// PC GAMER — GAMING
The Witcher 3 updated system requirements are in, and you will need an RTX 5080 for path tracing with DLSS and frame generation
And CD Projekt Red doesn't state what that upscaling mode means.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
We all know that path tracing is a bit of a GPU hog, and if you plan on running it in the remaster of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you're going to need a beefy and relatively new rig for this graphical mode. However, to get the game up and running on the lowest settings at 30 fps, you won't need a very recent GPU.
With The Witcher 3 Remastered going live today, CD Projekt Red has shared what you can expect to run with every major CPU and GPU brand, with Low graphics at 30 fps requiring a relatively meagre Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 / AMD Radeon RX 550 XT / Intel Arc A580, plus an Intel Core i5 8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600.
However, for path tracing, you will need an Intel Core i9 13900K or AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080. To get the estimated 60 fps at 4K, you will have to not only run DLSS, but you will need to use frame generation. That does mean it should fare better at 1440p or 1080p. CD Projekt Red does not specify which level of upscaling (though it says it's on Auto, whatever that means) or what level of frame generation is present for this setting.
As we saw in our investigation of Pragmata's path tracing earlier this year, we are expecting The Witcher 3 Remastered's path tracing to offer better shadows and highlights to generally make the world feel more 'real'. However, whether or not it's worth the hit to performance will be dependent on your tastes (and your rig). I'm not personally sold on even ray tracing's benefits all of the time, so it would be a tough sell for me, even if I had a rig good enough to run it.
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 / AMD Radeon RX 550 XT 8 GB / Intel Arc A580
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super / AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT / Intel Arc B580
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT / Intel Arc B580 (XeSS)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super / AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT / Intel Arc B580