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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteOn PC, ray tracing in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a visual-quality choice with a performance cost—not a setting with one best answer for every system. Your result depends on output resolution, hardware, the scene, other graphics settings and upscaling. Compare ray tracing on and off in the same representative scene at your intended resolution, then choose the option that preserves smooth frame pacing without sacrificing image quality you value.
What ray tracing costs—and what the official requirements tell you
CD PROJEKT RED’s published hardware tiers are useful capability reference points, not frame-rate guarantees. The publisher cautions that performance can change with the scene, system configuration, graphics settings and output resolution. It also states, “Higher resolution will significantly affect FPS.” See CD PROJEKT RED Technical Support’s system requirements for its current guidance.
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| Official RT configuration | GPU examples listed | Resolution and assumptions |
|---|---|---|
| RT / Ultra reference | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070; AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | 1440p with DLSS/FSR; RTAO/RTGI |
| RT / Ultra reference | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080; AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | 4K with DLSS/FSR; all RT features enabled |
These figures come from CD PROJEKT RED’s published requirements table and identify example GPUs for specific configurations. They do not say what FPS every system will achieve, and they are not a reason to buy one of those older models without considering your current PC and target.
Upscaling assumptions matter when reading performance targets. CD PROJEKT RED says its RT minimum, RT recommended and path-tracing targets use DLSS, FSR or XeSS set to Auto; path tracing also uses frame generation. Those targets are not directly comparable to native-resolution performance. The publisher notes other configurations use native resolution, and its newer support page’s accessible text does not provide all table values. No missing FPS values should be inferred from the GPU tiers above.
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How to choose between ray tracing on and off
Make the decision against your own display resolution and performance goal rather than a generic “best settings” list. The relevant trade-off is whether the visual change is worth the impact on performance and frame pacing in the scenes you actually play.
- Target output resolution: Higher output resolution can significantly affect FPS, according to CD PROJEKT RED. Evaluate at the resolution you intend to use.
- Performance target: Prioritize a frame rate and frame pacing you find comfortable. A brief stationary view may not represent how the game feels during gameplay.
- Visible image change: Decide whether ray tracing’s appearance is noticeable and valuable to you in your own scenes; there is no established universal ranking of individual RT features by visual benefit.
- GPU and upscaling: Hardware capability and supported upscaling modes affect what is practical. Keep the upscaler consistent when comparing settings.
A fair way to compare settings on your PC
This is a practical comparison method based on the publisher’s stated performance variables, not a benchmark procedure tested by CD PROJEKT RED.
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- Set your goal. Choose your intended output resolution and the frame-rate experience you want before adjusting graphics options.
- Establish a baseline. In a representative location, play with ray tracing off and note how performance and image quality feel during movement as well as in a static view.
- Enable ray tracing. Keep the scene, output resolution, upscaler and other graphics settings the same. Compare the image and frame pacing with the baseline.
- Adjust one variable at a time. If performance no longer meets your target, test a supported upscaler or a lower resolution burden before turning off every visual feature. Then compare again under the same conditions.
- Recheck during gameplay. Repeat the comparison in representative play rather than relying on a short stationary view; performance can vary by scene.
What you can—and cannot—conclude from the requirements
The official 1440p and 4K entries show the GPU examples and rendering assumptions CD PROJEKT RED associates with those RT / Ultra tiers. They do not establish an exact FPS penalty for ray tracing, a percentage loss for a particular GPU, or a universal best combination of settings. An apples-to-apples performance claim would need a specified game build, test scene, GPU, CPU, output resolution, upscaler and RT feature set.
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