CD Projekt RED has just released the second hotfix for the PC version of The Witcher 3 Next-Gen. Unfortunately, though, this hotfix does not improve overall performance or the CPU utilization/optimization issues.
CD Projekt RED claims that this hotfix will improve overall stability and introduce fixes to photo mode. It also packs fixes for Arabic language in the game, toxicity bug, and Steam Deck.
We’ve released another hotfix for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on PC. It further improves the overall stability and introduces fixes to photo mode, Arabic language in the game, toxicity bug, Steam Deck and more. The game version won’t change. pic.twitter.com/Cz8NHE9jfs
— The Witcher (@witchergame) December 22, 2022
As said, this hotfix will not improve overall CPU utilization. Thus, it will be almost impossible to enable the game’s Ray Tracing effects and retain 60fps, even on high-end PC systems.
As we’ve already stated, The Witcher 3 Next-Gen cannot take advantage of multiple CPU cores/threads. Due to this optimization issue, even high-end PC systems will be CPU bottlenecked. The only way you can get a smooth gaming experience is via DLSS 3 on the RTX40 series GPUs. By using DLSS 3 Quality, we were able to get framerates higher than 60fps (at all times) on our Intel i9 9900K.
Lastly, CDPR has not shared any changelog/release notes for this hotfix. For what it’s worth, this hotfix is 950MB in size for the GOG version. According to reports, the hotfix is around 2GB for the Steam version.
Stay tuned for more!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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Does the CPU optimization issue affect DX11 version as well?
Mostly, no. BUT DX11 does not have DLSS or FSR so RT off performance is still probably better in DX12 due to upscaling. Overall its a mess.
I’d say this is false as although dx11 runs on average 30% faster than dx12 on the same preset (digital foundry analysis shows they are visually identical), gpu utilisation is still below 90% and it still only loads 1-2 cores. The fix for this may not be that bad as the game never had this issue in the original dx11 version, which kind of indicates its just broken rather than poorly architected. Its also pretty alright on consoles despite them having multi thread oriented cpus, so probably just a pc version issue
Keep also in mind that NVIDIA GPUs run better in DX11 than in DX12 (due to the additional CPU overhead of their DX12 drivers). Since this game is CPU-limited, it’s only natural to see DX11 performing better on NVIDIA GPUs. The big question is what happens with AMD’s GPUs (as they tend to run better in DX12 than in DX11).
Keep also in mind that NVIDIA GPUs run better in DX11 than in DX12 (due to the additional CPU overhead of their DX12 drivers). Since this game is CPU-limited, it’s only natural to see DX11 performing better on NVIDIA GPUs. The big question is what happens with AMD’s GPUs (as they tend to run better in DX12 than in DX11).
Any idea if DX12 works now? I mean i know it works for many people, but for a ton more it doesnt. Any news about them patching it?
It just crashes when i start the game. Same for my laptop, second PC and my friends computers. It sucks cus FSR and RTX are only on DX12.
John do you think they can just “fix” cpu optimization issues? (I’m genuinely asking) these things seem to run deep and correctly implementing dx12 with multi threading seems like ant work that could take months
Unlikely. They need to overhaul core engine code in order to properly take advantage of multiple CPU cores/threads. It’s A LOT of work. This is the same reason why I don’t believe we’ll see any CPU optimization fixes/improvements for the RT effects of The Callisto and Gotham Knights
Those were exactly my thoughts. It’s a pity cause it’s my favourite game of all time together with RDR2. The only difference is the latter runs like butter and looks splendid while doing so
I feel like they should’ve charged for the upgrade and do it properly. I would’ve gladly payed for it
get a better system. I have a laptop rtx 3070 running this game at 90fps with ray tracing. CPU optimization is great
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4c46272a0d997420c28710668634fe299d0506e1570b1792b71354bfc41925aa.jpg
Dude on the right is just a random NPC. The game saw no graphical downgrades, AFAIK. (Gameplay and narrative downgrades however are a different story. Re-centring the game around a celeb actor late in development made the story hugely linear. Most of the choices in the game are illusions.)
I’m glad those delays pay off
Hey CDPR, you could try Vulkan…you know. The CPU issues will never be corrected.
Do you really think new and diverse hires know Vulkan? The reason Vulkan isn’t used as much is due to it infamous learning curve that scares new graphics programmers/engineers away. Same with DX12. They’re low-level APIs that require developers to do the heavy lifting (i.e., rendering optimisation and resource allocation).
Of course not, that’s why the diversity hires move on to UE5 so they are aware, still released this crap after delays.
I just hope they add a preloading shader cache system for dx11 and dx12, both have shader stuttering when you do anything for the first time, some of those stutters are worse than others but then restarting the game all is smooth..till you update gpu driver that is
What’s the point of having these fancy zillion core CPUs if most games don’t utilise them?
When I was shopping for new CPU a year ago, there was fxxk all performance difference for games between the i5 12600 and i7 12700. So I opted for the cheaper one.
Uh… Dude. There’s Other things using multiple cores that aren’t games.
Uh… Dude. There’s Other things using multiple cores that aren’t games.
Who cares about those, productive nerd sh$5. Number of cores hasn’t really mattered in a while now as long as you’re above 6c/12t
Been playing the DX12 version since the first hotfix resolved the crashes/memory leaks I was getting. High, no RT, and a 60fps cap in the driver. Now that RTSS overlay works, I saw the frametime graph get much smoother in this new hotfix, so a positive change on my end.
Has to be your system I have rtx 3070 Running the game smoothly at 90 fps with Ray tracing Hotfix2 is working. Check your system before saying things will not work