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[H4r4kiri]

For those interested, following are the INI settings I used. There were so many variables I tweaked that I don't fully remember what I did.

Please do not hold me responsible if this crashes your system or breaks up your marriage. I followed Andy's guidelines for half of it. The rest, well, I was just a monkey with a spanner. I wanted to document everything the way Andy did so well, but I had no time or sleep. Just run the original user settings file against a text compare tool and you will see what I've changed (if you are so inclined). Good luck and let me know how it goes.

The only issue I've noticed is that some cutscenes that I remember having strong depth of field do not show it anymore. Have no idea why. Other than that I haven't really noticed any pop-in or streaming issues that accompany an open world game. I've got way too many screenshots that I need to organize, so for now, please bear with me for reposting the ones I posted earlier.

Also, this is still a work in progress. Shadows tend to be over exaggerated if the conditions are too bright. It still looks great, but some areas can get completed drowned in shadows. Will try to fix that. But I want to play the game as well, so we'll see!

My configuration:

Inter 5930k hexacore OC @4.4 Ghz
Titan X 2xSLI OC @+200/+400
16 GB DDR4 3000Mhz Ram
1 TB Samsung Evo SSD
Asus x99-A motherboard
Seasonic 1200W Platinum PSU
Corsair 500R case
Corsair AF120 Fans
H105 Water cooling
Logitech wireless KB
Logitech G930 headset
Windows 8.1

Resolution: 1440p. 4K60 ultra was too much for my rig with hairworks. It was possible without, but I had no headroom for these tweaks. And I don't have a gsync monitor, so 60fps vsync or bust. If CDPR can optimize even by 10%, I should be able to bump it up to 1620p.

FPS w/ ultra w/o tweaks: 90-105
FPS w/ ultra + tweaks: 70-90




Sample screens:

WoW Viveks that looks absolutely stunning. The Foliage looks so much better. Like 10 steps up.
Now please buy me your rig
Thanks for all the effort. It would be cool to have a comparison Video, but I guess that is a lot of work

 

[Rodin]

Does MFAA work with this game if forced by Nvidia Control Panel?

Sorry if already asked.

 

[ISee]

My configuration:

Inter 5930k hexacore OC @4.4 Ghz
Titan X 2xSLI OC @+200/+400
16 GB DDR4 3000Mhz Ram
1 TB Samsung Evo SSD
Asus x99-A motherboard
Seasonic 1200W Platinum PSU
Corsair 500R case
Corsair AF120 Fans
H105 Water cooling
Logitech wireless KB
Logitech G930 headset
Windows 8.1

Holy shit... your rig compares to my rig like my rig compares to the xbox 360.

 

[Kambing]

Yeah i think there is some really weird frame rate issue going on at 60fps. Its smooth but appears kinda of jittery? Have fraps on so confirmed zero dips. Really hard to describe it lol. Even though i always prefer 60fps gaming, i have chosen to play w3@4k30 as the jitters appear less notable at the lower frame rate. Dat cinematic feel.

Notice some people are experiencing the same or similar thing? What the hell is it?

 

[Neonglitz]

Anybody playing with hairworks on? If yes kindly tell me how much frame rate it hits?

 

[Exoda]

Thanks for sharing this, now i've figured out what my problem is. I'm having the exact same issue. Steady framerate, but when using the right stick on the gamepad it get's really stuttery.

It's really a shame, I'm pretty set to play with a gamepad but not like this..
Hopefully CDPR know about the issue. Let me know if you find any work arounds
I feel like I've tried everything under the sun

 

[Zakalwe]

I'm surprised that so many here are so quick in turning off Hair Works.
Doesnt it look so much better on?
I turned Foilage Distance down to High, with everything else on Ultra and Hairworks On for 50-60fps.

GTX 980
I7 4790 (no k)
16GB RAM

It looks great on the monsters/animals, but consensus isn't solid on Geralt (I'm personally not a fan if noodle hair).

Also, I prefer 60fps with less visual flair than lower fps with simply because at lower frame rates you don't see all that detail in motion anyway. I don't see the point in extra detail if you're not going to see it properly due to missing frames.

Personal preference, but performance is just as important as visuals to me.

Anybody playing with hairworks on? If yes kindly tell me how much frame rate it hits?

Read the thread dude, of course people have been playing with hair works on... There are reports everywhere.

Some have reported it slicing their 60fps in half, others have said it cuts off 10fps.

Regardless, it's a significant hit.

 

[RandomError]

Can't even get GoG to let me play it, the manual patch doesn't work either...

Quoting myself from earlier in the thread:

I had this same issue.

Go to [game install directory]\bin\x64 and rename the file Galaxy.dll to Galaxy.dll.bak. You'll get an error message saying that the file is missing when you attempt to launch the game, but after dismissing it the game will start.

Edit: Alternatively, download, install and have GoG Galaxy running when you attempt to launch the game. It seems they've inadvertently tied even the non-Galaxy version to Galaxy.

 

[Zakalwe]

Rollback to GTA V Game Ready driver and still doesn't work. Only thing I can do is to wait for the download to finish in 16 more hours lol.

I'll occupied myself with other stuff for the time being and hopefully there is a hotfix in the next few days that can remedy the random CTD that others facing too like accessing the inventory.

Damn man, hope they get a fix out for you and others soon. I'm still waiting for my 970 to arrive, crossing my fingers this won't be me too.

 

[Dragon1893]

I have an i7 2600k at 3,8 ghz, a R9 280X and 8 gbs.

Running everything on high, hairworks off, SSAO, at 1080p I'm getting a solid 60 fps.
Might try to push a few settings to ultra.
At first I had hairworks on for Geralt but got some slight slowdown during cutscenes sometimes.

Played the gog version for 2 hours and it was flawless, no crash or any other kind of issue.

The game is gorgeous.

 

[Derp]

Could I make a request for someone with a single 970 or a 780 Ti? Could you please tell me what FPS you get (just a quick test, don't spend too long as I don't want to waste your time) with the game at ultra 4k (Native of you have the monitor, down sampled if you don't) with only HairWorks off? I know it'll be pretty low but I just want a legit figure.

CE is still being shipped to me so I don't have the game yet but I really want to know this once and for all.

Thanks in advance!

 

[hermeslyre]

For those interested, following are the INI settings I used. There were so many variables I tweaked that I don't fully remember what I did.

Please do not hold me responsible if this crashes your system or breaks up your marriage. I followed Andy's guidelines for half of it. The rest, well, I was just a monkey with a spanner. I wanted to document everything the way Andy did so well, but I had no time or sleep. Just run the original user settings file against a text compare tool and you will see what I've changed (if you are so inclined). Good luck and let me know how it goes.

The only issue I've noticed is that some cutscenes that I remember having strong depth of field do not show it anymore. Have no idea why. Other than that I haven't really noticed any pop-in or streaming issues that accompany an open world game. I've got way too many screenshots that I need to organize, so for now, please bear with me for reposting the ones I posted earlier.

Also, this is still a work in progress. Shadows tend to be over exaggerated if the conditions are too bright. It still looks great, but some areas can get completed drowned in shadows. Will try to fix that. But I want to play the game as well, so we'll see!

My configuration:

Inter 5930k hexacore OC @4.4 Ghz
Titan X 2xSLI OC @+200/+400
16 GB DDR4 3000Mhz Ram
1 TB Samsung Evo SSD
Asus x99-A motherboard
Seasonic 1200W Platinum PSU
Corsair 500R case
Corsair AF120 Fans
H105 Water cooling
Logitech wireless KB
Logitech G930 headset
Windows 8.1

Resolution: 1440p. 4K60 ultra was too much for my rig with hairworks. It was possible without, but I had no headroom for these tweaks. And I don't have a gsync monitor, so 60fps vsync or bust. If CDPR can optimize even by 10%, I should be able to bump it up to 1620p.

FPS w/ ultra w/o tweaks: 90-105
FPS w/ ultra + tweaks: 70-90

I noticed in your .ini file you left the CascadeShadowDistanceScale0 setting untweaked, at the default 1 value. Just doubling this to 2 has a nice IQ boost for close range shadows, it pushes back the distance where it shifts into the far range lower resolution kinda blob-like shadow, slider comparison here.

All for what looks like a whole 2fps hit from the nvidia guide. Well worth it imo.

 

[Ganzor]

I have yet to start the game, keeps freezing in the intro

 

[Zakalwe]

For those interested,

Oh man, that screen is glorious.

Thanks for this viveks!

 

[Mutagenic]

The game seems to have stopped crashing since I've turned off my overclocking. Silly though, since my rig has been very stable before this game.

 

[Tankshell]

So at the moment this game is pretty unstable for me.

2500k @ 4.5Ghz
780Ti SC @ Stock clocks
Game ready drivers from yesterday.

All game settings on high (not ultra). Hairworks OFF.

Borderless window @ 1080p.

Game runs at a consistent 60fps using these settings. Problem is it just keep randomly CTD, black screen, hang PC entirely at random intervals.

Played for 1 hour 30 mins last night then it froze up my machine.

Played for 10 mins this morning and it CTD (but didnt freeze machine). Booted up again and been fine again for 30 mins then picture frooze (sound still playing).

Ideas?

FYI, machine seems perfectly stable prior to this, have recently put in 100h+ on GTAV at max settings, with not a single crash.

 

[scitek]

Is there any way to smooth the camera movement while looking around with a controller? It's all jerky and hurts to look at.

 

[TheTrain]

Anyone with an I5 750?

 

[Mutagenic]

So at the moment this game is pretty unstable for me.

2500k @ 4.5Ghz
780Ti SC @ Stock clocks
Game ready drivers from yesterday.

All game settings on high (not ultra). Hairworks OFF.

Borderless window @ 1080p.

Game runs at a consistent 60fps using these settings. Problem is it just keep randomly CTD, black screen, hang PC entirely at random intervals.

Played for 1 hour 30 mins last night then it froze up my machine.

Played for 10 mins this morning and it CTD (but didnt freeze machine). Booted up again and been fine again for 30 mins then picture frooze (sound still playing).

Ideas?

FYI, machine seems perfectly stable prior to this, have recently put in 100h+ on GTAV at max settings, with not a single crash.

Is your CPU OC?

 

[Kamina]

It looks great on the monsters/animals, but consensus isn't solid on Geralt (I'm personally not a fan if noodle hair).

Also, I prefer 60fps with less visual flair than lower fps with simply because at lower frame rates you don't see all that detail in motion anyway. I don't see the point in extra detail if you're not going to see it properly due to missing frames.

Personal preference, but performance is just as important as visuals to me.

Are there any comparison pics for Geralt's hair? I'm at work atm and couldnt find any.

 

[JaseC]

Is your CPU OC?

The 2500K's default "turbo" clock is 3.7GHz, so yes.

 

[Chanc3r]

Had a quick run around last night to check performance, here's the quick and dirty if anyone is interested:

i5 4670k 3.4ghz
GTX 780
8gb RAM

1080p
Medium settings: solid 60fps
High: 45-50 fps
Ultra: 30-35fps

Hairworks on for Geralt only. Will try with it switched off, some OC, and push for High @ 60fps

 

[Tankshell]

Is your CPU OC?

Yes it is, 4.5Ghz is pretty standard for a 2500k though (has an aftermarket cooler, temps are fine). Been running at this clock for the last 3 years with no problem

 

[Mutagenic]

Yes it is, 4.5Ghz is pretty standard for a 2500k though (has an aftermarket cooler, temps are fine). Been running at this clock for the last 3 years with no problem

I was running my processor at a modest 4ghz without any prior trouble, and Witcher hated it for some reason. Might be worth a try at stock.

 

[Burgess_101]

Quoting myself from earlier in the thread:

Thank you very much, I'll give it a go.

 

[TeaFan]

I have a quick overlock question as I'm overlocking before playing this tonight. I have a 4770k and i have a question on voltage. When i have a stable overlock on a manual voltage is it best to keep it manual or switch it back to adaptive? I have heard the haswell chips have a built in adaptive setting anyway

 

[scoobs]

Since I haven't had a chance to screw around w/ it yet, is there a way to turn hair works on for creatures only?

 

[BigTnaples]

SLI 970's playing at 3440x1440 everything ultra minus hairworks and getting 60fps. This game looks so good! Did experience a few crashes but didn't stop me from putting in 3 hours strait!

This is great news. I get off work in 2 hours. Will be more than happy with Ultra+Hairworks at 4K @30fps.

 

[Kaze2212]

Since I haven't had a chance to screw around w/ it yet, is there a way to turn hair works on for creatures only?

Off
Geralt only
All

 

[viveks86]

I noticed in your .ini file you left the CascadeShadowDistanceScale0 setting untweaked, at the default 1 value. Just doubling this to 2 has a nice IQ boost for close range shadows, it pushes back the distance where it shifts into the far range lower resolution kinda blob-like shadow, slider comparison here.

All for what looks like a whole 2fps hit from the nvidia guide. Well worth it imo.

I actually tried that and it broke self shadowing on Geralt. Took me a whole hour to diagnose it. If I increase it past 1, the shadow of his hairwoks hair on his back breaks and becomes completely low res. Not sure if the issue is reproducible standalone or is because of the specific combination I'm using. So I left it as is and increased the others, which paid equally huge dividends . Shadows were already extending so far out that I didn't bother with cascade 3 as well. Every single frame lost/gained counts as they add up real fast.

 

[Human_me]

How is 21:9 support?

Pretty good.

Cut scenes render at 16:9 however.
But gameplay is good at 21:9

 

[Shaqiri1987]

I7 3770k @ 4.2ghz
SLI GTX 780 Ti @ 1241 with boost
32 gigs of ram
Windows 8.1 64

Have every setting at max or highest possible configuration at 2560x1440, and am getting between 50-60 FPS during game play. The opening where Geralt is in the tub and it shows his face, it drops down to 30FPS.

Didn't get to play too much, but the FPS were rock solid during combat when i fought the wolves at the camp and the drowned monsters guarding the treasure chest.

 

[JBourne]

Off
Geralt only
All

I really wish we could have it on just for Roach. I could deal with it being off for creatures, but the Roach's mane looks distractingly bad without hairworks.

 

[Dictator93]

I'm surprised that so many here are so quick in turning off Hair Works.
Doesnt it look so much better on?
I turned Foilage Distance down to High, with everything else on Ultra and Hairworks On for 50-60fps.

GTX 980
I7 4790 (no k)
16GB RAM

Yes, Hairworks is legitimately frakking awesome. The best is when you go underwater and geralt comes out all wet and his hair droops. awww yeaaah,

 

[Kvik]

For those interested, following are the INI settings I used. There were so many variables I tweaked that I don't fully remember what I did.


FPS w/ ultra w/o tweaks: 90-105
FPS w/ ultra + tweaks: 70-90

Nice job, dude! Some awesome shots there.


These are from my early tweaking sessions:

3840x2160 (4K)
All graphics settings to Ultra.
All post-processing enabled except CA.
Vsync Off, Frame limiter Off.
Slight tweaks to user.settings (please excuse the diff format):

122c122
< GrassDensity=2400
---
> GrassDensity=4800
128c128
< CascadeShadowDistanceScale2=1.5
---
> CascadeShadowDistanceScale2=3
130c130
< TextureMemoryBudget=800
---
> TextureMemoryBudget=3072
142,143c142,143
< CascadeShadowmapSize=3072
< CascadeShadowDistanceScale0=1
---
> CascadeShadowmapSize=4096
> CascadeShadowDistanceScale0=4
145,146c145,146
< CascadeShadowQuality=1
< CascadeShadowDistanceScale1=1
---
> CascadeShadowQuality=4
> CascadeShadowDistanceScale1=4
164,166c164,166
< GrassDistanceScale=1.5
< FoliageDistanceScale=1.8
< FoliageShadowDistanceScale=54
---
> GrassDistanceScale=3
> FoliageDistanceScale=6
> FoliageShadowDistanceScale=108

If you noticed the afterburner FPS counter, it barely goes above 45fps. :-\

My specs:

i7-5930K @ 4.4Ghz
16GB DDR4 @ 3000Mhz / 15-15-15-35
2x GTX 980 SLI +87mv/122%/+100/+400
2x1TB SDD in RAID0
Windows 7 SP1

So, I will probably try 1440p next, as you suggested, since there is no way I'm getting 60fps in 4K with only 2x980.

 

[Zakalwe]

So, I will probably try 1440p next, as you suggested, since there is no way I'm getting 60fps in 4K with only 2x980.

Only.

Nice screens dude, thanks for sharing.

 

[pahamrick]

It's really a shame, I'm pretty set to play with a gamepad but not like this..
Hopefully CDPR know about the issue. Let me know if you find any work arounds
I feel like I've tried everything under the sun

I don't have that stutter when using a 360 pad and rotating the camera with the right stick. It's as smooth as using the mouse.

I don't know if what I'm doing is any different, but here goes:

Vsync disabled in game
FPS limiter set to Unlimited
Vsync set to on in Nvidia drivers for Witcher 3
Locked to 30fps using DXTory
Using Fullscreen, not Borderless Windowed
All settings to Ultra, Hairworks enabled
All Post processing settings ON except CA and Sharpening

 

[viveks86]

I am amused by how "optimized" the main menu screen is. Turning off frame limiting I get ~1600 FPS in it

Refreshing change after how so many recent games have been the other way around. But now I'm disappointed that I'm getting only 460 fps :/

 

[Fatmanp]

Had a quick run of this last night - got as far as the tavern and just explored some of the area outside that first village.

1080p
i7 3770 @ 3.5 Ghz
Gigabyte GTX 780ti OC
8GB RAM

mix of high/ultra while leaving hairworks off gives 60+ fps at all times for me it seems.
hairworks enabled is a major performance hog - game runs at ~30-50 fps

actually, with hairworks disabled I'm able to play at 2103x1183 DSR resolution at a seemingly smooth ~60 fps as well.
I would guess that in busier scenes it could come down lower but didn't experience this in my brief time in the game world.

Hairworks looks really cool but as much as I'd like to have it enabled, having a higher framerate makes the game look and feel much better so the trade off isn't worth it.
If you have a GTX 780 ti you will be fine playing this.

This is my spec but with a 4790k. So happy to hear this.

 

[JimmyRustler]

So what's the consensus on the performance with the 970? Can I expect 60 fps on 1080p with Ultra-settings?

 

[Zakalwe]

So what's the consensus on the performance with the 970? Can I expect 60 fps on 1080p with Ultra-settings?

No.

You can expect 60fps with a mix of high/ultra at 1080 with hairworks off, depending on the rest of your build of course.

Don't get hung up on the term "ultra" though; read the Nvidia guide, many of the ultra settings don't make enough of a difference for them to cause you concern.

 

[JimmyRustler]

No.

You can expect 60fps with a mix of high/ultra at 1080 with hairworks off, depending on the rest of your build of course.

Don't get hung up on the term "ultra" though; read the Nvidia guide, many of the ultra settings don't make enough of a difference for them to cause you concern.

Alright, thanks. The rest of my system probably won't hold the game back as I have an i7 4790 and 16 GB RAM. So yeah....

I'll probably go with high settings and enable AA. Hate dat dere jaggies.

 

[V1LÆM]

is there anywhere i can see screens comparing the differences between low/medium/high/ultra??

i think i might be able to get high settings but if there isn't much difference i'd be happy to go down to medium in some areas to achieve 60fps.

 

[Evo X]

is there anywhere i can see screens comparing the differences between low/medium/high/ultra??

i think i might be able to get high settings but if there isn't much difference i'd be happy to go down to medium in some areas to achieve 60fps.

Nvidia's Guide is excellent.

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/gu...-hunt-graphics-performance-and-tweaking-guide

 

[RickyRozay]

Does MFAA work with this game if forced by Nvidia Control Panel?

Sorry if already asked.

I would like to know this as well.

 

[Kvik]

Only.

Nice screens dude, thanks for sharing.

Haha, thanks. My rig is only 6 months old, but it felt like it has been made obsolete already by those Titan Xes

 

[Zakalwe]

Alright, thanks. The rest of my system probably won't hold the game back as I have an i7 4790 and 16 GB RAM. So yeah....

I'll probably go with high settings and enable AA. Hate dat dere jaggies.

Yeh you'll be fine. Apparently the in game AA is malfunctioning atm according to some.

Can anyone confirm it's working for them?

Also, AMD announced a conference for anyone waiting for their latest tech before upgrading.

Haha, thanks. My rig is only 6 months old, but it felt like it has been made obsolete already by those Titan Xes

If it makes you feel any better, the screens you and viv posted made my 970 feel obsolete and it hasn't even arrived yet. ;_;

 

[Evo X]

Haha, thanks. My rig is only 6 months old, but it felt like it has been made obsolete already by those Titan Xes

If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure my Titan X will also be obsolete in 6 months.

Just the way it works. Don't get too hung up on it.

 

[Soren01]

Is there any way to increase motion blur effect? I want to play at 30 FPS.

 

[viveks86]

Nice job, dude! Some awesome shots there.


These are from my early tweaking sessions:



3840x2160 (4K)
All graphics settings to Ultra.
All post-processing enabled except CA.
Vsync Off, Frame limiter Off.
Slight tweaks to user.settings (please excuse the diff format):

122c122
< GrassDensity=2400
---
> GrassDensity=4800
128c128
< CascadeShadowDistanceScale2=1.5
---
> CascadeShadowDistanceScale2=3
130c130
< TextureMemoryBudget=800
---
> TextureMemoryBudget=3072
142,143c142,143
< CascadeShadowmapSize=3072
< CascadeShadowDistanceScale0=1
---
> CascadeShadowmapSize=4096
> CascadeShadowDistanceScale0=4
145,146c145,146
< CascadeShadowQuality=1
< CascadeShadowDistanceScale1=1
---
> CascadeShadowQuality=4
> CascadeShadowDistanceScale1=4
164,166c164,166
< GrassDistanceScale=1.5
< FoliageDistanceScale=1.8
< FoliageShadowDistanceScale=54
---
> GrassDistanceScale=3
> FoliageDistanceScale=6
> FoliageShadowDistanceScale=108

If you noticed the afterburner FPS counter, it barely goes above 45fps. :-\

My specs:

i7-5930K @ 4.4Ghz
16GB DDR4 @ 3000Mhz / 15-15-15-35
2x GTX 980 SLI +87mv/122%/+100/+400
2x1TB SDD in RAID0
Windows 7 SP1

So, I will probably try 1440p next, as you suggested, since there is no way I'm getting 60fps in 4K with only 2x980.

Good call! Also FYI, FoliageDistanceScale does not go beyond 64. The moment you unlock the file, the game will overwrite it to 64, which seems to be a hard cap. Also, making the file read only is actually not mandatory. Even changing a setting in the menu only overwrites the related entries for that menu setting, not the whole file. Especially when you are experimenting, it's kind of a pain to keep switching between readonly and normal.