TL;DR
- Path Tracing is a new PC-exclusive feature added in The Witcher 3 Remastered (Patch 5.0).
- You need an NVIDIA RTX GPU to enable it — AMD and Intel cards are not supported for Path Tracing.
- The official 4K 60 FPS target requires an RTX 5080, Core i9-13900K or Ryzen 7 9800X3D, 16 GB VRAM, and 24 GB RAM.
- You must enable upscaling (DLSS) and Frame Generation to hit 60 FPS at 4K with Path Tracing on.
- At 1440p, cards like the RTX 4080 or RTX 5070 can handle Path Tracing with DLSS and Frame Generation.
- 64-bit Windows 11 and an SSD are required on all PC tiers.
- Update your GPU drivers before you launch the game.
Path Tracing is one of the biggest additions in The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Remastered. It launched on September 29, 2026 as part of Patch 5.0, the free upgrade for all existing owners on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
Path Tracing is a PC-only feature. It is more demanding than standard ray tracing. This guide explains what it is, how to turn it on, what hardware you need, and how to get the best performance from it.
Already building your character? See our Witcher 3 Remastered best builds guide and our Gear Reforging guide to make the most of the new visual upgrade while you play.
What Is Path Tracing in The Witcher 3 Remastered?
Path Tracing is a global lighting technique. It simulates how light actually travels and bounces around the world, rather than approximating it in sections like traditional ray tracing does. Every light source, reflection, and shadow is calculated together in a single pass.
In The Witcher 3 Remastered, Path Tracing works alongside a rebuilt DirectX 12 renderer, a new shading model, Ground Truth Ambient Occlusion (GTAO), updated subsurface scattering, and DLSS Ray Reconstruction. The result is that lighting, shadows, and reflections all behave more consistently across the entire scene rather than looking different depending on where you stand.
It is the most demanding graphics setting in the game. It is also the most visually impressive. If your GPU can handle it, Path Tracing is the intended way to see Remastered at its best.
Before You Start — Update Your GPU Drivers
CD PROJEKT RED made this a highlighted point in the official patch notes. Before you launch The Witcher 3 Remastered for the first time after the update, install the latest drivers for your GPU.
- NVIDIA users: Download the latest Game Ready Driver from NVIDIA’s website.
- AMD users: Download the latest Adrenalin driver from AMD’s support page.
- Intel Arc users: Download the latest driver from Intel’s download center.
Running old drivers with a new renderer can cause crashes, visual glitches, or settings that do not save correctly. This step takes two minutes and avoids a lot of unnecessary troubleshooting.
How to Enable Path Tracing in The Witcher 3 Remastered
Path Tracing is found in the video settings menu. Here is how to turn it on step by step.
- Launch The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Remastered.
- From the main menu, open Options.
- Select Video.
- Inside the Video menu, find the Graphics tab.
- Look for the Ray Tracing section. Set the Ray Tracing preset to RT: Ultra.
- Once RT: Ultra is selected, a Path Tracing toggle will appear below it. Switch it to On.
- Go to the Anti-Aliasing / Upscaling section and set your upscaler. Choose DLSS if you have an NVIDIA RTX card. Set the quality mode based on your resolution (see the table below).
- Enable Frame Generation if your GPU supports it. For DLSS, this requires an RTX 40 series or newer card.
- Apply your settings and restart the game if prompted.
Important: Path Tracing will not appear as an option if your GPU does not support it. Only NVIDIA RTX cards can enable Path Tracing in The Witcher 3 Remastered. AMD and Intel GPUs are listed as not applicable for this setting.
Do You Need an NVIDIA GPU for Path Tracing?
Yes. Path Tracing in The Witcher 3 Remastered is exclusive to NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics cards. CD PROJEKT RED’s official requirements table lists no AMD or Intel GPU under the Path Tracing tier. AMD and Intel cards are marked as not applicable.
AMD and Intel GPU owners can still enable standard ray tracing up to the RT: Ultra preset. They can also use FSR 4 or XeSS 2.0 for upscaling. But the Path Tracing toggle itself will remain unavailable without an NVIDIA RTX GPU.
Path Tracing PC System Requirements
Here are the official hardware requirements to run Path Tracing at 4K 60 FPS, as listed by CD PROJEKT RED for Patch 5.0. This target uses DLSS upscaling and Frame Generation. It is not native 4K at 60 FPS without those technologies enabled.
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 (16 GB VRAM)
- CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K or AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- RAM: 24 GB
- Storage: 60 GB SSD
- OS: 64-bit Windows 11
- Upscaling: DLSS with Frame Generation enabled
- Graphics preset: RT: Ultra with Path Tracing
For full details on all six PC tiers including Minimum, Recommended, Ultra, RT Minimum and RT Recommended specs, see our Witcher 3 Remastered PC system requirements guide.
Path Tracing at 4K Takes More Than Just the GPU
The official 4K 60 FPS Path Tracing target is measured with DLSS upscaling and Frame Generation both enabled. Without those, even an RTX 5080 does not reach 60 FPS at 4K natively.
Early benchmark testing showed the RTX 5090 averaging around 59 FPS at 4K with the RT Ultra preset and Path Tracing on, using DLSS set to Performance mode. With HairWorks also enabled alongside Path Tracing at 4K, performance dropped further to around 30 FPS on the RTX 5080, rising to 44 FPS when HairWorks was disabled. Frame Generation brought that figure back above 60 FPS.
The practical takeaway is this: if you want Path Tracing at 4K and 60 FPS, you need DLSS and Frame Generation on. If you want Path Tracing without Frame Generation, drop your output resolution to 1440p.
Path Tracing at 1440p — More Achievable
Running Path Tracing at 1440p is significantly more achievable than at 4K. Cards like the RTX 4080 or RTX 5070 can handle the RT: Ultra preset with Path Tracing enabled at 1440p when DLSS is set to Quality or Balanced mode.
1440p with Path Tracing and DLSS Quality is the sweet spot for most high-end PC players. You get the full visual benefit of the feature without needing Frame Generation to stay above 60 FPS.
What Upscaling Options Are Available?
Patch 5.0 adds three upscaling technologies to The Witcher 3 Remastered on PC. Path Tracing is only available alongside DLSS. FSR 4 and XeSS 2.0 are available for standard ray tracing and rasterized modes.
- NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 with Ray Reconstruction — Available on RTX cards. DLSS Ray Reconstruction specifically improves how path-traced lighting is reconstructed between frames, reducing noise and improving image quality over standard DLSS Super Resolution. Recommended for any RTX user enabling Path Tracing.
- AMD FSR 4 with Frame Generation and Anti-Lag 2 — Available on Radeon RX 7000 Series and newer. On older AMD cards, the game falls back to FSR 2 automatically.
- Intel XeSS 2.0 with Frame Generation and Low Latency — Available on Intel Arc and other DX12-compatible GPUs. Hardware-accelerated on Arc cards for better image quality.
Which DLSS Mode Should You Use for Path Tracing?
The right DLSS quality mode depends on your resolution and target frame rate. Here is a simple guide.
- 4K with Path Tracing: Use DLSS Performance or Ultra Performance. You need to reclaim as many frames as possible at this resolution. Enable Frame Generation.
- 1440p with Path Tracing: Use DLSS Quality or Balanced. Image quality stays high and frame rates are more comfortable without Frame Generation.
- 1080p with Path Tracing: Use DLSS Quality. At 1080p, even Quality mode renders at a lower internal resolution, so you will want to stay at the highest quality setting to keep things sharp.
If your GPU supports it, always enable DLSS Ray Reconstruction alongside Path Tracing. It is a separate toggle in the DLSS settings menu. It replaces the standard DLSS denoiser with one trained specifically for ray-traced and path-traced scenes, and it makes a visible difference to lighting quality in darker areas and reflections.
Should You Enable Ray-Traced HairWorks?
The Witcher 3 Remastered adds ray-traced HairWorks as a new PC feature. It improves how lighting and shading interact with Geralt’s hair, Roach’s mane, and other character hair in the game.
Ray-traced HairWorks has a real performance cost at high resolutions. If you are already pushing your GPU with Path Tracing at 4K, consider leaving HairWorks on the standard setting rather than the ray-traced version. The difference is most visible in cutscenes and close-up character moments rather than during combat or exploration.
At 1440p with a high-end card, you can usually run both Path Tracing and ray-traced HairWorks together without a major frame rate penalty, especially with DLSS Quality mode active.
What If Path Tracing Is Greyed Out or Not Showing?
If you cannot see or enable the Path Tracing toggle, check the following things in order.
- GPU compatibility: Only NVIDIA RTX cards support Path Tracing in this game. If you have an AMD or Intel GPU, the option is not available.
- Ray Tracing preset: Path Tracing only appears when the Ray Tracing setting is set to RT: Ultra. Lower presets like RT or RT: Performance do not unlock the toggle.
- GPU drivers: An outdated driver can cause settings to not display correctly. Update your drivers and relaunch the game.
- DirectX 12: The Remastered version uses DirectX 12 natively. If your system has DX12 disabled or is running a very old version of Windows, the setting may not appear.
- Windows 11: All six PC tiers require 64-bit Windows 11. Windows 10 is no longer supported by CD PROJEKT RED.
Is Path Tracing Worth Enabling?
If your GPU can handle it at a playable frame rate, yes. Path Tracing changes how the entire world is lit. Outdoor areas in particular look noticeably different. Sunlight scatters through foliage more naturally, shadows have softer, more realistic edges, and water reflections behave consistently across the whole surface rather than just where the camera is pointing.
The difference is most obvious when moving between areas. Standard ray tracing can feel inconsistent because different techniques handle different lighting types. Path Tracing handles all of it the same way, so transitions between lit and dark areas look much smoother.
If your GPU cannot maintain 40 FPS or above with Path Tracing on and DLSS active, switch to RT: Ultra without Path Tracing. The jump between RT: Ultra and standard rasterized rendering is still significant. You do not need Path Tracing to get a major visual improvement over the original game.
For everything that changed in Patch 5.0 beyond graphics, including the rebuilt skill tree, combat improvements, and Gear Reforging, see our Patch 5.0 full changes guide and the official patch notes breakdown.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Path Tracing in The Witcher 3 Remastered?
Path Tracing is a global lighting technique added in Patch 5.0. It simulates how light travels and bounces across the entire scene at once, rather than approximating different lighting types separately. The result is more consistent shadows, reflections, and ambient lighting across the whole world.
Do I need an NVIDIA GPU for Path Tracing in Witcher 3 Remastered?
Yes. Path Tracing is only available on NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics cards. AMD and Intel GPUs are listed as not applicable for Path Tracing in the official system requirements. You can still enable standard ray tracing on AMD and Intel cards.
Can I run Path Tracing on an RTX 3080 or RTX 4070?
These cards can enable Path Tracing, but performance at 1440p or 4K will require DLSS set to Performance or Balanced mode. Frame Generation helps significantly but adds input latency. At 1080p, these cards handle Path Tracing more comfortably with DLSS Quality enabled.
What is DLSS Ray Reconstruction and should I enable it?
DLSS Ray Reconstruction is a separate DLSS feature that replaces the standard denoiser with one trained specifically for path-traced lighting. It reduces noise in dark areas and improves the quality of reflections and indirect lighting. It is available on NVIDIA RTX cards and is worth enabling whenever Path Tracing is active.
Can I use FSR 4 or XeSS 2.0 with Path Tracing?
No. Path Tracing in The Witcher 3 Remastered is exclusive to NVIDIA RTX cards and pairs with DLSS. FSR 4 and XeSS 2.0 are available for standard ray tracing and rasterized modes on AMD and Intel GPUs respectively.
Why is Path Tracing greyed out in my settings?
The most common reasons are: your GPU is not an NVIDIA RTX card, your Ray Tracing preset is not set to RT: Ultra, or your GPU drivers are out of date. Update your drivers, set the Ray Tracing preset to RT: Ultra, and restart the game. If the option is still missing, your GPU does not support Path Tracing in this title.
Does Path Tracing work on consoles?
No. Path Tracing is a PC-exclusive feature in The Witcher 3 Remastered. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S have standard ray tracing options, but not full Path Tracing. Nintendo Switch 2 does not support ray tracing at all.
Do I need Windows 11 for Path Tracing?
Yes. All six PC tiers in The Witcher 3 Remastered require 64-bit Windows 11, including the Path Tracing tier. Windows 10 is no longer listed or supported by CD PROJEKT RED.
