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How to Improve Frame Rates in The Witcher 3 With Path Tracing

A practical, settings-first guide to improving frame rates in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered on PC while keeping path tracing enabled.
WorldThe Witcher 3 With Path Tracing Length4 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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To improve frame rates while keeping path tracing on in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered for PC, start with the game’s upscaler, try supported frame generation, and lower output resolution or costly graphics settings only as needed. Change one setting at a time and compare the same gameplay scene: performance varies with resolution, hardware, settings, and what is happening on screen.

This guide covers the PC Remastered release available September 29, 2026, which adds path tracing. The 2022 Next-Gen Update had a different ray-tracing and DLSS feature set, so advice or performance figures for that release do not automatically apply. CD PROJEKT RED’s Remastered announcement

Start with the settings that preserve path tracing

  1. Confirm the build and update your driver. Make sure you are running the PC Remastered release, not relying on settings guidance for the 2022 Next-Gen Update. NVIDIA recommends its current Game Ready driver for the upgrade. NVIDIA’s Remastered coverage
  2. Enable the upscaler available for your GPU. If the game offers multiple quality or performance modes for your hardware, begin with a quality-focused option, then move toward a more performance-focused mode if needed. Compare both the image and motion in the same scene; a higher displayed frame rate may come with softer detail or more visible artifacts.
  3. Test frame generation if your GPU supports it. NVIDIA documents DLSS 4.5, Ray Reconstruction, and Dynamic Multi Frame Generation for this release. It says up to 6X Multi Frame Generation is available on RTX 50-series GPUs. Availability and results depend on the GPU and chosen settings; do not treat the 6X maximum as a setting every card can use.
  4. Lower resolution if you still miss your target. CD PROJEKT RED warns that higher resolution significantly affects FPS. Try the next lower output resolution while keeping path tracing enabled, then decide whether the performance gain is worth the loss of sharpness on your display.
  5. Reduce other demanding graphics options incrementally. If resolution changes are not enough, lower other graphics settings one at a time and recheck the same scene. This helps identify a useful trade-off without disabling path tracing, if keeping it is your priority.

There is no guaranteed FPS gain for any one adjustment: CD PROJEKT RED says performance fluctuates by scene and system configuration. Its path-tracing performance figures were measured with upscaling and Frame Generation switched on. CD PROJEKT RED’s current PC requirements and performance notes

Measure performance in a way that tells you something useful

Compare like-for-like gameplay

Use the same area, camera angle, and activity before and after a change. A quiet interior and a busy outdoor scene are not comparable tests. Let the scene settle, then observe it for a consistent stretch rather than judging from a brief spike. Record the resolution, path-tracing configuration, upscaler mode, frame-generation setting, and GPU alongside the result.

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Separate rendered frames from generated frames

Frame generation can increase the number of frames shown on screen by generating intermediate frames; that is not the same as the game rendering that many frames natively. Note whether a counter reports base/rendered FPS or generated/displayed FPS, and compare the same kind of reading each time. Generated frames can improve perceived smoothness, but they do not make input response identical to rendering every frame natively.

What published FPS figures do—and do not—tell you

NVIDIA reports a maximum of up to 245 FPS at 4K on a GeForce RTX 5080 with Ultra+ path tracing, DLSS 4.5 6X Multi Frame Generation, and Ray Reconstruction. This is NVIDIA’s vendor-reported 2026 result for that defined configuration, not a typical outcome, independent benchmark, promise, or general hardware requirement. NVIDIA’s configuration and FPS claims

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NVIDIA also publishes maximums for other GPU and resolution combinations. They are useful as examples of how strongly results depend on hardware and settings, but not as predictions for another system:

Resolution GPU NVIDIA-reported maximum Context
1440p GeForce RTX 5090 Up to 420 FPS NVIDIA-reported 2026 maximums using the described path-tracing, DLSS 4.5, Ray Reconstruction, and Multi Frame Generation technologies. These are vendor claims, not typical or independently tested results.
1440p GeForce RTX 5080 Up to 320 FPS
1440p GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Up to 269 FPS
1080p GeForce RTX 5080 Over 410 FPS
1080p GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Up to 380 FPS
1080p GeForce RTX 5070 Up to 320 FPS
1080p GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Up to 235 FPS

Do not use these maximums as a target for a different GPU, resolution, scene, or feature configuration. They also should not be compared directly with a base-FPS counter if the published figure includes generated frames.

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When settings are not enough

Check your platform and storage

CD PROJEKT RED’s current PC requirements page says Windows 10 is no longer officially supported or tested, although the game may continue to run on it; the page also says an SSD is now required. Check that page for the current compatibility notes before troubleshooting a system that falls outside them.

Consider hardware or cloud gaming only after checking the trade-offs

If the settings-first approach still falls short, compare a GPU upgrade against your budget and target display resolution rather than treating a high-end card as necessary for everyone. For cloud gaming, confirm that the service supports the Remastered build and the features you want—including path tracing—before subscribing. NVIDIA mentions streaming in its Remastered coverage, but the available material does not establish that streamed sessions expose Remastered path tracing.

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Cloud play also depends on service availability, connection quality, and latency. Those factors affect responsiveness, so it may not suit players who prioritize low input delay.

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Why older Witcher 3 settings advice may not fit

The December 2022 Next-Gen Update and the September 2026 Remastered PC release are distinct versions with different documented feature sets. NVIDIA’s 2022 announcement describes the earlier update; use current Remastered-specific information when configuring path tracing or comparing performance. NVIDIA’s December 2022 Next-Gen Update announcement

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