CD Projekt Releases Hardware Requirements For The Witcher 3

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By Kevin Parrish
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Currently, CD Projekt RED plans to release the upcoming action role-playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Windows PC, the Xbox One, and the PlayStation 4 on May 19, 2015. That's four months PC gamers have to upgrade their components before the game hits store shelves. What kind of hardware will you need? Try 6 GB of RAM at the minimum.

According to the developer, the minimum system requirements will require at least an Intel Core i5-2500K (3.3 GHz) or an AMD Phenom II X4 940 processor. On the GPU front, PC gamers will need at the very least the Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or the AMD Radeon HD 7870. Other requirements will include 40 GB of hard drive space, DirectX 11, 6 GB of RAM and a 64-bit version of Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1.

As for the recommended specs, PC gamers will need an Intel Core i7-3770 (3.4 GHz) or an AMD FX-8350 (4 GHz) processor. For the GPU, the specification lists the Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 and the AMD Radeon R9 290. As with the minimum requirements, PC Gamers need 40 GB of HDD space, DirectX 11 and a 64-bit version of Windows 7/8/8.1. However, the recommended specs call for 8 GB of RAM.

PC gamers who purchase the physical copy of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will not only get the game DVDs, but a CD containing the game's soundtrack. The package will also provide a protective sleeve, a set of Witcher 3 stickers, a detailed map of the game's virtual world, and "Witcher Universe – The Compendium."

The Collector's Edition will have even more goodies. In addition to the contents of the Standard Edition, this bundle will include outer and inner Collector's Boxes for storing all the cool stuff, a hand-painted Polystone figure of Geralt of Rivia, two Gwent card decks, a Witcher medallion, a cloth map and a SteelBook. There's also a book filled with 200 pages of the game's beautiful artwork.

GameStop shows that the Collector's Edition will cost a meaty $149.99, whereas the Standard Edition will cost $59.99. PC gamers who pre-order from GameStop will receive an exclusive Witcher key chain and poster.

Do you have enough horsepower to run The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt? As we've seen throughout 2014, 6 GB of RAM and a 64-bit operating system are becoming the norm in minimum PC requirements. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Assassin's Creed: Unity and Watch Dogs are perfect examples.

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Kevin Parrish
37 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Thaisnang
    Is that minimum for running it on low?
    Reply
  • chenw
    I wonder what the specs for Uber is like... Quad 980's for 1080p?
    Reply
  • elcentral
    hoping my sli 780ti will pull hig in 1440p. guess time will tell.
    Reply
  • fyend
    lol how do those requirements make sense? You need an i5 2500k minimum or a way slower X4 945 minimum.. either will do but one is WAY slower than the other... huh?
    Reply
  • Quixit
    I hope you have a quad-core processor, otherwise you're below the minimum apparently. I don't believe their CPU requirements for a second, the consoles this run on have massively less CPU power than even what they're speccing as minimum here. I don't believe that they added enough extra game logic to require processors that are twice as powerful as the ones in the PS4 & Xbox One.

    I predict that my Core i5-2500K with 16GB of RAM and 2x Radeon 280x will run this better than their "recommended" spec.
    Reply
  • Merry_Blind
    I have an i5-3570k and GTX660..... Good thing I yet have to finish The Witcher 1 and play the 2nd...
    Reply
  • FunSurfer
    I hope they optimized the game to use full VRAM for texture caching like in the earlier next-gen games, so we will not experience those annoying stuttering of FC4, where there is a 2.5GB VRAM cap @ 1080p.
    Reply
  • surphninja
    Wow. An R9 290 recommended?! Is this thing being made exclusively for enthusiasts?

    Guess us value-driven gamers will need to wait a year or two to play. Good thing I haven't finished the Witcher 2.
    Reply
  • shahrooz
    haha this is funny
    Reply
  • Urzu1000
    :/ I understand that people are can be frugal, myself included, however I believe it's important to mention that I built a high-end gaming PC with $1,337 (including tax, I know, awesome coincidence, right?). It's still more then capable of crushing these recommended specs two years later. Just upgraded the graphics card, so I'm good for another couple years. The other was still extremely capable, but I wanted the extra push for 1440p.

    It's better to buy a rig that will last for several years then it is to buy a rig a few hundred cheaper and replace it in half the time, or only be able to play all your games at reduced quality. Put the most money on the components that are difficult to upgrade later, like the MoBo and processor, and the least into the things that are easy to swap out.
    Reply