The Witcher 3 Next-Gen update is out with the launch of patch 4.0, but there are plenty of performance issues on PC for this update. Here is the best settings guide for The Witcher 3 on PC.
If you are one of the users who is facing issues with running the game now on your PC, this guide might help solve some of the issues including the stuttering that is occurring in the game, or the random crashes.
While the new update for The Witcher 3 is rather ambitious, and it is free for owners of the PS4 or Xbox One copy so they can claim an upgrade for PS5 and Xbox Series, it is also leading to a new benchmark in PC hardware.
If you are willing to give this update a chance, make sure you can check the new updated system requirements first.
The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update PC System Requirements
DirectX 11
| Requirements | Minimum | Recommended |
| Resolution | 1080p | 1080p |
| OS | 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1) | 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1) |
| Processor | Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz, AMD A10-5800K APU (3.8GHz) | Intel CPU Core i7 3770 3.4 GHz, AMD CPU AMD FX-8350 4 GHz |
| Graphics | Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660 or AMD GPU Radeon HD 7870 | Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 770 or AMD GPU Radeon R9 290 |
| RAM | 6GB | 6GB |
| Disk Space | 50 GB | 50 GB |
DirectX 12
| Ray Tracing Settings | RT Off | RTAO/RTGI | All RT features on |
| Graphics Settings | High | Ultra | Ultra |
| Resolution | 1080p | 1440p (DLSS or FSR) | 4K (DLSS or FSR) |
| OS | 64-bit Windows 10/11 | 64-bit Windows 10/11 | 64-bit Windows 10/11 |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-7400/Ryzen 5 1600 | Intel Core i7-8700K/Ryzen 5 3600 | Intel Core i7-9700K/Ryzen 7 3700X |
| Graphics | Nvidia GTX 970/Radeon RX 480 | Nvidia RTX 3070/Radeon RX 6700 XT | Nvidia RTX 3080/Radeon RX 6800 XT |
| RAM | 8 GB | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| Disk Space | 50 GB | 50 GB | 50 GB |
So if you want to experience the game to its best, you will need RTX 3080 at the minimum, but the reality is that even owners of this GPU are struggling to get smooth performance out of the game thanks to micro stutters as well as horrible pop-in during exploration.
Best Settings Guide For The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update
Based on what we have played so far, these are the best settings to play The Witcher 3 on your PC provided you meet the requirements. For resolution, go with 1440p unless you have RTX 4080/4090 or AMD 7900XT/XTX.
- Ray Tracing Global Illumination – On
- Ray Traced Reflection – Off
- Ray Traced Shadows – Off
- Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion – Off
- Anti-aliasing – DLSS (Balanced) or FSR 2.0 (Wait for patch to fix it)
- Sharpening – Off
- Motion Blur – On or as needed
- Blur – On or as needed
- Bloom – On or as needed
- Depth of Field – On
- Chromatic Aberration – Off or as needed
- Vignetting – Off or as needed
- Light Shafts – On
- Camera Lens Effects – On or as needed
- Nvidia Hairworks – Off
- Number of Background Characters – Ultra
- Shadow Quality – High
- Terrain Quality – Ultra
- Water Quality – High
- Foliage Visibility Range – High
- Grass Density – High
- Texture Quality – Ultra+
- Detail Level – Ultra
Hopefully, this will reduce the stuttering that is being faced in the game while keeping the important ray tracing upgrade which is the new lighting and global illumination in the game.
Still, if you can’t get a good performance out of The Witcher 3 on PC now, it is best to wait for a patch as there are plenty of issues that are being reported by the players, even those who are playing it on a 4090. If you have RTX 4090 GPU, it is best to disable DLSS3 as it is reported to be broken.
How To Fix The Witcher 3 Crashing Issue On PC
The Witcher 3 is also crashing for a lot of users. This is apparently due to the new DirectX 12 mode which is enabled by default. When you first launch the game, there is an option to pick between DirectX 12 or 11, go with DirectX 11 in order to reduce the frequency of crashes until an update fixes it for good. Similarly, another fix is to disable ray-tracing altogether especially if you are loading an older save from the game.
