PC Optimization

[wanderjahr]

I've compiled a list of tweaks and fixes I've done to more or less get me a stable 60fps and also increase QOL some subjective some not

HARDWARE
CPU: i7-12700K stock clocks
GPU: 3080ti stock clocks
RAM: 32GB DDR5-5600 MHz
OS: Windows 11 22H2
DISPLAY 1920x1080 60Hz

BIOS
Hyperthreading - disabled
E-Cores - disabled
Virtualization - disabled

WINDOWS & MISC SETTINGS
HAGS - disabled
Game Mode - disabled
Ultimate Performance Power Plan - enabled
Xbox Game Bar - disabled
witcher3.exe - disable fullscreen optimizations (ensures exclusive fullscreen)
Steam or GOG overlay - disabled
Steam>Witcher 3>Properties>Launch Options> --launcher-skip (skips CDPR Launcher)

AFTERBURNER / RTSS
Power Limit - maxed out
Temp Limit - maxed out
Framerate Limit - 60 (easily most effective and stable method of frame pacing)

NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL
Drivers - 528.49 (DDU install w/o GeForce Experience)
Global Settings
Anisotropic Filtering - 16x (very important in-game AF is borked and will CTD)
Texture Filtering - Negative LOD bias - allow (set allow anytime you are using DSR/DLDSR or DLSS etc. as it allows sharper textures in distance)
Texture Filtering quality - High Quality (best practice in any game for best IQ especially if using DSR/DLDSR and/or DLSS)
DSR Factors - 1.78x DL
DSR Smoothness - 100% (this is actually the default setting, use a negative texture mip bias to sharpen via .ini as it is more accurate)
Program Setting
Power management mode - Prefer maximum performance
Vertical sync - Use the 3D application setting (surprisingly in-game VSync provides smoothest/most stable frametimes)

WITCHER 3 SETTINGS
Version - 4.01 DX12
Graphics
Ray Traced Global Illumination - Performance (4.01 massively increases framerate stability and reduces frametime spikes)
Ray Traced Reflections - On
Ray Traced Shadows - Off (borked)
Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion - On
Anti-aliasing - DLSS Balanced
NVIDIA Hairworks - Off
Number of Background Characters - Low (massively reduces CPU strain, this isn't just for on-scene, this is in-game both on screen and off)
Shadow Quality - High (this setting hits hard in cities and also w/ increased grass density)
Terrain Quality - High
Water Quality - High
Foliage Visibility Range - Ultra (minimal performance impact and great visual difference in open areas, moreso than density)
Grass Density - Medium (the setting has the second largest performance impact next to # of background characters)
Texture Quality - Ultra+ (ensures highest quality textures, negative texture mip bias, and greatest VRAM allowance)
Detail Level - High
Display
Display Mode - Fullscreen
VSync - On (more stable than forced in NVCP in this instance)
Resolution - 2560x1440
Maximum Frames Per Second - Unlimited (capping FPS/frametime in RTSS is the best most stable and consistent solution)
NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency - Off (as long as you have high performance or ultra performance plan and AF forced in NVCP, you won't need to activate this setting plus having it on costs you frames but decreases latency)

WITCHER 3 .INI TWEAKS
dx12user.settings
AllowClothSimulationOnGpu=true (could be placebo but anything to decrease CPU load is the move)
MovieFramerate=60
TextureMipBias=-2 (-2 is default value for Ultra+ textures but play around for various DLSS and resolution combinations, BEST way to sharpen game)
platformgameplay.ini
LeftStickSensitivity=1.0 (default is 0.7 and this increases responsiveness for movement)
engine.ini add
[LoadingScreen/Debug]
DisableVideos=true (this will get rid of loading screen videos)

NOTES

• any overlay was disabled
  
• main effort was to increase per-core performance on CPU side and decrease CPU load on game side and also tightly manage VRAM
  
• disabling hyperthreading increases per-core CPU performance and disabling E-Cores increases per-core performance even more
  
• Forced AF all but eliminates CTDs
  
• negative mip bias increases sharpness and IQ
  
• with new drivers it is important to run around the game world and let shaders compile before assessing performance optimization

[Hellfire77]

Question, that i7 is only rated for 4800mhz ddr5. Is it actually using 5600mhz? Not being an ass just curious. I have the same cpu.

[wanderjahr]

Originally posted by Hellfire77:

Question, that i7 is only rated for 4800mhz ddr5. Is it actually using 5600mhz? Not being an ass just curious. I have the same cpu.

Yes, I have 2x16 Corsair Dominator 5600 and you can enable XMP in the bios. My mobo is a MSI PRO Z690-A

[Hellfire77]

Well damn I have the same board but its the ddr4 version. Thanks for the response.

[bingbean]

Do you guys really see the benefits of ray tracing in this game. I believe the ray tracing is in games like cyberpunk , watch dogs or any game placed into modern city with lots of reflecting surface a gamechanger feature , however in game like Witcher 3 or Tomb Raider you need really focus on specific things to see a difference. I mean i see no reason to do all this optimization, only because to enable ray tracing. The game just look amazing in DX11 and i can have all setting to ultra+ and it run stable 60FPS all the time.

[manupa4]

Great Post. Upvoted.

[manupa4]

One thing. Low latency mode on NVCP does absolutely nothing for anything dx12 or vulkan as the only thing it really does is set the pre rendered frames and those apis manage their own queues. And reflex doesnt really decrease your performance afaik

[flexplodin]

Originally posted by bingbean:

Do you guys really see the benefits of ray tracing in this game. I believe the ray tracing is in games like cyberpunk , watch dogs or any game placed into modern city with lots of reflecting surface a gamechanger feature , however in game like Witcher 3 or Tomb Raider you need really focus on specific things to see a difference. I mean i see no reason to do all this optimization, only because to enable ray tracing. The game just look amazing in DX11 and i can have all setting to ultra+ and it run stable 60FPS all the time.

Yeah. I guess if you have spent time in the country, you appreciate it looking much more realistic.

[flexplodin]

Why turn off hyperthreading? Right now, I am using process lasso to prevent anything from using the cores I have assigned for the game. The CPU bottleneck gets less and less noticeable the higher clockspeed you can attain on a used core. For me, I give this game 20 threads and 4 threads for casual stuff that I run all the time. The cores won't be bogged down by any other processes. It works well enough.

[wanderjahr]

Originally posted by manupa4:

One thing. Low latency mode on NVCP does absolutely nothing for anything dx12 or vulkan as the only thing it really does is set the pre rendered frames and those apis manage their own queues. And reflex doesnt really decrease your performance afaik

Good to know, I didn't know that

[kababowie]

OMG that MovieFramerate=60 just changed the whole experience for me.. why can't that be a default value FFS. I finished the main story with wonky looking stuttery mess.. now i am enjoying Shani in full 60fps is a treat. Wish i knew sooner. THANK YOU

[mons]

Originally posted by Hellfire77:

Well damn I have the same board but its the ddr4 version. Thanks for the response.

No,he's wrong.
If you use faster memory then the CPU supoprts the speed is limited by the CPU.
So his memory is only used at 4800mhz max whatever it is set in the BIOS.
A 10s Google search is enough to confirm it if needed.

[ahsanford]

**Bugle emoji**

DX12 and core usage fix is formally in the works:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/292030/discussions/0/3768986428630176834/

- A

[fennej]

questions about "Anisotropic Filtering" on Nvidia Panel if i change to "16x" = lost -10fps or -15fps i think looks like buggy.
but if i change Anisotropic Filtering to "Use the 3D application setting" = i have stable 60FPS (Ryzen 2600)

[R4zen]

Originally posted by mons:

Originally posted by Hellfire77:

Well damn I have the same board but its the ddr4 version. Thanks for the response.

No,he's wrong.
If you use faster memory then the CPU supoprts the speed is limited by the CPU.
So his memory is only used at 4800mhz max whatever it is set in the BIOS.
A 10s Google search is enough to confirm it if needed.

There is nothing wrong and no limits by the CPU, read more how XMP profile works in chipsets like B560/B660 and in all of Z series, before you write something...

Originally posted by fjk:

questions about "Anisotropic Filtering" on Nvidia Panel if i change to "16x" = lost -10fps or -15fps i think looks like buggy.
but if i change Anisotropic Filtering to "Use the 3D application setting" = i have stable 60FPS :hmmmx: (Ryzen 2600)

Thats can't be possible, AF filtering do almost no impact on performance. Maybe you accidentally turned other graphical option in game. What GPU you have? Did you tried reinstal drivers? Reinstall it to newsets from Nvidia download page and choose clean install metod at instalation process.

[Barleyman]

Originally posted by manupa4:

One thing. Low latency mode on NVCP does absolutely nothing for anything dx12 or vulkan as the only thing it really does is set the pre rendered frames and those apis manage their own queues. And reflex doesnt really decrease your performance afaik

In fact Nvidia reflex and AMD anti-lag (or whatever it's called) does away with the horrible frametime spikes in W3. So even if the average FPS would be a bit less, the experience is much better. Now I haven't tested this with 4.0.1 so maybe they fixed it.