Looking for the best graphics settings for The Witcher 3 Remastered on PC?
You’ve come to the right place!
We’ve tested every in-game option, and in this complete guide you’ll find out exactly what to enable, what to disable, and which values to use to double your performance without sacrificing visual quality.
The Remastered version of The Witcher 3 is significantly heavier than the old Complete Edition, which means properly tuning the graphics options makes all the difference, especially on entry-level and mid-range PCs.
Let’s get straight to the point.
Minimum requirements for Ray Tracing in The Witcher 3 Remastered
First things first: it’s important to understand the required hardware.
According to CD Projekt Red, to play at Quad HD (1440p) on Ultra with Ray Tracing, you need at least an RTX 4080 or RX 9070 XT.
For Path Tracing, the recommended minimum is an RTX 5080.
The good news: you can still play it beautifully without those GPUs just follow the settings below.
Settings for entry-level PCs (no Ray Tracing)
This is the recommended setup for those seeking the best balance between performance and visuals:
Ray Tracing and NVIDIA HairWorks — OFF ❌
Ray Tracing can cause performance losses of up to 60% in some scenarios. For entry-level GPUs, we strongly recommend keeping it disabled.
NVIDIA HairWorks, the technology behind hair and fur physics, should also be turned off: the performance hit is huge, and in practice the characters’ hair (especially Geralt’s) actually looks better with it disabled.
Ambient Occlusion — ON, set to HIGH ✅
Ambient occlusion was improved in the Remaster, with SSAO (screen-space) and GTAO options.
A performance impact is only noticeable at Ultra — that’s why High is the sweet spot.
Screen Space Reflections — LOW ✅
With Ray Tracing off, reflections rely on this option. Set it to Low for extra FPS, especially on modest hardware. (If you enable Ray Tracing, this option gets locked automatically.)
Depth of Field — OFF ✅
This option applies blur during dialogues and cutscenes, and disabling it gains 1–2% performance. Recommended: off.
Light Shafts (God Rays) — ON (personal preference) ⚙️
Big visual impact: with it enabled, sun rays become far more present and vegetation comes to life, especially in the late afternoon.
The performance impact is practically zero — turn it on if you like the effect.
Bloom and camera effects — PERSONAL PREFERENCE ⚙️
Bloom, vignette, lens effects and chromatic aberration have no performance impact. Enable or disable them according to your visual taste.
Background Character Count — HIGH ✅
This option defines how many NPCs appear on the streets. The impact grows from High onward, but High is still the ideal middle ground, especially in Novigrad, where the difference is most visible.
Shadow Quality — MEDIUM ✅
Here’s one of the most important tips in this guide: all shadow options deliver practically the same level of detail, with higher consumption only at Ultra/Ultra Plus. Medium is the right choice.
Screen Space Shadows — ON ✅
This option makes a huge visual difference, especially in vegetation and grass, at zero performance cost. Always keep it enabled.
Terrain Quality — ULTRA PLUS ✅
Curiously, this option has no visible impact on performance or graphics quality in the game. Feel free to leave it at Ultra Plus.
Water Quality — HIGH ✅
- Low: no waves
- Medium: reasonable waves
- High: bigger waves and more detail around Geralt when swimming
- Ultra/Ultra Plus: practically the same as High, with a slight VRAM increase
High is the sweet spot for those who want lively water without paying in FPS.
Foliage Visibility Range — HIGH ✅
One of the most demanding options in the game. At High, you keep a good amount of trees and foliage on the horizon.
Going up to Ultra/Ultra Plus costs nearly 10 FPS for a negligible visual gain.
Grass Density — MEDIUM ✅
From Medium onward, grass gains detail; Ultra Plus is practically the same as High and doesn’t justify the cost. Medium delivers good visuals with much better performance.
Texture Quality — HIGH ✅
There’s no relevant impact up to Ultra. From Ultra Plus onward there’s an increase in VRAM consumption. High is safe for most GPUs.
Level of Detail — ULTRA PLUS ✅
Affects the amount of background objects and particle effects (blood, bodies). Visually and performance-wise, all options are practically identical — leave it at Ultra Plus.
How to play The Witcher 3 Remastered with Ray Tracing
If you have an RTX 4070 or better, you can enjoy the true Remaster with Ray Tracing enabled.
The secret lies in one specific tweak:
Disable Ray-Traced Shadows
In the Ray Tracing settings, set “Ray-Traced Shadows” to disabled. When enabled, it takes over the shadows (locking the shadow quality option) and it’s the single heaviest setting in the game.
The results are impressive:
- Ray Tracing with ray-traced shadows: ~70 FPS
- Ray Tracing with ray-traced shadows disabled + Medium shadows: ~80 FPS
That’s a gain of 15–20 FPS depending on the region (performance varies greatly between locations — in the swamp, the average sits around 55 FPS with RT).
How to play with Path Tracing
Path Tracing is the game’s heaviest and most realistic mode. With the optimized settings + DLSS on Quality mode, the average lands around 46–50 FPS in the swamp. Alternatives to improve it:
- DLSS on Performance: goes up to ~75 FPS in some regions
- Frame Generation: the best option for cards like the RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti — lets you enable Path Tracing without having to keep switching DLSS between Quality and Performance
Ideally, switch DLSS between Quality and Performance depending on the region you’re playing in.
Summary: the best The Witcher 3 Remaster settings
Planilhas
| Setting | Entry-level PC | With Ray Tracing |
|---|---|---|
| Ray Tracing | Off | On (ray-traced shadows off) |
| Path Tracing | Off | With DLSS + Frame Gen |
| NVIDIA HairWorks | Off | Off |
| Ambient Occlusion | High | High |
| Screen Space Reflections | Low | — |
| Depth of Field | Off | Off |
| Light Shafts | On | On |
| Background Characters | High | High |
| Shadow Quality | Medium | Medium |
| Screen Space Shadows | On | On |
| Terrain Quality | Ultra Plus | Ultra Plus |
| Water Quality | High | High |
| Foliage Visibility Range | High | High |
| Grass Density | Medium | Medium |
| Texture Quality | High | High |
| Level of Detail | Ultra Plus | Ultra Plus |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is The Witcher 3 Remaster heavier than the Complete Edition? Yes. The Remastered (next-gen) version is noticeably heavier, with overhauled graphics, new Ray Tracing options, GTAO, and improvements to reflections and vegetation.
Can I play The Witcher 3 Remaster without Ray Tracing? Absolutely. With Ray Tracing off and the optimized settings from this guide, you can achieve great performance on entry-level PCs with excellent visual quality.
What’s the heaviest setting in The Witcher 3 Remaster? Ray Tracing, followed by ray-traced shadows (within the RT options) and foliage visibility range (among traditional options). Adjusting these three is what frees up the most FPS.
What GPU do I need for Ray Tracing? According to CD Projekt Red, the minimum for 1440p Ultra with RT is an RTX 4080 or RX 9070 XT. For Path Tracing, the minimum is an RTX 5080.