN cable (if you're using one). Be sure you're 100% offline with no hope of the PC reconnecting on its own.

Also very important but not mentioned is you should boot into Safe Mode to run DDU .... It's another very important step many people skip but DDU will do a better job of removing system files and Registry entries in the safe mode where the Registry isn't loaded

 

[016R35]

I have the same problem since ever, practically since the beginning of the NG update.

No weird stuff to do on the PC is needed really. This is up to the developers and not us. All games work perfectly with Ray Tracing and DLSS 3 enabled, even if you don't have the latest drivers installed. TW3 is the only game that gives these problems (even without Ray Tracing and DLSS 3 enabled, it's just the DX12 version), there must be a reason for that... and you still expect us to reinstall drivers and do other nonsense in Windows as if it's up to us to fix the problem? What kind of joke is this?

What the developers need to do is to fix these problems ffs.

The only solution I can give the OP is to do what I do, play the DX11 version of the game. There you won't have any problems at all.

 

[John_Russell]

You've obviously never played AC Valhalla. Witcher 3 Next Gen is the model of stability compared to AC Valhalla .... or as many people call it AC Crashalla.

I played a complete run through the main game back in Dec. - Jan. (no Ray Tracing) and never experienced a single crash. However I just had a crash trying to leave Vizima last night but I'm also pushing the limits with 118 mods and many texture upgrades and I suspect part of the problem is my 3070 Ti's 8 GB VRAM just wasn't enough, in some scenes it was pushing up to 7.8 GB. Just getting ready to install a new Galax 4070 Ti and we'll see how that goes and see how the 12 GB VRAM works. The game could really use some Ray Tracing memory optimization using Nvidia's tools made specifically for that because Ray Tracing is increasing VRAM usage by more than 10% and properly optimized it should be 10% or less (like Cyberpunk)

Another thing I'm noticing is the game needs a very large Page File, with 32 GB RAM I'm seeing it grow to over 36 GB and that's not even in the intense areas like Novigrad so if people are still foolishly manually setting their Page File size you better make it plenty big because if you don't the game will crash. I suggest letting Windows manage the Page File size and make sure you have plenty of free space on your drives (75-100 GB) so the system has plenty to work with as it grows and shrink the Page File. Another trick is to disable Fast Boot and then delete the Hibernation file which will free up a bunch of C drive space. The problem with Fast Boot is it is really just Hibernation/Sleep Mode so it doesn't fully reset the registers and OS pointers like a traditional full shut down or a reboot does and that can lead to many problems. I benchmarked my system and turning off Fast Boot only made my system take 15 seconds longer to boot. […]

 

[John_Russell]

Oddly this shutdown problem only seems to affect Nvidia 4000 series GPUS. I started having this shutdown problem last night after switching from a 3070 Ti to a 4070 Ti . Everything else is exactly the same even the drivers I'm using (Still on 531.68 from April because they just work). I never saw a shutdown problem with the 3070 Ti but it started immediately with the 4070 TI forcing me to shut down the Witcher3.exe from the Task Manager.

However there is a work around. First shut down the game to the main menu and then exit to Windows from the main menu and it shuts down cleanly.

 

[Kantz_]

However there is a work around. First shut down the game to the main menu and then exit to Windows from the main menu and it shuts down cleanly.

You ever find a permanent fix? I am actually having similar issues with Cyberpunk as well now (it will load but freezes for a while before doing so). fix? I am actually having similar issues with Cyberpunk as well now (it will load but freezes for a while before doing so).

 

[CSL-Drive]

Everytime the game goes into loading mode, there is a chance of it crashing.
rtx 3070, 32gb, 12th gen i7 I think.
ntfs external usb c SSD drive.