Witcher 3 Hairworks can be played with or without the game.
Witcher 3 Hairworks can be played with or without the game.
Check the configuration yourself? Observe its behavior and appearance under both settings, then switch off and compare. Decide if the performance drop justifies the boost in visual quality.
Off, Geralt's hair seems out of place. The performance is less important than that.
HairWonks was beaten, and added mods improved the rest of the experience with less negative effect than the original game. My rx560 and I managed to play the heavily modified version reasonably well. This was mainly thanks to a "HairWonks off on Witchers beard" mod and some basic wolf modifications. Performance felt noticeably better, letting me see more distance, trees, NPCs, and other details. Hairworks are fun but there’s a limit to how much benefit you get before returns start to fade.
This depends on your priorities. For a better visual or smoother performance, at 1080p you'll notice a 13-15 fps difference between on and off. At 1440p and 4k, the frame rate increases even more. If you're okay with sacrificing high-quality graphics for smoother gameplay, go ahead. But if you prefer a polished look without heavy visuals, turn it off.