Optimal Witcher 3 performance requires mid-to-high specifications.
Optimal Witcher 3 performance requires mid-to-high specifications.
I’m not suggesting the console will appear superior, though. The main point is whether it gets optimized properly. It looks like they’re shifting more attention to consoles now compared to earlier titles, which makes it hard for me to accept that view. I’m certain PCs will still look better overall, but the trade-off in performance would be much higher on a console. For instance, a console costs around £350 with all hardware included, while a high-end PC like an R9 290 is only £230. Even with just the necessary components for mid-to-high performance at 30fps, you’re left with a lot more to build yourself. That’s what I’m trying to convey.
Regarding "mid-high" specs again? That sounds like marketing hype from Nvidia. I’ve already shared methods to disable tessellation or reduce the noise on AMD cards. The same tricks work for Nvidia models too. People used this in Watch Dogs. Why? Because tessellation isn’t helpful for realistic visuals. Where it shines is with cartoons—games like World of Warcraft run smoothly at high settings on a mid-range card. The console ports that don’t use Nvidia Gameworks tend to skip the heavy processing, yet still maintain quality. IGN.COM noted that PS4 and mid-range PCs look alike, but they don’t lower tessellation or downsample. They seem more focused on selling a perfect image while pushing expensive cards like the GTX 970/980 for 1080p performance.
They claim a 7850 AMD card will outperform the XB1 and even beat a PS4 in terms of tessellation. That’s not true when you compare apples to apples. As for frame rates, it’s likely tied to API limitations rather than the graphics card itself. CDPR would have preferred using Mantle, but Nvidia supported them. This is why certain cards feel weaker in benchmarks despite marketing claims.
Downscaling games on GTX 980 with Nvidia DSR and reducing tessellation can help. If CDPR cared about PC gaming seriously, they’d add SSAA or downsampling features like Shadows of Mordor did. But honestly, Nvidia probably decides these things themselves. You might need tools like Mantle or DirectX 12 to get better performance.
The 30 FPS issue on GTX 980 was mainly a CPU bottleneck, not a graphics problem. Polish media reported struggles at 30 FPS, but that’s more about optimization than the card itself. Open-world titles would benefit from lower-level APIs—RTS games like Civilization showed this clearly. They likely optimized it to hit around 45-50 FPS on modern hardware, though we hope for better results. This is why we rely on Mantle and DirectX 12; they’re the real solutions.
Many people think DirectX 12 is useless, but Mantle has ports for many games, especially in MMOs or open worlds where gains are huge. If you want smoother performance, consider using Nvidia DSR or AMD VSR. The industry needs these tools to keep up with demand.
I follow every piece of advice you give, all that remains is to wait and observe.