Witcher 2 performance?

[wolfram23]

Basically, if you have the game, I'm wondering how well it's running for you.

I'm quite surprised because I can't run the game at Ultra settings - FPS is 10-15. At high it runs fine, though, at 40+.

I'm running CF 5850s with 11.4. I noticed 11.5 said nothing on updates for Witcher 2, and neither does the newest CAP.

So how does it run on Nvidia? It's a TWIMTBP title so probably better than on ATI... I heard the latest beta drivers from Nvidia helps performance a lot. Maybe ATI needs to release a hotfix? Any info on that?

 

[bystander]

Basically, if you have the game, I'm wondering how well it's running for you.

I'm quite surprised because I can't run the game at Ultra settings - FPS is 10-15. At high it runs fine, though, at 40+.

I'm running CF 5850s with 11.4. I noticed 11.5 said nothing on updates for Witcher 2, and neither does the newest CAP.

So how does it run on Nvidia? It's a TWIMTBP title so probably better than on ATI... I heard the latest beta drivers from Nvidia helps performance a lot. Maybe ATI needs to release a hotfix? Any info on that?

I was just about to play it. I downloaded it last night and even played it a few minutes. It seemed to run fine on Ultra at 1920x1200 with 6950's (unlocked shaders) from what I can tell, but I had just got started. I promised myself I'd finish Metro 2033 before I started a new game, which I have now done.

 

[bystander]

Hmm, after going back and forth, all of a sudden I was at 15 FPS with ultra too. I believe high is the best I can do.

 

[wolfram23]

Hm. Seems like it could be a VRAM limit issue. However I did have the same thing with Metro 2033 until (I assume) driver optimizations because it runs great now.

Now that I think about it, I should check my CCC settings. I might have it set to Super Sampling and other over demanding settings. Forgot to check that... haha.

 

[bystander]

I looked around for benchmarks, and found several threads that show this game is a monster and it seems to be pretty neutral between Nvidia and AMD.

 

[shrkbay]

lol W2 Recommended GPU:
Graphics: GeForce 260 (1 GB) or Radeon HD 4850 (1 GB)

 

[gamerk316]

Witcher 2 has a lot of high end settings that can really kill performance. I've also heard that forcing AA outside the game can cause a LOT of issues as well...

 

[joshyboy82]

I play it on ultra with smooth framerates, but the cutscenes stutter a bit. I'll try turning of SSAO or that Uber sampling thing I've read other mention, but with it only affecting the nekked women cutscenes, do I want to lose anything from the hours of actual gameplay? I'm about 4 hours into it, I'm wondering if there are some fights that are too big for me to keep my current settings and maybe I should save myself one of the 800 deaths by lowering my settings...or the difficulty

On a different note, I'm wondering how the game plays using the 360 controller. Sorry, I'm not trying to hijack the thread, simply thinking...onscreen.

 

[wolfram23]

So a single 580 can run it at ultra huh? Well, that's good. Generally my CF performance is very close to a 580, but obviously it's nowhere near that. I think right now for ATI users with CF the problem is that there's no CF profile for the game. It was similar to when I played the Crysis 2 demo - the FPS was no different between CF and single card. Now, I haven't actually tested that yet with Witcher 2, but AMD has said that there's both a hotfix and a CF profile coming out this week for Witcher 2 which should fix performance issues.

I guess right now it's wait and see.

As for the controller... I don't know. I don't really think so, although their default controls are a tad clunky. I hate how sometimes you hit Space, sometimes Enter to accept things.

 

[wolfram23]

Hey guys, an update. AMD just released 11.5b hotfix for Witcher 2 (and Dirt 3). It's completely fixed my issues. I went from bottoming out at 10-15 fps with max settings to over 100fps, with everything except Ubersampling enabled... I'll test it out later.

So, yeah, for AMD/Crossfire people, get 11.5b now! It'll fix The Witcher 2.

 

[bystander]

Hey guys, an update. AMD just released 11.5b hotfix for Witcher 2 (and Dirt 3). It's completely fixed my issues. I went from bottoming out at 10-15 fps with max settings to over 100fps, with everything except Ubersampling enabled... I'll test it out later.

So, yeah, for AMD/Crossfire people, get 11.5b now! It'll fix The Witcher 2.

I'm on it!

 

[marney_5]

Hey guys, an update. AMD just released 11.5b hotfix for Witcher 2 (and Dirt 3). It's completely fixed my issues. I went from bottoming out at 10-15 fps with max settings to over 100fps, with everything except Ubersampling enabled... I'll test it out later.

So, yeah, for AMD/Crossfire people, get 11.5b now! It'll fix The Witcher 2.

Nice one Wolfram23! Been waiting for this fix since Witcher 2 came out....... It really annoyed me that I couldnt use my second card when I first starting playing!!!!

 

[wolfram23]

Well I tested Ubersampling just for kicks. Dropped FPS to around 30-35, but it also had some stutters if I started moving too much, where the FPS would drop to around 20. Sure makes the game look smooth though! I might have to see if morphological AA helps it out. I think the game does look nice but just not quite enough AA for me.

EDIT: Oh, right. There's also a really annoying graphical glitch. Light glow goes right through terrain. I can see little orange dots from torches in a basement from the courtyard! It's pretty annoying.

 

[pale paladin]

gotta hand it to AMD for getting that patch out quick. I have been very impressed with the time between driver updates from AMD over the past 2yrs. I have stuck with their cards and I'm very happy I did. 3870->5770->5850oc

I'm hoping I can run it with decent details when I finish the original Witcher.

 

[bystander]

I was just running the game on ultra settings and ubersampling off with almost full 60 fps the entire time, dropping into the 50's occasionally with v-sync on. It looks awesome. With ubersampling, it'll mostly stay over 30-50, but drops into the teens on occasion. I don't think ubersampling is worth it, and it doesn't seem that much better of an AA method.

 

[wolfram23]

I was just running the game on ultra settings and ubersampling off with almost full 60 fps the entire time, dropping into the 50's occasionally with v-sync on. It looks awesome. With ubersampling, it'll mostly stay over 30-50, but drops into the teens on occasion. I don't think ubersampling is worth it, and it doesn't seem that much better of an AA method.

Yeah the performance lose isn't worth it, but I did think it looked better. It just seemed... smoother, more real. I really notice edges in this game from the aliasing. Whenever people move, the edges seem to "vibrate" (for lack of a better description).

 

[bystander]

Yeah the performance lose isn't worth it, but I did think it looked better. It just seemed... smoother, more real. I really notice edges in this game from the aliasing. Whenever people move, the edges seem to "vibrate" (for lack of a better description).

Yeah, newer games that have a lot more edges than just the ones on the outside edges of objects/npc's tend to not get anti-aliasing. SSAA is really good at fixing these problems, but it seems to only work on DX9 games for the most part, which the Witcher 2 is....hmm, I should try it out (I realize they warn against, but what can testing hurt?)

 

[bystander]

Well, I tested it. If you override game AA settings, it doesn't load most the textures. MLAA does smooth things out a bit and doesn't have a bad performance penalty. It does blur the image a little. I'm not sure if I like it better or not.

Ubersampling definitely looks a lot like SSAA normally does. It smooths all the jaggies on an image and not just the outside edges, but the performance hit is questionable at this point. I might try it outside that first area, which seems to need more power than most areas.

 

[joshyboy82]

So...going back to my original, but secondary comment. Morgan Webb from G4TV said she beat Witcher 2 using the XBOX controller. She elaborated and said all over the web people who tried the controller found it more suiting. The spell casting, the timing, the secondary projectiles, all seemed to work better with the controller. Having almost beat it with a mouse and keyboard, I think next play through ('cause I gotta choose the options I didn't the first time. I mean, now I won't have as much ladies time) I'll try the controller and the next level of difficulty now that I understand the feel of the game. Just an add to this thread...

Also G4 gave it a 5 out of 5 for those reading this thread that don't own it.

 

[wolfram23]

As it happens, Witcher 2 is now officially scheduled for release on Xbox 360. On top of that, they just said that with the patch just released today, 1.2, they've improved menu navigation with a gamepad. I guess I'll try plugging mine in tomorrow when I game all afternoon lol.

 

[Caldrumr]

Basically, if you have the game, I'm wondering how well it's running for you.

I'm quite surprised because I can't run the game at Ultra settings - FPS is 10-15. At high it runs fine, though, at 40+.

I'm running CF 5850s with 11.4. I noticed 11.5 said nothing on updates for Witcher 2, and neither does the newest CAP.

So how does it run on Nvidia? It's a TWIMTBP title so probably better than on ATI... I heard the latest beta drivers from Nvidia helps performance a lot. Maybe ATI needs to release a hotfix? Any info on that?

This is the first game I have been unable to properly run at full ultra settings on my computer. I was getting about 10 FPS.
The fix was disabling Ubersampling. I shot from 10 FPS to about 50 just changing that one option. It still looks amazing, but that graphical option is just too powerful for my system.
According to the manual:
"Use with caution, only on top-end computers (best possible in terms of both GPU and CPU)."
If you have this set, try unchecking it. You may see a huge difference.