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[Fuz]

Hairworks has a big hit. You should notice the hit. They added a new preset for AA for hair works. So make sure hairworks is off. Shadows high is another thing you can change. Barely noticeable change from ultra to high.

That's the point: I have no noticeable fps drops when I activate hairworks. And it's set to maximum.
It used to have a huge impact on fps' before the patch, but not anymore.

 

[vocab]

That's the point: I have no noticeable fps drops when I activate hairworks. And it's set to maximum.
It used to have a huge impact on fps' before the patch, but not anymore.

Maybe your config is busted. 970 with hairworks is still demanding and noticeable in performance.

 

[wanderjahr]

You should be able to turn up textures, detail level, background characters and water quality up to Ultra at least. Turn shadows down to medium(no real difference to High or even Ultra).

What is the difference between Low Number of Background Characters and Ultra? Maybe the optimization guide isn't so good at explaining.

 

[RandomSeed]

That's the point: I have no noticeable fps drops when I activate hairworks. And it's set to maximum.
It used to have a huge impact on fps' before the patch, but not anymore.

Have you gone off and found a group of wolves?

 

[Fuz]

Maybe your config is busted. 970 with hairworks is still demanding and noticeable in performance.

Busted how?

Have you gone off and found a group of wolves?

Just strolled around in Novigrad.

 

[RandomSeed]

Busted how?


Just strolled around in Novigrad.

OK. Yeah, you should go and test performance around things that use it. I don't even notice an impact with Geralt's hair, but it's noticeable when facing several wolves for example.

 

[LilJoka]

1.07 GTX 970 settings

GTX 970 1545/3900Mhz and i7 3770 4.2Ghz

1920x1080
Vsync Off - NVCP Adaptive Sync
FPS Cap Off - RTSS 62 fps cap
Hairworks On
Hairworks High
Hairworks AA 2x
Background characters High
Shadows Medium
Terrain Ultra
Water High
Grass High
Textures Ultra
Foliage range High
Detail Ultra

Motion blur On
AA Off
Bloom On
Sharpening Off
Ambien Occlusion HBAO+
Depth of Field On
Chromatic Aberration Off
Vignetting Off
Light shafts On

In my User.settings i changed
CascadeShadowDistanceScale0=3
CascadeShadowDistanceScale1=3
CascadeShadowDistanceScale2=4
CascadeShadowDistanceScale3=4

and added to the end
[Streaming/Textures]
UseMipRefiner=true

Pretty much always 60fps, unless again getting close to Geralts hair.

 

[Seanspeed]

What is the difference between Low Number of Background Characters and Ultra? Maybe the optimization guide isn't so good at explaining.

Should be mostly CPU dependent.

1.07 GTX 970 settings

GTX 970 1545/3900Mhz and i7 3770 4.2Ghz

1920x1080
Vsync Off - NVCP Adaptive Sync
FPS Cap Off - RTSS 62 fps cap
Hairworks On
Hairworks High
Hairworks AA 2x
Background characters High
Shadows Medium
Terrain Ultra
Water High
Grass High
Textures Ultra
Foliage range High
Detail Ultra

Motion blur On
AA Off
Bloom On
Sharpening Off
Ambien Occlusion HBAO+
Depth of Field On
Chromatic Aberration Off
Vignetting Off
Light shafts On

In my User.settings i changed
CascadeShadowDistanceScale0=3
CascadeShadowDistanceScale1=3
CascadeShadowDistanceScale2=4
CascadeShadowDistanceScale3=4

and added to the end
[Streaming/Textures]
UseMipRefiner=true

Pretty much always 60fps, unless again getting close to Geralts hair.

I was gonna say how the fuck(with Hairworks), but then I saw your core 970 clock, damn. I still have mine under clocked but I might try and bring it back to a nice OC, too(like 1300Mhz).

 

[LilJoka]

Should be mostly CPU dependent.

I was gonna say how the fuck(with Hairworks), but then I saw your core 970 clock, damn. I still have mine under clocked but I might try and bring it back to a nice OC, too(like 1300Mhz).

Yeah i was surprised too to get hairworks enabled. But its flawless, i notice up to 30% increase in GPU usage with hairworks enabled.

I do run a custom BIOS on my 970 that gives me a large increase, not only core clocks but the internal Cache clock is set to match close to my Core OC (around 1528Mhz from 1200Mhz).

 

[Drama Zed Nod]

What drivers are yall running for the best performance on the Witcher 3?

I get serious stuttering on the batman and subsequent hotfix drivers but it seems to be ok on the Hereos of the storm and previous Witcher 3 drivers?

is this just me?

I'm running 2x780-Ti

 

[wanderjahr]

What drivers are Yall running for the best performance on the Witcher 3?

I get serious stuttering on the batman and subsequent hotfix drivers but it seems to be ok on the Hereos of the storm and previous Witcher 3 drivers?

is this just me?

I'm running 2x78-Ti

I have a 770 and 353.06 offers best performance and most stability for me. I think 353.30 has an updated TW3 sli profile though compared to 353.06.

 

[Daredevil7]

What does the new Nvidia Hairworks preset do? only goes from low to high, is that the tessellation level

 

[Leatherface]

The camera is driving me crazy after this patch. is there any way to fix it? In some areas it will zoom in really close. Not only does my big ass head get in the way of everything just walking around, it REALLY sucks in combat too. ugh!

 

[Kaffeemann]

Is it possible to disable hairworks on Geralt on this patch? The mod on nexusmods doesn't work.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Just got a 970, people here are saying they get crashes with the latest driver. So I should just get 353.06?

 

[Omega Kirby]

How well could I play this game on an 970m?

 

[robotrock]

Just got a 970, people here are saying they get crashes with the latest driver. So I should just get 353.06?

With this game, the last few Nvidia drivers have been prone to crash for some. You can't be safe. I'd just get the latest drivers.

 

[Pimpbaa]

With this game, the last few Nvidia drivers have been prone to crash for some. You can't be safe. I'd just get the latest drivers.

That's reassuring lol. Wondering if I should just finish the game on PS4 and just the PC later on when things are more stable.

 

[Seanspeed]

Just got a 970, people here are saying they get crashes with the latest driver. So I should just get 353.06?

Every single patch or driver will have some people complaining of crashes. I've had zero crashes since the 2nd patch, personally.

The game obviously does not play well with drivers in general.

That's reassuring lol. Wondering if I should just finish the game on PS4 and just the PC later on when things are more stable.

If you've got a GTX970, you're probably gonna have a much more pleasant experience overall. Playing the game at 1080p/60fps is a treat.

Even if you happen to be unlucky and have some crashing problems, loading times are so much better on PC.

 

[robotrock]

Every single patch or driver will have some people complaining of crashes. I've had zero crashes since the 2nd patch, personally.

The game obviously does not play well with drivers in general.


If you've got a GTX970, you're probably gonna have a much more pleasant experience overall. Playing the game at 1080p/60fps is a treat.

Even if you happen to be unlucky and have some crashing problems, loading times are so much better on PC.

Yeah definitely play the game on PC. I have a 970 and encountered only two crashes throughout my 45 hour playthrough. Press F5 frequently just incase, and you'll be alright.

 

[Cannon Goose]

For those of you who are curious, the Hairworks Preset setting seems to control the density of hair as well as the amount of tessellation on each hair.

High

Low

High

Low

It looks similar to that driver tessellation thing that AMD users can use in the Catalyst Control Panel. The Low setting gave me a ~3fps boost when I was testing.

Edit: Bonus buzzcut Geralt

 

[vocab]

So is locking the framerate the way to go for this game? I noticed really smooth gameplay when its locked, and crazy stuttering with unlimited framerate. It's kind of weird that the game behaves that when when the framerate goes higher than 60.

 

[LilJoka]

So is locking the framerate the way to go for this game? I noticed really smooth gameplay when its locked, and crazy stuttering with unlimited framerate. It's kind of weird that the game behaves that when when the framerate goes higher than 60.

I use adaptive vsync in NVCP, in game turn off frame limit and vsync.

 

[CybernatonEvolution]

I overclocked my EVGA GTX 780 "FTW" edition to 1100Mhz core clock (120+Mhz) and I got crash to desktop for the first time. I got microstutter (possibly V-ram issues) in an open filed, and the game froze when I loaded the save file after I died--the loading screen froze while I can hear/play in the background.

I will test it further and see how stable it is. I might stay on 120+MHZ overclock, or set it to 110 if I got more issues. The game is stable in Unigine Heaven though; it only crashed when I went to 130Mhz.

So is locking the framerate the way to go for this game? I noticed really smooth gameplay when its locked, and crazy stuttering with unlimited framerate. It's kind of weird that the game behaves that when when the framerate goes higher than 60.

Run it in borderless and set max pre-rendered frames to 1 or 2 in the control panel of your graphics card. You can also turn Hardware cursor OFF, decrease the mouse sensitivity, then set Hardware cursor to on again if you hate mouse acceleration; hell, you can even use it with lowered sensitivity if you want. Locking the framerate will also help to some extent, but I don't use it.

 

[Leatherface]

okay so the crazy closeup camera thing I experienced was a bug I guess. When I restarted the game it was gone. *phew

 

[CyberPunked]

and added to the end
[Streaming/Textures]
UseMipRefiner=true

What does this do?

CinematicModeMipBias=-0.3

And this?

 

[wanderjahr]

So is locking the framerate the way to go for this game? I noticed really smooth gameplay when its locked, and crazy stuttering with unlimited framerate. It's kind of weird that the game behaves that when when the framerate goes higher than 60.

Run it in borderless and set max pre-rendered frames to 1 or 2 in the control panel of your graphics card.

This is definitely the way to go, at least what I've observed. Use unlimited fps in-game settings then use RTSS to cap your framerate at whatever makes sense for your display. Borderless windowed and you should have some pretty smooth gameplay.

Graphics
VSync: Off
Maximum Frames Per Second: Unlimited
Display Mode: Borderless Window

RTSS
Framerate limit: 60 (or whatever makes sense for your display)

NCP
PhysX Processor: CPU (for Kepler cards) Automatic (for Maxwell cards)
Maximum pre-rendered frames: 1
Power management mode: Prefer maximum performance

 

[vocab]

Messed around with RTSS. Felt more stuttery while using it. Either I'm doing something wrong, or its just not working right.

This is definitely the way to go, at least what I've observed. Use unlimited fps in-game settings then use RTSS to cap your framerate at whatever makes sense for your display. Borderless windowed and you should have some pretty smooth gameplay.

Graphics
VSync: Off
Maximum Frames Per Second: Unlimited
Display Mode: Borderless Window

RTSS
Framerate limit: 60 (or whatever makes sense for your display)

NCP
PhysX Processor: CPU (for Kepler cards) Automatic (for Maxwell cards)
Maximum pre-rendered frames: 1
Power management mode: Prefer maximum performance

I just tried this and it feels messed up. Not as good as I had it without RTSS. It shows 60fps at all times 98% of the time. There's this weird underwater feeling when running. It's like I get stuck in mud, and then get out.

 

[The Dear Leader]

Messed around with RTSS. Felt more stuttery while using it. Either I'm doing something wrong, or its just not working right.

Did you have in game vsync off and framerate to unlimited?

 

[vocab]

Did you have in game vsync off and framerate to unlimited?

Yes.

 

[The Dear Leader]

Yes.

Hm, not sure then, it's way smoother for me using RTSS than any of the in game options.

 

[comrade]

Messed around with RTSS. Felt more stuttery while using it. Either I'm doing something wrong, or its just not working right.




I just tried this and it feels messed up. Not as good as I had it without RTSS. It shows 60fps at all times 98% of the time. There's this weird underwater feeling when running. It's like I get stuck in mud, and then get out.

Game feels like that for me in borderless window. Feels great in full screen locked at 72 fps with rtss.

 

[Kaffeemann]

I prefer the in-game vsync over nvidias. Forcing it through NCP led to uneven frame pacing.

 

[daninthemix]

I prefer the in-game vsync over nvidias. Forcing it through NCP led to uneven frame pacing.

Opposite for me. This and all the posts above show how differing setups produce differing results. RTSS does nothing for me. Borderless often results in uneven frame-times. For me, the best solution is either normal or half-refresh v-sync with anything else that could interfere disabled (in-game v-sync, frame limiters, etc).

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

I'll chime in with my own result, patch 1.06 though, haven't played much with 07.

rtss on + borderless on + ingame vsync off + ingame limiter off : stutter + no tear.
rtss on + borderless off + ingame vsync off + ingame limiter off : no stutter + tear.
rtss on + borderless off + ingame vsync on + ingame limiter off : no stutter + no tear.
rtss off + borderless off + ingame vsync on + ingame limiter off : no stutter + no tear.
rtss off + borderless off + nvcp a-vsync on + ingame limiter off : no stutter + little tear.

I didn't test much with each settings, but I finally opted for rtss on + borderless off + ingame vsync on + ingame limiter off.

Input lag is there but insignificant.

 

[Fuz]

Anyone else experiencing some pop-in after the patch? Happened to me a few times with npc's helmets, a grain field, a bed...
Haven't seen it happen on npcs, though.

Edit: I'm on PC, the game is on my SSD.

 

[Cannon Goose]

Anyone else experiencing some pop-in after the patch? Happened to me a few times with npc's helmets, a grain field, a bed...
Haven't seen it happen on npcs, though.

Texture pop has been much worse for me since the patch. Sometimes I'll run up to buildings in Novigrad and be waiting like 15 seconds for the detailed textures to load in.

 

[LilJoka]

What does this do?


And this?

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/36088-A-compendium-of-tweaks-and-fixes-for-the-PC-version

11. Increase texture quality by enabling higher quality mips

Navigate to "...\Documents\The Witcher 3" and open the "user.settings" file with a text editor such as Notepad, then manually add the following section and variable at the very end:

[Streaming/Textures]
UseMipRefiner=true

The addition of this variable will force the game to use much higher quality mip textures, improving the visual fidelity of the game at little to no performance cost! See it in action - true vs. false.

 

[KingBroly]

Texture pop has been much worse for me since the patch. Sometimes I'll run up to buildings in Novigrad and be waiting like 15 seconds for the detailed textures to load in.

Same here. I've had close-up cutscenes on guards have their armor pop-in. I even had

Spoiler

the Burning Ship pop-in in the background when I got to Skellige when I was talking to Yennifer.

EDIT: What's the difference between Windowed, Fullscreen and Borderless Windowed

 

[Drama Zed Nod]

Cross post from the 1.0.7 thread:

I'm running 2x780Ti on my rig.

I've noticed that im getting quite bad stutter, but not all the time.

I run full screen, unlimited fps on a G-Sync Monitor.

It didn't start out that way but i guess with the new versions of the game and updated drivers its crept in.

I'm using 353.06 driver as i feel this is the best.

I read somewhere that changing the PhysX from recommended to CPU reduces stuttering, is this true?

Any other tips?

 

[LordAmused]

Cross post from the 1.0.7 thread:

I'm running 2x780Ti on my rig.

I've noticed that im getting quite bad stutter, but not all the time.

I run full screen, unlimited fps on a G-Sync Monitor.

It didn't start out that way but i guess with the new versions of the game and updated drivers its crept in.

I'm using 353.06 driver as i feel this is the best.

I read somewhere that changing the PhysX from recommended to CPU reduces stuttering, is this true?

Any other tips?

I've heard indeed that changing PhysX to CPU reduces stuttering. I don't own a Kepler card but I've seen it here and on CDPR forums.

 

[wanderjahr]

Cross post from the 1.0.7 thread:

I'm running 2x780Ti on my rig.

I'm using 353.06 driver as i feel this is the best.

I read somewhere that changing the PhysX from recommended to CPU reduces stuttering, is this true?

353.30 has an updated SLI profile for TW3 compared to 353.06. Don't know if that would help with stuttering. As far as PhysX, most Kepler cards seem to notice an increase in performance (I get ~10% fps increase on my 770) when PhysX is CPU, but not actually sure about stuttering.

 

[Dries]

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/36088-A-compendium-of-tweaks-and-fixes-for-the-PC-version

Wow. I'm doing this right away.

 

[Drama Zed Nod]

I played a few hours last night after moving PhysX to the CPU and it was much much smoother.

Performance also seemed better.

I'm going to update to the latest drivers and see if it's smooth using the updated SLI profile (that's what i thought was initially causing the stuttering).

 

[mrpookles]

The game's definitely running worse for me after the patch. I had everything maxed at 1440p (Hairworks off) and had a locked 60fps before.

Now, I have to turn shadows down or else I'm back down to 45fps.

Yippee.

 

[Dries]

The game's definitely running worse for me after the patch. I had everything maxed at 1440p (Hairworks off) and had a locked 60fps before.

Now, I have to turn shadows down or else I'm back down to 45fps.

Yippee.

The difference in fps could also very well be a new location.. time of day.. etc.

 

[tauke]

I played a few hours last night after moving PhysX to the CPU and it was much much smoother.

Performance also seemed better.

I'm going to update to the latest drivers and see if it's smooth using the updated SLI profile (that's what i thought was initially causing the stuttering).

Hmm I'm playing it right now by capping it to 30fps through RTSS and borderless window. Just the odd hiccup here and there which I guess is due to the game loading new area.

I'm using GTX780 which I overclocked by 6% and so far it is stable. Not sure if I want to move the PhysX calculation to CPU.

 

[CybernatonEvolution]

Hmm I'm playing it right now by capping it to 30fps through RTSS and borderless window. Just the odd hiccup here and there which I guess is due to the game loading new area.

I'm using GTX780 which I overclocked by 6% and so far it is stable. Not sure if I want to move the PhysX calculation to CPU.

Why 30fps? You can run it at 40+fps with everything on ultra (even hairworks on) at 1080p if you have a 100+ core clock.

 

[tauke]

Why 30fps? You can run it at 40+fps with everything on ultra (even hairworks on) at 1080p if you have a 100+ core clock.

Initially I did played at 60fps cap but it is torturing my GTX 780 at near constant 100% GPU load.

That means really loud fan noise and high temp (average 80C). I don't have aircond and living in a tropical climate doesn't help either so I always prefer lower load and temp.

I will try out the PhysX CPU trick later after work since I have a 4770K OC to 4.2GHz and the CPU load average 30% when playing the game.

 

[vocab]

I'll chime in with my own result, patch 1.06 though, haven't played much with 07.



I didn't test much with each settings, but I finally opted for rtss on + borderless off + ingame vsync on + ingame limiter off.

Input lag is there but insignificant.

I have not tried that option. However, wouldnt vsync on plus rtss be redundant when vsync would be based on monitors refresh rate?