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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →If you’re playing The Witcher 3 Remastered and performance is poor, first turn off NVIDIA HairWorks and replay the same scene. CD PROJEKT RED’s current support notice says HairWorks may significantly affect performance, although the October 1, 2026 PC Hotfix 5.00c also reverted a change that caused performance and visual problems for some players with HairWorks enabled. Treat this as a diagnostic test, not a guaranteed fix. Then adjust resolution and graphics settings, check drivers and game files, and compare each change in a repeatable location.
Start by checking which edition and build you have: Remastered launched on September 29, 2026, and older guides may describe different game conditions. CD PROJEKT RED’s Remastered announcement and its October 1 PC Hotfix 5.00c notice establish the current context.
Identify your edition and establish a baseline
Before changing settings, confirm whether you’re running Remastered or an earlier version, and whether the current PC hotfix is installed. CD PROJEKT RED says reverting to an earlier version may be possible depending on platform, but the available downgrade path is not necessarily the same on every storefront. Check the official Remastered FAQ for version information that applies to your platform.
Record your display resolution, graphics settings, HairWorks state, approximate frame rate, and what the stutter looks like. Replay the same scene after each adjustment. A consistent location makes it easier to tell whether a change helped; performance can vary with scene, gameplay, system configuration, settings, and output resolution, so a single result is not a universal benchmark.
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Test HairWorks on or off
With a Remastered build, toggle NVIDIA HairWorks off and compare the same scene. The live CD PROJEKT RED HairWorks support notice warns that enabling it may significantly affect performance and recommends disabling it pending a future patch. The October 1, 2026 hotfix says a change that caused significant performance and visual issues with HairWorks enabled for some users was reverted. These statements describe a fix to one regression and a continuing support warning; they do not establish that HairWorks is currently the cause of every player’s slowdown.
Reduce the number of pixels the GPU renders
If the game is still slow, test a lower output resolution or the resolution-scaling options available in your build. Higher output resolution requires rendering more pixels. CD PROJEKT RED’s example compares 5120 × 2880, with 14,745,600 pixels, to 2560 × 1440, with 3,686,400 pixels: the first resolution has about four times as many pixels. That is a pixel-count comparison, not a Witcher 3 FPS benchmark, and the support page cautions that performance will not necessarily be exactly four times lower at the higher resolution.
Resolution scaling renders at a lower resolution and upscales the image toward the selected display resolution. It can reduce rendering workload while retaining more apparent detail than simply lowering output resolution, but the result depends on the game build, scaling implementation, settings, and hardware. Lower resolution or scaling can make the image look softer. See CD PROJEKT RED’s explanation of resolution and performance.
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Work through the official software troubleshooting steps
Make one change at a time so you can identify what affects the problem. CD PROJEKT RED’s performance troubleshooting page recommends these checks for low frame rates, choppy performance, and long loading times:
- Clean-install the graphics driver. If the problem began immediately after a driver update, install a previous driver version and report the issue to CD PROJEKT RED.
- Verify the game files. Use your storefront’s file-integrity or repair option to check for missing or damaged files; the exact menu path differs by platform.
- Disable overlays. Turn off game, chat, recording, and other overlays temporarily, then test again.
- Close unnecessary background programs. Include monitoring tools in this check, since they can add another variable during troubleshooting.
Check storage and system requirements if stutter persists
The current Remastered-era PC requirements state that an SSD is required for the latest technical enhancements and associate it with faster loading and smoother asset streaming. If the game is installed on an HDD, check whether a compatible SSD is an option. The requirements page does not promise that an SSD will increase frame rate or fix every kind of stutter.
The same requirements page says Windows 10 is no longer officially supported or tested. That does not establish that the game will stop working on Windows 10, but it means the current official support guidance does not cover it as a tested operating system.
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Choose settings according to your priority
There is no single best preset established for every PC. Decide whether you prefer higher visual detail or steadier responsiveness, then test the most relevant graphics changes in the same scene.
| Approach | Likely trade-off | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Keep higher resolution and demanding effects | Preserves more image detail and effects, but may leave frame rate lower or less consistent on your system. | When image quality matters more than responsiveness and performance is acceptable. |
| Lower output resolution | Reduces pixel workload but can make the image softer. | When testing whether resolution is contributing to low frame rate. |
| Use resolution scaling | Renders fewer pixels and upscales; apparent detail and performance vary by implementation and hardware. | When you want to reduce rendering workload without simply selecting a lower output resolution. |
| Disable HairWorks | Removes the feature for the test; the current support notice flags possible performance impact, while Hotfix 5.00c reverted a specific regression affecting some users. | As a reversible diagnostic step on a Remastered build with poor performance. |
Do not rely on old DX11-versus-DX12 comparisons or launch-era “best settings” lists as current Remastered advice. The current official materials cited here do not establish a universal preset or verify renderer comparisons for Remastered.
Escalate with a useful report
If the problem remains after these checks, report it to CD PROJEKT RED with a video if possible. If it happens only in a particular location, include the relevant save file, as requested in the official performance troubleshooting guidance. Include your edition and build, the scene where it occurs, and the settings you changed so the issue can be understood in context.
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