The Tool Desk
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Start with a target your PC can reasonably aim for
CD PROJEKT RED’s current PC requirements apply to the base game and Phantom Liberty from Update 2.0 onward. The table describes expected performance for named hardware configurations, not a guarantee for every PC or scene; the company says results vary with configuration, settings, and output resolution. Use it as a starting point, not a promise. The game requires DirectX 12 and is both graphics- and processor-intensive. CD PROJEKT RED’s system requirements provide the full configuration details.
| Rendering target | Official target | Example GPU configurations in CD PROJEKT RED’s table | Memory and storage listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raster, minimum | 1080p, Low, 30 FPS | GTX 1060 6 GB, RX 580 8 GB, or Arc A380 | 12 GB RAM; 6 GB VRAM; 70 GB SSD |
| Raster, recommended | 1080p, High, 60 FPS | RTX 2060 Super, RX 5700 XT, or Arc A770 | 16 GB RAM; 8 GB VRAM; 70 GB SSD |
| Raster, Ultra | 2160p, Ultra, 60 FPS | RTX 3080 or RX 7900 XTX | 20 GB RAM; 12 GB VRAM; 70 GB NVMe |
| Ray tracing, minimum | 1080p, RT Low, 30 FPS | RTX 2060, RX 6800 XT, or Arc A750 | 8 GB VRAM; 70 GB SSD |
| Ray tracing, recommended | 1080p, RT Ultra, 60 FPS | RTX 3080 Ti or RX 7900 XTX | 20 GB RAM; 12 GB VRAM; 70 GB NVMe |
| Overdrive | 2160p, 60 FPS | RTX 4080 | 24 GB RAM; 16 GB VRAM; 70 GB NVMe |
These are official target configurations; the GPU models are examples from the requirements table, not a complete ranking. The Overdrive target specifically assumes DLSS Frame Generation is on, so it is not a native-rendering 60 FPS claim. Check the linked requirements page for its complete CPU and memory entries.
Choose raster, ray tracing, or Overdrive before fine-tuning
Raster rendering: the practical starting point
If your priority is a stable frame rate, begin without ray tracing and use the closest non-RT target above as a baseline. This avoids paying the extra GPU cost of ray tracing while you establish how the game behaves at your resolution. Do not assume that a preset will perform identically across different CPUs, GPUs, or locations.
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Standard ray tracing: add it only after establishing a baseline
Ray-tracing targets are substantially more demanding than the raster targets. The official minimum is 1080p RT Low at 30 FPS; the recommended RT Ultra target is 1080p at 60 FPS on the listed example hardware. If ray tracing is important to you, begin from the applicable RT target and use an upscaler if needed, rather than assuming the raster recommendation will also deliver the same frame rate with RT enabled.
Overdrive: path tracing for capable hardware
Overdrive is the preset above RT Ultra and includes path-traced rendering. CD PROJEKT RED says it is very GPU-intensive and off by default. Its separate support guidance recommends GeForce RTX 40 Series cards from RTX 4070 Ti upward, and also lists an RTX 3090 for 1080p at 30 FPS; these are developer recommendations, not universal guarantees. The Overdrive support page explains the mode and its requirements.
Photo Mode path-traced screenshots have separate minimum VRAM thresholds: 8 GB at 1080p, 10 GB at 1440p, and 12 GB at 2160p. Those thresholds apply to screenshots and do not establish that a card can run path tracing smoothly during gameplay.
Pick an upscaler and frame-generation option your hardware supports
Upscaling renders the game internally below the output resolution and reconstructs the image; the available modes and results vary by hardware and game settings. Select an option supported by your GPU, then compare image stability and detail at your actual output resolution. There is no universally best mode established by the official feature notes, so treat modes such as Quality or Performance as choices to evaluate rather than fixed recommendations.
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Update 2.3 lists AMD FSR 3.1 Frame Generation and Intel XeSS 2.0 support on PC, along with HDR10+ Gaming. These notes establish feature availability, not comparative image-quality or performance results. The update also says the DLSS Super Resolution preset tooltip provides more detail to help players choose an option. Read the Update 2.3 patch notes.
DLSS 4 support is hardware-specific. CD PROJEKT RED says Patch 2.21 introduced Multi Frame Generation with 2x, 3x, and 4x choices for RTX 50-series cards. Its support article also describes the Transformer model for DLSS Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction on RTX cards, with a setting to switch between Transformer and CNN. The developer attributes improved image stability, reduced ghosting, and improved anti-aliasing to Transformer; those are the developer’s descriptions, not independent comparative test findings. See CD PROJEKT RED’s DLSS 4 support details.
Frame generation creates additional displayed frames; it should not be confused with the game rendering that many frames natively. Check whether controls still feel responsive for your use, especially when a high displayed frame rate matters. The official sources cited here do not quantify a universal latency trade-off or per-setting FPS gain.
Tune settings with a repeatable test
Use this practical workflow to find a balance for your own system. It is a method, not a tested preset or a measured performance result.
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- Save your current graphics settings so you can restore them.
- Choose an output resolution and a realistic frame-rate target, then set raster, RT, or Overdrive rendering according to your priority and hardware.
- Select an available upscaler and mode if you need one; note whether frame generation is enabled.
- Run the in-game benchmark or replay the same route under similar conditions. Record output resolution, graphics preset, ray-tracing state, upscaler mode, average FPS, and—if your measurement method provides them—1% lows.
- Change one setting, repeat the same test, and compare both the frame-rate result and visible image quality. Keep the change only if its trade-off is worthwhile to you.
When comparing results, avoid changing resolution, upscaling, and several quality settings at once: that makes it hard to tell which change mattered. A short benchmark can also differ from demanding gameplay locations, so verify promising settings in the parts of the game where performance matters to you. CD PROJEKT RED’s requirements announcement likewise cautions that FPS varies by configuration, individual settings, and output resolution.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Check CPU, crowd density, storage, and AMD SMT
When lowering graphics quality does not solve the problem
Because Cyberpunk 2077 can be processor-intensive as well as graphics-intensive, a GPU-focused setting change may not address every performance limit. Update 2.0 moved Crowd Density from Gameplay to Graphics and made it independently adjustable from Quick Presets. If performance is uneven in busy areas, try reducing Crowd Density and repeat the same route to see whether it helps on your PC. The patch notes do not claim a universal FPS gain from changing it.
For AMD CPU owners
Update 2.0 added an AMD SMT switch at Settings → Gameplay → Performance, with Off, On, and Auto modes. CD PROJEKT RED says Auto seeks optimal average performance across different locations and situations based on tests conducted with AMD. That does not establish one best mode for every AMD processor; compare the available modes on your system if you are troubleshooting CPU-limited performance. The Update 2.0 notes document both this setting and the Crowd Density change.
Storage readiness
The official requirements specify an SSD for the lower tiers and NVMe storage for Ultra and Overdrive. If the game is installed on an HDD, moving it to a compatible internal SSD is relevant to meeting the stated storage requirements; it is not a promise of higher graphics FPS. Check available space and your system’s compatibility before changing drives.
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What official targets can—and cannot—tell you
The official table is useful for matching a broad rendering target to example hardware, but it cannot predict the exact performance of every scene or custom combination of settings. The cited official material does not provide a universal per-setting FPS delta, a current multi-GPU comparison, or a measured best custom preset. For a meaningful result, any independent benchmark should identify the game version, driver, CPU, GPU, resolution, settings, test scene, and measurement method. Treat frame-rate figures without that context cautiously.
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