iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
For The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered on PC, the most reliable performance order is: confirm your build and target frame rate, measure a repeatable scene, adjust resolution or an available upscaler, test ray tracing and path tracing, then reduce foliage, shadows, view distance and other detail settings one at a time. There is no universal “best” preset. CD PROJEKT RED says performance changes with the scene, system configuration, graphics settings and output resolution, and that higher resolution significantly affects FPS.
This guide focuses on the September 2026 PC Remastered release. Menu labels and available features vary by platform and build. The older version 4.0 notes from December 2022 are useful for identifying historical setting categories, but they are not a complete description of the current Remastered menu.
Check your version, platform and target first
Before changing sliders, verify what you are running. The Remastered release is a free upgrade for owners on listed platforms and is also sold through Battle.net and Microsoft Store. If your launcher offers more than one installation or branch, record the exact build. CD PROJEKT RED says that reverting to an earlier game version may be possible depending on platform, so advice for the older release should not be treated as identical to Remastered advice.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
- PC or console: this article’s detailed tuning sequence is for PC Remastered. Console modes expose fewer individual settings.
- Display target: choose a practical goal such as a locked 60 frames per second, a high-refresh-rate target, or the smoothest result your hardware can sustain. A setting that is sensible for 4K/60 may be excessive at 1080p/60.
- Operating system and storage: the current support page says Windows 10 is no longer officially supported or tested going forward, although the game may continue to run. It also says an SSD is required for the latest technical enhancements.
- Driver and background load: install a current graphics driver for your GPU vendor, close unnecessary overlays and recording tools, and use the same display mode each time you compare settings.
CD PROJEKT RED’s published FPS targets are based on quality-assurance testing, not a guarantee for every scene. Its requirements page states: “Performance also may vary depending on your system configuration and any changes made to graphics settings or output resolution.”
#1 Best Overall
- Powered by Radeon RX 9070 XT
- WINDFORCE Cooling System
- Hawk Fan
- Server-grade Thermal Conductive Gel
- RGB Lighting
Establish a baseline you can reproduce
Do not judge a setting from a random fight or a quiet interior. Pick one demanding area—such as a busy settlement, a dense outdoor path or a location where your frame rate normally drops—and repeat the same route after every change.
- Write down the display resolution, refresh rate, graphics preset and whether ray tracing, path tracing, upscaling or frame generation is enabled.
- Run through the same route for several minutes. If you have an in-game or driver frame-time overlay, record average FPS and the lowest sustained result you see; no universal benchmark number applies to every build.
- Change one variable only, then repeat the route. If you change resolution and ray tracing together, you will not know which change helped.
- Keep a short log. A setting that improves one scene but causes distracting shimmer, pop-in or input delay elsewhere may not be worth retaining.
Use frame-time consistency as well as the headline FPS number. Uneven frame pacing can feel worse than a lower but stable rate, particularly when traversal streams new areas.
Start with resolution and upscaling
Lower output resolution when the GPU is overloaded
Resolution is usually the broadest performance control because it changes the number of pixels every rendered effect must process. If your GPU is consistently busy and the image remains acceptable, test a lower output resolution before dismantling every quality setting. The official requirements page explicitly warns that higher resolution significantly affects FPS.
Change the game’s resolution in its display or graphics menu, apply it, and repeat your baseline route. Keep the same window mode and refresh rate while testing. If the image becomes too soft, restore the original resolution and use an in-game upscaler instead.
Rank #2
- Powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and DLSS 4
- Powered by GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
- Integrated with 16GB GDDR7 256bit memory interface
- PCIe 5.0
- WINDFORCE cooling system
Use the upscaler exposed by your build
Remastered menus may offer vendor-specific or cross-vendor upscaling. The historical version 4.0 notes list FSR 2.1 and DLSS 3 support, with DLSS 3 requiring compatible hardware; NVIDIA’s December 2022 article discusses DLSS 2, DLSS 3 and Reflex for that update. Those documents describe the 2022 feature set, not a promise that every option appears or behaves identically in the 2026 Remastered release.
Select an upscaling mode only if it is present in your current menu, then compare the same scene at the same output resolution. Quality-oriented modes preserve more detail; performance-oriented modes render internally at a lower resolution and can introduce blur, shimmering or disocclusion artifacts. The best choice depends on your display, motion sensitivity and GPU.
Be careful when comparing your own test with the official requirements table. CD PROJEKT RED says its RT Minimum, RT Recommended and Path Tracing estimates were measured with DLSS, FSR or XeSS set to Auto. Other configurations used native resolution with upscaling off, while the path-tracing measurement also enabled upscaling and Frame Generation. A result obtained with native rendering is not directly comparable to one obtained with an upscaler and generated frames.
Recommended Free Tools
Test ray tracing and path tracing separately
Disable them for the fastest diagnostic
Ray tracing and path tracing are optional quality features, not requirements for playing the game. Path tracing on PC is identified as a Remastered feature. For a large performance shortfall, turn ray tracing and path tracing off where those switches exist, rerun your baseline and note the change. This gives you a clean rasterized reference before you decide which effect is worth restoring.
Rank #3
- AI Performance: 767 AI TOPS
- OC mode: 2632 MHz (OC mode)/ 2602 MHz (Default mode)
- Powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and DLSS 4
- Axial-tech fan design features a smaller fan hub that facilitates longer blades and a barrier ring that increases downward air pressure
- A 2.5-slot design maximizes compatibility and cooling efficiency for superior performance in small chassis
Re-enable only what you value
If the rasterized result meets your target, enable ray tracing first and test again. If it remains acceptable, try the individual ray-traced effects available in your build rather than automatically selecting every option. Path tracing should be treated as a separate, more demanding experiment: enable it only after establishing how ordinary ray tracing performs.
There is no current, setting-by-setting FPS penalty that can be applied to every GPU and scene. Your own before-and-after measurement is more useful than a universal percentage. Also distinguish displayed FPS from responsiveness: Frame Generation can increase the number shown by the counter while the underlying rendered-frame rate and input response remain tied to the base pipeline.
Trim expensive rasterized detail settings
When resolution, upscaling and advanced lighting are settled, reduce visual-distance and scene-detail controls in small steps. The following categories are documented in the December 2022 PC Ultra+ notes; verify the exact labels in your Remastered build because names and grouping may have changed.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Foliage, grass and vegetation distance
Grass density and vegetation view distance determine how much foliage is drawn and how far it remains detailed. Lower these when outdoor traversal causes drops or when the GPU load spikes in forests and fields. Watch for obvious pop-in; if it is distracting, move the setting back one level and reduce another category instead.
Rank #4
- Powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and DLSS 4. System Requirements: Minimum 850W PSU with 16-pin 12V-2x6 (12VHPWR) connector required. Verify before purchasing.
- Military-grade components deliver rock-solid power and longer lifespan for ultimate durability. Compatibility: 348mm (13.7") length, 3.6 slots, 4.3 lbs. Confirm case clearance and slot spacing. GPU bracket included.
- Protective PCB coating helps protect against short circuits caused by moisture, dust, or debris
- 3.6-slot design with massive fin array optimized for airflow from three Axial-tech fans
- Phase-change GPU thermal pad helps ensure optimal thermal performance and longevity, outlasting traditional thermal paste for graphics cards under heavy loads
Shadows
Shadow quality and shadow distance can be costly in scenes with many light sources or characters. Reduce them gradually and check both a sunny exterior and a torch-lit interior. Excessively low shadows may make geometry look flat even when the frame rate improves.
Background characters and level of detail
Population density, background characters and general level-of-detail controls affect CPU work as well as GPU draw calls. Test them in busy settlements. If lowering these settings changes FPS little but reduces the sense of a living city, restore them and try foliage or shadows instead.
Textures
Texture quality primarily affects VRAM capacity and image detail rather than raw rendering cost when you have sufficient memory. If you see stutter, texture streaming delays or sudden quality changes, lowering textures one step may help prevent VRAM exhaustion. On a GPU with adequate VRAM and no streaming symptoms, keep textures higher and tune a more expensive distance or lighting option first.
Terrain, water and other detail categories
The historical Ultra+ list also includes terrain, water and related scene-detail controls. Lower one category at a time, test near the type of scenery it changes, and keep a note of the visual compromise. Avoid dropping every slider to Low simply because one setting is expensive; selective reductions usually preserve more of the game’s character.
Best Value
- Next-Gen Intel Arc Graphics: Powered by Intel Arc A580 GPU with Intel Xe HPG microarchitecture, featuring 384 XMX engines for enhanced AI acceleration and content creation.
- High-Performance Memory: 8GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit interface running at 16 Gbps, delivering excellent bandwidth for 1440p gaming and creative workloads.
- Factory Overclocked: Engine clock set at 2000 MHz out of the box, providing optimized performance for smooth gameplay and multimedia tasks.
- Advanced Dual-Fan Cooling: Features a dual-fan design with striped axial fans and an ultra-fit heatpipe for efficient thermal management. 0dB Silent Cooling stops fans completely at low temperatures for silent operation.
- Durable Construction: Includes a stylish metal backplate for enhanced PCB rigidity and a premium aesthetic, backed by ASRock's Super Alloy components for long-term reliability.
A practical tuning sequence
- Confirm the environment: record PC versus console, Remastered or earlier build, resolution, target FPS, operating system and whether the game is installed on an SSD.
- Baseline: use one demanding repeatable route and record average and low performance if your overlay provides those values.
- Resolve a GPU bottleneck: test a lower output resolution or an upscaling option shown by your build.
- Establish raster performance: disable ray tracing and path tracing, then retest.
- Restore selectively: enable ray tracing, then path tracing, individually, keeping only the features whose visual improvement justifies their cost.
- Trim scene detail: reduce foliage, grass, vegetation distance, shadows, background characters, level of detail, terrain or water settings as needed.
- Validate: revisit more than one demanding area and check for stutter, artifacts, pop-in and frame-time spikes before settling on a preset.
Choose a goal instead of copying a “best” preset
| Goal | Starting approach | Main compromise |
|---|---|---|
| Stable high frame rate | Rasterized rendering, lower output resolution or an appropriate upscaler, then reduced foliage, shadows and view distance | Less lighting fidelity and distant detail |
| Balanced image quality | Native or quality upscaling, ray tracing tested individually, moderate reductions to outdoor detail | Some scene-dependent drops may remain |
| Maximum lighting quality | Ray tracing or path tracing enabled, upscaling and Frame Generation only when supported and acceptable on your hardware | Higher GPU demand and possible latency or image artifacts |
| CPU-limited busy areas | Reduce background characters and level-of-detail settings before aggressively lowering resolution | Less crowd density and distant geometry detail |
These are starting strategies, not measured universal presets. The same setting can be GPU-limited in one system and CPU-limited in another.
Console-specific expectations
Do not expect PC-style individual toggles on consoles. The December 2022 version 4.0 notes describe, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, a ray-tracing mode targeting 30 FPS with dynamic resolution and a performance mode targeting 60 FPS. They also state that Xbox Series S had no ray-tracing features in those notes. Those are historical, version-specific mode descriptions; check the current console build for its present labels and behavior.
On a console, the practical choice is usually the available performance mode when smoothness matters, or the quality/ray-tracing mode when lighting and resolution matter more. A television’s refresh rate and variable-refresh support can affect how each mode feels.
When settings are not enough
Consider hardware only after you have checked the current requirements, selected a realistic resolution and target FPS, and tested the available settings. The official requirements identify GPU tiers and target-performance estimates, but they do not establish a universally best graphics card or current price-to-performance choice.
Match any upgrade decision to the workload you actually want:
- For higher native resolution, prioritize GPU rendering capacity and sufficient VRAM.
- For ray tracing or path tracing, verify that the card supports the required features and that your preferred upscaler or Frame Generation mode is available.
- For busy settlements with low GPU usage, investigate CPU limits before buying a graphics card.
- For stutter caused by streaming, confirm SSD installation and investigate memory or VRAM pressure.
Only after those checks should you compare current NVIDIA, AMD or Intel hardware against the Remastered requirements for your resolution and target. A generic “gaming graphics card” search is not a substitute for matching a specific model to those needs.
Quick Recap
Common mistakes and fixes
- Changing several options at once: revert and retest one setting at a time so you can identify the real cause.
- Comparing unlike render paths: record whether upscaling, native resolution, ray tracing and Frame Generation were enabled; the official requirement tests use different combinations.
- Assuming old guides describe Remastered: use the 4.0 notes for historical categories only and follow the current menu and support documentation.
- Chasing the highest counter value: check frame pacing, input response and image artifacts, not just displayed FPS.
- Blaming the GPU for every drop: test crowd and level-of-detail settings in CPU-heavy areas and monitor utilization before replacing hardware.
- Ignoring storage and OS support: confirm the game is on an SSD and understand that Windows 10 is no longer officially supported or tested for future updates.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
