TLDR - 4.01 suffers just as much as 4.00 from low CPU Utilization. Ideally, I'd like CDPR to acknowledge the issues and confirm more patches are coming.
See bottom of post for a collection of mods I've found that help smooth out RTX performance.
Wanted to start by saying as a long time Witcher fan and Witcher 3 being my all time favorite game, I'm really enjoying my return to the path. Thank you to everyone involved, the new quest is great and regardless I'm happy that this version of the game exists.
Unfortunately, my experience on PC like many others has been plagued by performance issues from release. I waited to post this until after 4.01 in case some significant fixes arrived (which didn't)
When Witcher 3 next gen was originally due to release (before the delays) I built a new PC with the hope of playing it with ray tracing of some kind.
My system specs are:
Playing with all RT options on, RT performance mode*, DLSS balanced, everything set to Ultra+, Vsync off, Nvidia Reflex Boost + On.
All metrics were taken from Nvidia overlay and I understand they aren't 100% accturate* but believe them to be a good indication.
Additional issues and things of note:
RTX 3080 is listed as the GPU required for all RTX features:
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt System Requirements — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Technical Support — CD PROJEKT RED
Is that for 30 FPS? or 60 FPS?
I would love to see a solid 60 FPS with my current specs and settings. - Is this an unrealistic expectation?
Confirmation from CDPR that they're working on further improvements would be much appreciated.
Curious to know what others think, suggestions and possible solutions welcome.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
For those looking for solutions. The best balance of performance and visuals I've managed to land on is using a combination of the following mods:
Optimized Raytracing at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com) - **Specifically the performance version.**
I've been using this one for a while, the testing above was on 4.01 release when this mod broke. Thankfully the latest version works with 4.01
Improves FPS, stability and frame times.
RTXGI Unlocker and 4.01 INI settings list at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com)
Require pre-requisite for Optimized Raytracing.
RTX Performance Tweaks at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com) - **Specifically the V1b version for compatibility with Improved RT Shadows**
For me this appears to have given another slight boost to FPS, but more specifically better 99% FPS and frame times. I had to remove the [RTXGI/GlobalGrid] section from this ini to make it compatible with Optimized Raytracing, otherwise all the distant buildings in Novigrad would be cast in shadow.
Improved Ray Traced Shadows at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com) - **Specifically the low version as I didn't too much of a performance hit.**
Low Improves the shadow pop-in for a low FPS cost. For more FPS you can skip this one. If you do I'd recommend just disabling RT shadows.
VibrantHDR at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com)
Haven't seen the purple windows or webs since using this one, will update if I do.
See bottom of post for a collection of mods I've found that help smooth out RTX performance.
Wanted to start by saying as a long time Witcher fan and Witcher 3 being my all time favorite game, I'm really enjoying my return to the path. Thank you to everyone involved, the new quest is great and regardless I'm happy that this version of the game exists.
Unfortunately, my experience on PC like many others has been plagued by performance issues from release. I waited to post this until after 4.01 in case some significant fixes arrived (which didn't)
When Witcher 3 next gen was originally due to release (before the delays) I built a new PC with the hope of playing it with ray tracing of some kind.
My system specs are:
OS | Windows 11 | 22H2 (OS Build 22621.1194) |
CPU | AMD 5900x | PBO on, single core 4.7 GHz |
RAM | 4 x 8 GB (32 GB) | 3600 MHz, CL16 |
GPU | Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB | Game Ready Driver 528.24 |
OS Storage | Samsung 960 EVO | NVME |
Game Storage | Samsung 860 EVO | SATA |
Display | 34" Ultrawide 3440 x 1440 @ 144 Hz, Windows HDR on. | VRR, Nvidia CP FPS capped to 60 (specifically for TW3) |
Playing with all RT options on, RT performance mode*, DLSS balanced, everything set to Ultra+, Vsync off, Nvidia Reflex Boost + On.
Area | FPS | 99% FPS | Average Latency | GPU Utilization | CPU Utilization |
Novigrad - Hierarch Square | 31 - 42 | 22 - 29 | 62 - 112 ms | 82 - 90% | 4 - 10% |
Velen - Hanged Mans Tree | 32 - 50 | 24 - 30 | 65 - 92 ms | 72 - 85% | 4 - 7% |
White Orchard - Woesong Bridge | 43 - 59 | 32 - 45 | 40 - 90 ms | 84 - 92% | 4 - 10% |
Additional issues and things of note:
- Performance can be significantly worse than this sometimes after fast travelling, loading a save, alt tabbing or simply playing for 2 hours or more.
When this happens loading a save can somewhat help but the most reliable and effective way is to restart the game/application entirely. - I've excluded some GPU Utilization spikes from the table - on the odd occasion it will spike to 99% utilization, however it never lasts for long and doesn't coincide with any FPS increase.
- I've never seen CPU Utilization above 10% and even then, it averages closer to 5%. As many online had noted that seems very underused and perhaps the core of the issue.
- Low texture objects and clothing can often be seen in cutscenes as if the full quality texture never loaded in.
Examples I've seen are:- Bomb cylinder when talking to Dijkstra about the vault investigation.
- Silver goblet when talking to Caleb Menga in his office.
- Whoreson Jnr's shirt when meeting in the Arena.
- Various times when talking to witch hunters their jackets will appear as a blurry mess.
- Spiderwebs and windows (particularly in Novigrad) on darker lighting conditions can appear purple. - I've read somewhere that this apparently has something to do with HDR? Unconfirmed.
- Frame times simply appear to be all over the place and get particularly bad during fights with multiple opponents.
- While on paper the FPS values look playable, it doesn't feel particularly great to play.
- I've tried adjusting settings down from Ultra+ and IMO none give enough of a performance benefit to be worth the visual downgrade.
RTX 3080 is listed as the GPU required for all RTX features:
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt System Requirements — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Technical Support — CD PROJEKT RED
Is that for 30 FPS? or 60 FPS?
I would love to see a solid 60 FPS with my current specs and settings. - Is this an unrealistic expectation?
Confirmation from CDPR that they're working on further improvements would be much appreciated.
Curious to know what others think, suggestions and possible solutions welcome.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
For those looking for solutions. The best balance of performance and visuals I've managed to land on is using a combination of the following mods:
Optimized Raytracing at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com) - **Specifically the performance version.**
I've been using this one for a while, the testing above was on 4.01 release when this mod broke. Thankfully the latest version works with 4.01
Improves FPS, stability and frame times.
RTXGI Unlocker and 4.01 INI settings list at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com)
Require pre-requisite for Optimized Raytracing.
RTX Performance Tweaks at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com) - **Specifically the V1b version for compatibility with Improved RT Shadows**
For me this appears to have given another slight boost to FPS, but more specifically better 99% FPS and frame times. I had to remove the [RTXGI/GlobalGrid] section from this ini to make it compatible with Optimized Raytracing, otherwise all the distant buildings in Novigrad would be cast in shadow.
Improved Ray Traced Shadows at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com) - **Specifically the low version as I didn't too much of a performance hit.**
Low Improves the shadow pop-in for a low FPS cost. For more FPS you can skip this one. If you do I'd recommend just disabling RT shadows.
VibrantHDR at The Witcher 3 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com)
Haven't seen the purple windows or webs since using this one, will update if I do.
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