Witcher 3 Remastered path tracing tested on RTX 5080 and 5090
CD Projekt RED's free Witcher 3 Complete Edition update adds path tracing on PC. Testing with an RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 shows the 5090 exceeding 70 FPS at 1440p with ray tracing, while the 5080 needs DLSS for 60 FPS and can use frame generation for path tracing. The article also notes broken Hairworks behavior and argues the official 4K requirements are stricter than necessary.
The free Complete Edition update adds PC path tracing. Tests used a Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 32 GB DDR5-6000, RTX 5080/5090, Windows 10, and driver 617.14. With no built-in benchmark, the Kaer Morhen tutorial area was used; it is more demanding than the first open-world region.
Hairworks is broken: Geralt’s hair looks plastic and hurts performance. Enabling Path Traced Hair improves both performance and appearance, but this cannot be used with ray tracing alone. At 1440p, the 5090 exceeds 70 FPS natively; the 5080 hits 50 FPS and needs DLSS Quality for 60. At 4K path tracing with DLSS 4.5 Performance, the 5080 averages 46 FPS, reaching 77–84 with frame generation.
This benchmark discussion may influence how PC players judge high-end GPU value and path-tracing readiness. Owners of RTX 5080/5090 could adjust expectations about native versus DLSS/frame-generation performance. The reported Hairworks issue and strict 4K requirements may shape community trust in official specs and CD Projekt RED’s post-launch optimization. Developers may face more scrutiny over recommended settings, while hardware buyers could weigh frame generation as a practical requirement rather than an optional extra.