PC system requirements

0:38 To run The Witcher 3 Remastered on PC, Steam lists at least 64-bit Windows 11, an Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 12 GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660, AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB or Intel Arc A580 with 6 GB of video memory, and 60 GB of free space on an SSD; it recommends an Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, 16 GB of RAM and an RTX 2060 Super, Radeon RX 6600 XT or Arc B580 with 8 GB (read Oct 14, 2026). That is a big step up from the game the remaster replaced: IGN's PC performance review of Oct 10, 2026 says the old version could top 100 frames per second at native 4K on an RX 6800, but the remaster is "significantly more demanding" even with ray and path tracing off, so "the old expectations need to be reset". CD Projekt Red's support page adds that Windows 10 is no longer officially supported and that an SSD is now required.

Quick facts

All six requirement tiers

CD Projekt Red published its Remastered requirements as an image on its support site, with six tiers: Minimum, Recommended and Ultra at native resolution, and RT Minimum, RT Recommended and Path Tracing measured with DLSS, FSR or XeSS set to Auto (Path Tracing also with Frame Generation on). The table below follows DSOGaming's transcription of Sep 28, 2026; the first two rows match Steam's listing.

CD Projekt Red notes that the frame rates come from its QA tests and vary by scene and settings, and that it chose the Turing-based GTX 1660 as the lowest Nvidia card, which can reach 60 fps or more at Minimum settings.

Ray tracing, path tracing and upscalers

4:04 Remastered supports all three major PC upscalers, as IGN's rundown of the update of Sep 30, 2026 lists them: Nvidia DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4 and Intel XeSS 2.0, and on a strong enough PC ray reconstruction and path tracing, which is "pretty demanding on your hardware". CD Projekt Red's patch notes give the details: DLSS 4.5 with Ray Reconstruction; FSR 4 with Frame Generation and Anti-Lag 2 on Radeon RX 7000 series cards and newer, with FSR 2 on older cards; XeSS 2.0 with Frame Generation and Low Latency; and new ray-traced local shadows and ray-traced HairWorks alongside path tracing. The rendering moved to native DirectX 12 with multithreading.

1:47 Path tracing costs a lot. In a market stall in Toussaint, IGN's reviewer measured 49 fps on an RTX 5080 with path tracing and DLSS 4.5 Ray Reconstruction, 60 fps with ray tracing alone at the same preset, and 91 fps with only ray-traced global illumination, so path tracing cost 22% over full ray tracing there. Frame generation and lower settings, the review concludes, will be needed on most hardware for path tracing.

Best settings for most PCs

11:37 IGN's optimized settings: on cards from the RTX 4070 or RTX 5060 up that support ray tracing, path tracing runs about 25% slower than ray tracing and, in the reviewer's view, hurts the game's art style, so he recommends ray tracing only, with global illumination and shadows set to Performance for about 30% more speed. On CPU-limited systems, lower the number of background characters and level of detail to High; on GPU-limited ones, use ray-traced global illumination alone at Performance and set foliage to High. Even 8 GB cards handle maximum textures at 1440p with DLSS or FSR. Nvidia HairWorks is still not worth turning on, he adds. Since patch 5.01 of Oct 8, 2026, Dynamic Resolution Scaling is off by default on PC, per CD Projekt Red.

4:34 The switch to DirectX 12 helps older processors. The old DirectX 11 game could become limited by a single CPU thread in places such as Novigrad, IGN explains; the remaster spreads its work over more threads, so an older multi-core CPU such as a Ryzen 5 5600X gets further before it holds back the graphics card, though ray tracing adds CPU work of its own.

How it compares with the 2015 game and the 2022 update

The requirements CD Projekt Red lists for version 4.04, the next-gen update of Dec 14, 2022, were far lower. Its DirectX 11 minimum was 64-bit Windows 7 or 8.1, an Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD A10-5800K, 6 GB of RAM and a GTX 660 or Radeon HD 7870, with 50 GB of storage; the recommended DirectX 11 setup was a Core i7-3770 or FX-8350 with a GTX 770 or Radeon R9 290. Its DirectX 12 tiers asked for a GTX 970 or RX 480 at 1080p High, an RTX 3070 or RX 6700 XT for 1440p Ultra with some ray tracing, and an RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT for 4K with every ray-tracing feature. CD Projekt Red notes that boxed copies may still carry the older printed requirements. The update itself is on Next-gen update.

A PC that cannot meet the new requirements can still play the old game: on PC, the "Classic (1.32)" version can be launched (hotfix 5.00c of Oct 1, 2026 fixed a bug that blocked it), and CD Projekt Red's support page says version 4.04 would also be available after Remastered launched.

Steam Deck

Steam lists The Witcher 3 as Verified for Steam Deck on Valve's compatibility check, read Oct 14 and again Oct 28, 2026: default controls, legible text, Deck controller icons and a default configuration Valve judged performant. The listing does not say whether Valve re-tested after Remastered, and CD Projekt Red's notes do not mention the Deck.

Remastered runs on the Deck, a little slower than the game it replaced. Steam Deck HQ's Noah Kupetsky, playing before launch, found that areas that had run at 50 to 60 fps now sat at about 42 to 44 fps, an average of about 44 fps against the high 50s before, with one drop to 39 (Sep 28, 2026). The game's own Steam Deck preset leaves most settings on Low with FSR on and ray tracing off, but turns on screen-space ambient occlusion (GTAO, High) and screen-space shadows; on it he expects a 40 fps lock to hold, and some settings can go to High with a 30 fps lock. RPG Site's Mikhail Madnani, comparing an OLED Deck running Remastered with an LCD Deck running the old version, saw "a hit of about 5-10fps depending on the location": about 40 fps in most areas and about 30 fps in Novigrad and similar places, on the Steam Deck preset with upscaling on Auto. His advice is that preset, with motion blur turned down or off, since it is strong by default (Sep 28, 2026). A Deck owner who wants the old frame rate back can still launch Classic (1.32), as above. Consoles and the Switch 2 version are on Platforms and editions and Nintendo Switch 2 version.

Frequently asked questions

What are The Witcher 3 Remastered's minimum PC requirements? The Witcher 3 Remastered's minimum PC requirements are 64-bit Windows 11, an Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 12 GB of RAM, a GTX 1660, RX 5500 XT 8GB or Arc A580 with 6 GB of video memory, and 60 GB on an SSD, for 1080p at 30 fps on Low.

Can my PC run The Witcher 3 Remastered? If your PC has Windows 11, at least a GTX 1660-class graphics card with 6 GB of video memory, 12 GB of RAM and an SSD with 60 GB free, it meets The Witcher 3 Remastered's minimum; an RTX 2060 Super-class card and 16 GB of RAM reach CD Projekt Red's 1080p, 60 fps target.

Does The Witcher 3 Remastered work on Windows 10? CD Projekt Red no longer officially supports Windows 10 for The Witcher 3 Remastered; it says the game may still run but compatibility and performance are not guaranteed.

What do you need for path tracing in The Witcher 3? The Witcher 3 Remastered's path tracing tier targets 4K at 60 fps on an RTX 5080 with a Core i9-13900K or Ryzen 7 9800X3D, using an upscaler and Frame Generation.

Does The Witcher 3 Remastered support DLSS and FSR? Yes. The Witcher 3 Remastered on PC supports DLSS 4.5 with Ray Reconstruction, FSR 4 with Frame Generation (Radeon RX 7000 and newer, FSR 2 on older cards) and XeSS 2.0 with Frame Generation.

Is The Witcher 3 Steam Deck verified? Yes. Steam shows The Witcher 3 as Verified on Steam Deck as of Oct 28, 2026, though neither Valve nor CD Projekt Red has said whether that rating was re-tested for Remastered.

How does The Witcher 3 Remastered run on Steam Deck? About 40 fps on the game's Steam Deck preset, around 30 in Novigrad, which is 5 to 10 fps below the old version; Steam Deck HQ averaged about 44 fps and expects a 40 fps lock to hold (RPG Site and Steam Deck HQ, Sep 28, 2026).

Do I need an SSD for The Witcher 3 Remastered? Yes. CD Projekt Red says an SSD is now required for The Witcher 3 Remastered, and Steam lists 60 GB of SSD space.

Sources

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Steam (system requirements), Valve, read Oct 14, 2026
• Steam Deck compatibility report for app 292030, Valve, read Oct 14 and Oct 28, 2026
• The Witcher 3 Remastered looks fantastic on Steam Deck, but is more demanding to run as expected, RPG Site, Mikhail Madnani, Sep 28, 2026
• The Witcher 3 Remastered Is Still A Blast on the Steam Deck, Steam Deck HQ, Noah Kupetsky, Sep 28, 2026
• Updated PC requirements for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red support, read Oct 14, 2026
• (Old) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt system requirements, CD Projekt Red support, read Oct 14, 2026
• See what's new in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered, CD Projekt Red, Sep 28, 2026
• Hotfix 5.00c out now for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered on PC, CD Projekt Red, Oct 1, 2026
• Patch 5.01 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered is live, CD Projekt Red, Oct 8, 2026
• The Witcher 3 Remastered PC Requirements Revealed for Path Tracing, Ray Tracing and Rasterization, DSOGaming, John Papadopoulos, Sep 28, 2026
• The Witcher 3 Remastered - PC Performance Review, IGN, Oct 10, 2026 (video)
• 10 BIGGEST Changes in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, IGN, Sep 30, 2026 (video)