The Witcher 3 Remastered: Low FPS and Stuttering on PC
Turn NVIDIA HairWorks off first. CD PROJEKT RED has acknowledged that enabling HairWorks may significantly impact performance in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered and recommends disabling it until a future patch addresses the problem. If the framerate is still poor, move to the driver your GPU vendor shipped game support in - NVIDIA 617.14 or AMD Adrenalin 26.9.2 - and check the Remastered's raised requirements, which now include an SSD and drop official Windows 10 support.
The Remastered release replaced the existing Witcher 3 installation for most PC players, so a machine that ran the game comfortably last week can run it badly today. One known cause is specific and vendor-acknowledged; the rest comes down to the game's higher hardware floor. This page separates the two.
Symptoms
- Framerate drops sharply when Geralt or other long-haired characters are on screen, and in cutscenes
- Low FPS and stuttering throughout the game after the Remastered update installed itself
- Performance is far worse on the same PC than it was on version 4.04
- Frame times are unstable even though average FPS looks acceptable
Why this happens
The Remastered build's NVIDIA HairWorks implementation
CD PROJEKT RED has published a support note saying it is aware of an issue where enabling NVIDIA HairWorks may significantly impact game performance, and recommending that players disable it until the issue is addressed in a future patch. This is the one cause the developer has confirmed, and it is why the symptom is often worst in scenes full of long-haired characters.
A graphics driver older than the game
Both GPU vendors shipped game support for the Remastered within days of its release: NVIDIA in 617.14 WHQL on 22 September 2026, and AMD in Adrenalin 26.9.2 on 29 September 2026. A driver predating those does not carry the per-title optimisations for this build.
The Remastered raised the hardware floor
CD PROJEKT RED updated the PC requirements alongside the Remastered. An SSD is now required rather than recommended, Windows 10 is no longer officially supported or tested, and the minimum NVIDIA GPU moved up to the Turing-based GTX 1660 because Game Ready Driver support has ended for Maxwell, Pascal and Volta. A PC that met the old requirements may simply sit below the new ones.
Check your PC against the Remastered's new requirements · Roll back to version 4.04 if the Remastered is beyond your hardware
Fixes
Turn NVIDIA HairWorks off
about 2 minThe only cause CD PROJEKT RED has confirmed. The developer's own guidance is to disable the setting until a patch lands.
Applies to: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered on PC
- Open the in-game Options menu and go to the graphics settings.
- Set NVIDIA HairWorks to Off. If your build offers reduced levels rather than a simple on/off, still choose Off - CD PROJEKT RED's guidance is to disable the feature, not to lower it.
- Return to the game and check the framerate in a scene that was previously bad, such as a cutscene or a crowded settlement. The difference should be immediate; no restart is needed.
Confirmed by the vendor.
Source: CD PROJEKT RED, Kotaku
Move to the driver that added support for this game
about 20 minBoth vendors shipped per-title support for the Remastered after it launched, so a slightly older driver is missing it.
Applies to: NVIDIA GeForce (Turing and later), AMD Radeon RDNA series
- On NVIDIA, install GeForce driver 617.14 WHQL or later. That release, dated 22 September 2026, is the one listed as Game Ready for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered.
- On AMD, install AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.9.2 or later. That release, dated 29 September 2026, is the one that adds new game support for the Remastered.
- Reboot, then launch the game and let it sit at the main menu for a few minutes before judging performance, so shader compilation finishes rather than stuttering during play.
Confirmed by the vendor.
Check your PC against the Remastered's new requirements
about 10 minThe requirements changed with this release, so the bar your PC cleared before may no longer be the bar.
Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11
- Confirm the game is installed on an SSD. CD PROJEKT RED now requires one rather than recommending it, for asset streaming as well as load times.
- Check your GPU generation. The minimum NVIDIA GPU is now the Turing-based GTX 1660, because Game Ready Driver support has ended for Maxwell, Pascal and Volta - a GTX 1060 or similar is below the supported line, not merely slow.
- Note your Windows version. CD PROJEKT RED states it no longer officially supports Windows 10 and no longer develops or tests on it; the game is not blocked there, but performance and compatibility are no longer guaranteed.
- If you have enabled ray tracing or path tracing, turn them off and retest at the standard presets before concluding something is broken.
Confirmed by the vendor.
Source: CD PROJEKT RED
Roll back to version 4.04 if the Remastered is beyond your hardware
Check before applyingabout 30 minCD PROJEKT RED documents that reverting to an earlier version is possible, which is the honest option for a PC that sits below the new requirements.
Applies to: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on PC
Before you do this
Reverting changes the game version. CD PROJEKT RED does not document whether a save created in the Remastered will load in 4.04, so treat a Remastered save as potentially one-way and back it up before switching. Mods and DLC behaviour can also differ between versions.
First:
- Copy your Witcher 3 save folder (by default under Documents, in The Witcher 3) to another location before changing versions.
- Back up your save folder first - see the prerequisite below.
- In your store's version or branch options for The Witcher 3, select version 4.04. CD PROJEKT RED notes that reverting to 4.04 became possible with the Remastered's release and that availability depends on your platform; version 1.32 is also offered, listed as Classic.
- Let the downgrade download fully, then launch the game and confirm it reports the version you selected before loading a save.
Source: CD PROJEKT RED
Known issues
CD PROJEKT RED has acknowledged the NVIDIA HairWorks performance problem on PC and says it will be addressed in a future patch. As of 1 October 2026 its support article still describes the fix as upcoming, so disabling the setting remains the only remedy.
Affects The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered (patch 5.0) · Status: workaround only
If none of this worked
Path tracing is extremely demanding even on current hardware. CD PROJEKT RED measured its own path-tracing performance targets with upscaling and frame generation switched on, so low framerates with path tracing enabled at a high output resolution are the preset's cost rather than a fault. This page is also not the right one if the game crashes, fails to launch, or cannot save - those are separate problems with separate causes, and the save failure in particular is one CD PROJEKT RED has been working on separately.
Common questions
- Does turning off HairWorks hurt image quality?
- Yes. Geralt's hair and some monster fur fall back to the standard models, which look flatter in motion. CD PROJEKT RED's own position is that this is the right trade while the performance problem is unpatched, so it is a temporary cost rather than a permanent one.
- Has the HairWorks problem been fixed yet?
- Not as of 1 October 2026. CD PROJEKT RED's support article still describes the fix as coming in a future patch, so check that page before assuming a recent game update resolved it.
- Why did my framerate get worse without my changing anything?
- The Remastered replaced the existing installation for most PC players, so the game your PC was running is not the game it is running now. It has higher requirements, a new renderer, and the HairWorks problem above.
- Will rolling back to 4.04 keep my saves?
- Assume not, and back them up. CD PROJEKT RED documents that reverting to 4.04 is possible but does not state whether saves created in the Remastered load on the older version.
Did this fix work?
If a step is wrong, outdated, or did not help, telling us is the fastest way to get it corrected. Reports are reviewed before new articles.
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Sources
CD PROJEKT RED · Support page · checked Oct 1, 2026
- CD PROJEKT RED states it is aware of an issue where enabling NVIDIA HairWorks may significantly impact game performance
- CD PROJEKT RED recommends disabling NVIDIA HairWorks until the issue is addressed in a future patch
- As of 1 October 2026 the HairWorks fix is still described as coming in a future patch
CD PROJEKT RED · Support page · checked Oct 1, 2026
- An SSD is now required for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- CD PROJEKT RED no longer officially supports Windows 10 and no longer develops or tests on it
- The Turing-based GTX 1660 is the minimum NVIDIA GPU because Game Ready Driver support ended for Maxwell, Pascal and Volta
- Reverting to version 4.04 is possible after the release of the Remastered, depending on platform
- Path tracing targets were measured with upscaling and frame generation switched on
NVIDIA · Release notes · checked Oct 1, 2026
- Driver 617.14 WHQL, dated 22 September 2026, is Game Ready for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered
AMD · Release notes · checked Oct 1, 2026
- AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.9.2, last updated 29 September 2026, adds new game support for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered
Kotaku · News · checked Oct 1, 2026
- Players reported the HairWorks performance problem publicly at the Remastered's launch
- CD PROJEKT RED's recommendation to disable HairWorks was reported on 30 September 2026