The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update Is Extremely GPU Intensive On PC

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Sajjad Hussain

At HI Digital I test and write about different hardware configurations to show other PC users what they can expect from their build. My end goal is to educate the masses to make the right decision when they are looking for new PC parts to buy

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The next generation update for The Witcher 3 is finally here and will only be available on current-gen consoles and PC. The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update is free for anyone who owns a copy of the game on Microsoft Xbox Series X|S, Sony PlayStation 5, and PC.

The updated version of the game runs quite well on current-gen consoles, but the same cannot be said about the PC platform. On PC, The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update is quite GPU intensive, as shown in a youtube video below.

The YouTuber MxBenchmarkPC runs the game on a Gigabyte RTX 4080 EAGLE OC 16GB coupled with Intel Core-i7 10700F on 4K resolution, DLSS 2.0 enabled, and Ray Tracing set to Ultra+ settings.

The YouTuber got an average of 49FPS with these demanding settings. The Ultra RT present in The Witcher 3 next-gen update includes four Ray Tracing options. These Ray Tracing effects are known as;

• Ray Tracing Global Illumination
• Ray Traced Reflection
• Ray Traced Shadows
• Ray Traced Ambien Occlusion

While on regular Ray Tracing setting with Ray Tracing Global Illumination options, the Youtuber could only get an average of 54 FPS.

If we talk about GeForce RTX 3080, another YouTuber-tested game at 4k resolution with Ultra RT preset, the experience is pretty bad as the game runs at sub 25 FPS without upscaling, and even with Ultra Performance DLSS, you are looking at 40 FPS on average. You need a GeForce RTX 4090 if you want a stable 4k/60FPS experience on The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update.

The Witcher 3 is a pretty old game and should run smoothly on budget RT cards like the GeForce RTX 2060. But it looks like optimization for RTX cards was not on the agenda of CD Project Red, considering the GeForce RTX 2060 can achieve an almost 60 FPS experience in a title like Control with all Ray Tracing effects set to medium at FHD resolution.

What are your thoughts on the performance of Witcher 3 next-gen on current PC hardware?

Sajjad Hussain

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