Witcher 3 system requirements

[tviceman]

http://thewitcher.com/news/view/927

Minimum System Requirements
Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz
AMD CPU Phenom II X4 940
Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660
AMD GPU Radeon HD 7870
RAM 6GB
OS 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1)
DirectX 11
HDD Space 40 GB

Recommended System Requirements
Intel CPU Core i7 3770 3,4 GHz
AMD CPU AMD FX-8350 4 GHz
Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 770
AMD GPU Radeon R9 290
RAM 8GB
OS 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1)
DirectX 11
HDD Space 40 GB

There is a bit of disparity between the Nvidia and AMD recommended video cards. Hell, there is also a disparity between the AMD and Intel CPU requirements and recommendations as well, too. It's kind of crazy to me that $125 CPU and GPU's don't even perform as well as Witcher 3's minimum recommendation! Game should be beastly!

 

[Erenhardt]

CPUs yea. Strange to put phenom2 and 2500k on the same level.

For the GPUs, well... this is Game(berely)Works program. Expect 7870 to perform worst than gtx660 and 290 slower than gtx770.

 

[Rhezuss]

Wow never thought i'd barely make the "Recommended reqs" one day lol
Glad to see it though!

I have the game on pre-order at GOG, can't wait to explore this.

 

[bystander36]

There is a bit of disparity between the Nvidia and AMD recommended video cards. Hell, there is also a disparity between the AMD and Intel CPU requirements and recommendations as well, too. It's kind of crazy to me that $125 CPU and GPU's don't even perform as well as Witcher 3's minimum recommendation! Game should be beastly!

I sometimes think they just pick cards for their list as sort of a marketing for those brands. They often don't reflect relative performance between them.

The Intel spec's are much higher than the AMD CPU recommendations, but they near the top of what each brand offers, so it is like they just chose them for that reason.

The GPU requirements are also quite odd. I'd bet the 290 still gives a much better experience than a 770.

 

[Carfax83]

There is a bit of disparity between the Nvidia and AMD recommended video cards. Hell, there is also a disparity between the AMD and Intel CPU requirements and recommendations as well, too. It's kind of crazy to me that $125 CPU and GPU's don't even perform as well as Witcher 3's minimum recommendation! Game should be beastly!

I made a thread about this in the PC gaming section. I am speculating that the disparity between AMD and NVidia for recommended GPUs is because the game might use the DX11 deferred context rendering feature, which only NVidia supports in their drivers.

This would allow NVidia hardware to have an easier time reaching their maximum potential as the CPU limitation would be significantly diminished compared to standard DX11.

An R9 290 is an indisputably faster card, but if it's only operating at 75 or 80% of it's potential, then a GTX 770 would have parity, or near parity with it.

 

[Lepton87]

I wouldn't be surprised if even 280X outperforms GTX770. IMHO Tahiti is better than GK104.

 

[tential]

I sometimes think they just pick cards for their list as sort of a marketing for those brands. They often don't reflect relative performance between them.

The Intel spec's are much higher than the AMD CPU recommendations, but they near the top of what each brand offers, so it is like they just chose them for that reason.

The GPU requirements are also quite odd. I'd bet the 290 still gives a much better experience than a 770.

I certainly wouldn't put much stock in these CPU/GPU recommendations as to that they are "equal performing" at all.

 

[skipsneeky2]

ODD cpu minimum requirements,3Ghz P2 against a i5 2500 with a higher clockspeed.I would have expected something like the x4 965 as recommended.

Gpu recommended is sort of funny,i would think with a 770 recommended that the Amd recommended would be like a 280x/7970GE but perhaps this is cause both the 290 and 770 offer 4gb and dual 4gb cards may be needed for the best performance and imagine quality?

 

[Magic Carpet]

So, basically you need a CPU with 4 threads and a DirectX 11 capable video card.

OKAY, let her in! Can't wait to nail 'er on my dual-core rig, ha! Far Cry 4 ran fine, after all.

Is this a 64-bit game?

 

[skipsneeky2]

Interesting theories in the pc Thread based off this same topic.Theories on why the recommendations are as such.I think what i posted in Post #8 may have truth but minimal compared to what the other thread has in it

 

[SPBHM]

if a PII 940 (don't even support DDR3) is min, the game should work fine with other old quad cores like the i5 750, and probably C2Q 9550..

2500K is way faster.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Specs looks to be more or less random. I guess we have to wait for benchmarks.

Its just plain rubbish to define that:
A GTX770 is as fast as a 290.
A P2 940 is as fast as a 2500K.

 

[Lepton87]

ODD cpu minimum requirements,3Ghz P2 against a i5 2500 with a higher clockspeed.I would have expected something like the x4 965 as recommended.

Gpu recommended is sort of funny,i would think with a 770 recommended that the Amd recommended would be like a 280x/7970GE but perhaps this is cause both the 290 and 770 offer 4gb and dual 4gb cards may be needed for the best performance and imagine quality?

4GB versions of the 770 were quite rare most had just 2GB.

 

[tential]

Specs looks to be more or less random. I guess we have to wait for benchmarks.

Its just plain rubbish to define that:
A GTX770 is as fast as a 290.
A P2 940 is as fast as a 2500K.

Hence why I think you'd be quite the fool to read too much into these minimum specs.

 

[Red Hawk]

Well this will be confusing if there's a thread here and in PC Gaming.

 

[Spjut]

if a PII 940 (don't even support DDR3) is min, the game should work fine with other old quad cores like the i5 750, and probably C2Q 9550..

2500K is way faster.

Yeah, Phenom II X4 being minimum should say quite alot.
It's odd they specificallly listed the i5 2500k for Intel though, the average joe will indeed probably feel unsure if his old Core 2 Quad will be able to run the game.


Quite alot of recent games have had high official requirements. I don't believe they can expect the PC version to sell many copies with those GPU requirements.

 

[Elixer]

I made a thread about this in the PC gaming section. I am speculating that the disparity between AMD and NVidia for recommended GPUs is because the game might use the DX11 deferred context rendering feature, which only NVidia supports in their drivers.

Don't think that is correct, all GCN cards fully support DX 11.2, so, not sure why you think deferred context rendering isn't supported.
Matter of fact, AMD did a write up on this in GDC2011.

A better speculation is, the game is being developed with Nvidia's help, and they will not help optimize AMD's rendering path. That could easily account for the difference.

 

[DarkKnightDude]

I wouldn't be surprised if even 280X outperforms GTX770. IMHO Tahiti is better than GK104.

I doubt it, its an Nvidia title, so I'm guessing AMD cards will need some day one optimization by AMD when its released.

 

[Rezist]

I think it's to do with costs of competing cards, saying a 780 kinda snubs all the GK104 owners, saying 970 makes it look like it runs better on AMD. 770 is there only choice.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Don't think that is correct, all GCN cards fully support DX 11.2, so, not sure why you think deferred context rendering isn't supported.
Matter of fact, AMD did a write up on this in GDC2011.

A better speculation is, the game is being developed with Nvidia's help, and they will not help optimize AMD's rendering path. That could easily account for the difference.

Only Broadwell and GM204 currently supports DX11.2 and higher.

Kepler is 11.0 and GCN is 11.1 unless Tonga supports 11.2.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I think it's to do with costs of competing cards, saying a 780 kinda snubs all the GK104 owners, saying 970 makes it look like it runs better on AMD. 770 is there only choice.

This nearly works but performance of the 290 is closer to 780 then 770 anyways.I'm expecting this beast to need over 2gb of vram anyways for 1080p so a 780 should be more of a recommendation with the 290 over the 770.

If someone built a computer in May for this game,they won't buying a new 770 that is for sure but most likely a 960/970 or 290 if they follow the recommended requirements which i think is safe to say many people often times do.

 

[Carfax83]

Only Broadwell and GM204 currently supports DX11.2 and higher.

Kepler is 11.0 and GCN is 11.1 unless Tonga supports 11.2.

Kepler also supports DX 11.1, at least all the game related functions.

Kepler and Hawaii also have partial support for DX11.2.

 

[Lepton87]

I doubt it, its an Nvidia title, so I'm guessing AMD cards will need some day one optimization by AMD when its released.

We will see, remember DA2? At first NV card performed terribly but with a driver update they surpassed AMD's cards. It's not that unusual for NV titles to perform better on AMD's hardware and the other way around.

This nearly works but performance of the 290 is closer to 780 then 770 anyways.I'm expecting this beast to need over 2gb of vram anyways for 1080p so a 780 should be more of a recommendation with the 290 over the 770.

I think 280X is going to be faster in new games than 770 because NV just doesn't give a crap about its old tech and they won't bother optimizing drivers for it. Not to mention its pathetic 2GB...770 should come standard with 4GB. Next time I'll think hard before buying their hardware.
I'd say R290 is faster than GF780.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Recommend 8GB of system memory? Is this common now? I haven't paid attention to recommended specs.

 

[Red Hawk]

Dragon Age Inquisition recommended 8 GB of memory. I expect it to become rather common, since PS4 and Xbox One both have 8 GB themselves.