RTX 5090 hits 45-49 FPS in The Witcher 3 Remastered Path Tracing with DLSS 5

CD Projekt RED released a free Remastered Update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that adds Path Tracing support on PC. This change matters because it pushes the visual fidelity of the game to new levels, but it also demands significant hardware resources. Players with high-end GPUs can now experience these enhanced graphics, though performance varies widely depending on the settings used.

CD Projekt RED adds Path Tracing to The Witcher 3 Remastered on PC

The update introduces Path Tracing as the primary rendering mode for the remastered version. We tested the game using an NVIDIA RTX 5090 and an RTX 5080 to see how these new features perform. The testing environment included an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor and 32GB of DDR5 RAM running on Windows 10 64-bit. We also used the NVIDIA Game Ready 617.14 driver to ensure compatibility with the latest graphics technologies.

• Test GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5080, RTX 5090
• Test CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
• Test RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000MHz
• Test OS: Windows 10 64-bit
• Test Driver: NVIDIA Game Ready 617.14

Path Tracing offers the highest level of visual realism in the game, but it is also the most demanding mode. We found that enabling DLSS 5 via the RHI Mod improves character detail and lighting compared to standard Ray Tracing. This technology helps the game approach the visual quality of Path Tracing while maintaining better performance. However, DLSS 5 is not natively supported by the game, so we had to rely on the third-party mod to enable it.

Performance results showed that Path Tracing with DLSS 5 runs slower than the default Path Tracing mode without DLSS 5. On the RTX 5090, we achieved 45-49 FPS at 4K/Ultra+ Settings with DLSS Performance Mode. Without Frame Gen, the game ran at 55-57 FPS at 4K/Ultra+ with DLSS 4.5 Performance Mode. These numbers indicate that while the visuals are impressive, achieving a smooth 60 FPS experience remains challenging for even the most powerful hardware.

When we covered the last The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt update, several of the same balance and stability themes came up. This new update continues that trend by offering significant visual upgrades that require careful optimization. The Remastered Update is free for all PC players, but those with older hardware may need to lower settings to maintain playable frame rates. The combination of Path Tracing and DLSS 5 represents a major step forward in graphical fidelity, even if it comes at a performance cost.