A quick guide to graphics settings! (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
Post-processing: only diffuse dimming does not badly degrade performance.The rest of the graphics settings:
Vertical sync: if you are not the owner of a GTX 980ti of a similar video card, then you do not need it (unless you play with fixed 30 frames).
Frames per second: in this case, there is no point in setting a limit, so there is only one option without limits (again, if you are not going to play with 30 frames, then set the appropriate value).
Resolution: Can be lowered for better performance. For example, if your monitor is 1080p and say with a diagonal of 27 inches, it will be quite comfortable to play at 1600x900 (be sure to in the window so as not to see the wildest soap).
Screen mode - to your taste.
System gamut: let it stay off. It's always easier to control the scale within the game.
HairWorks and everything connected with it must be turned off. First, the effect itself is not to say that it looks better. This is the main and main + to the fact that (secondly), it punishes performance incredibly strongly (you will lose at least 20 frames). This is far from the effect that we saw in Tomb Raider with Lara's hair (because many people think it's the same thing).
The number of characters on the screen is roughly a non-working function. In it, a lot of characters fall on the "minimum value" of the setting, and therefore, overestimating it can only affect the damage to the game, and no one will see the difference.
It's the same story with shadows. Those who are especially distrustful can see for themselves. The shadows at the "low" and "maximum" settings are exactly the same, and if they differ, it is not immediately clear where which setting is. Everyone can test it by taking a couple of screenshots.
The quality of the relief will practically not affect the frames, but it will not affect the picture badly. Here you can set the maximum value.
Water quality is a highly controversial setting. At maximum settings, there will be a jump in performance, but for each it is small or large in relation to water in games. For example, I'm ready to lose even 5 frames (but in my opinion it's even a lot) for the sake of beautiful swamps and just places with an abundance of water structures. In general, setting up requires almost nothing. I advise the maximum.
Grass Amount: The setting is the same, almost useless. I tested it in many places, sometimes there was a difference, but it always seemed to me that it was just an optical illusion and I could not really see anything. As in the case with the number of characters on the screen, I remove it to the very bottom, so as not to lose frames where I don’t understand why.
Texture quality: This is something that just needs to be set to the maximum. Adjustment requires almost nothing, but the quality of the picture is most strongly affected. A similar comment to the setting - the quality of detail.
Well, the last, the most difficult setting in terms of making a decision, Her Majesty is the visibility range of vegetation. So that's it. From the minimum to the maximum, there will be no small leap in performance. It is similarly noticeable in the picture of the game. It can be seen with each segment of the slider how the visibility of the grass decreases. My opinion: I play with this setting to a minimum. Since, I tested many options and even at the maximum setting, I sometimes saw places in the distance with no grass. Therefore, why should I choose the middle? I will lose frames and the quality of realism will not get even at the limit of setting. So I decided to stop at the minimum of drawing the grass, for that I won in frames.
Total: with these settings on my configuration (in the profile), I get 50 frames on average, it also sometimes drops to 40, but it also rises to 60 in a regular way (1920x1080).
UPD: revised my views on the "Water Quality" setting. Crappy setting. Maybe it worked differently among the initial patches. Now, I don't understand how it works. In general, below there will be several screenshots for comparison, where the "maximum" and where the "minimum" you can distinguish by the number of frames per second at the top left of the screen. The only thing I know for sure: with the maximum option, all sorts of traces from the character, from the boat appear on the water, perhaps a little more water "squishes" from jumping into it and bubbles under water.
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In light of the above, I can say with full responsibility that the Poles deserve at least one more award - "The strangest (if you say stupid) graphics settings".
UnknownAssassin
I understand that he is a 2-nuclear engineer, did I understand correctly, huh?
Frames per second: 970 and 980 easily pull the Witcher 3 to ultra without highworks 40-60 fps. it makes sense to enable synchronization, if only because there will be no gaps in the center of the picture, and the synchronization itself in the Witcher 3 does not eat almost fps. I did not understand about 30 frames.
HairWorks hairworks gives animals a very cool look, especially imp and other large animals. also Geralt's beard looks more decent or something)) but the fact that highworks eats 20 fps is you too bent. on green eats 10-12 maximum, on red a little more.
I'm too lazy to continue, I especially made fun of the screen resolution)) the topic will be useful only for the owners of very very weak PCs, in which every frame counts
BarackKamacho
Only now hands have reached the forum. In general, I checked everything as I said. Vsync without stable, fixed 60 (or 30, etc.) frames makes no sense. Picture breaks occur in the same way + perhaps some system resources are also spent on its pseudo-work (vertical synchronization). You can simply test it on GTA 5. There, without c. sync. even frames are not limited to 60 (at 60 Hz setting) and breaks are clearly visible, clearly. When enabled, frames above 60 do not rise (even if performance drops on weak PCs, frames automatically drop to 30 if the bar drops below 60). In The Witcher, as I've said more than once and proved with screenshots (I'm not the only one) - strange graphics settings. Including synchronization. It can be turned on, but without limiting frames to the second setting (30 or 60) - it will not work,
I hope I explained why it does not need to be turned on.
Without vertical synchronization, if you quickly twist the camera around the Herald, the picture is unpleasantly "cut", and here the number of available FPS does not affect in any way, the same story with the assassin syndicate. I just turn it on and everything becomes smooth and the eyes do not get tired. In terms of shadows, you are also wrong, the fact is that the volume of the picture and the realism gives the cut-off drawing, the best in the witcher it is in HBAO +. The game for the sake of the game is not interesting, I want to enjoy the graphics, there is no money for a normal bakery - better take the console. Minimum hardware for comfortable gaming on ultra (<50fps) core i5-i7 / 8 gb ram / gtx970 or radeon 290x.
2dfx
Presumably there will be no proofs again? I repeat. Everyone who really cares about the result, and not flood on the forum, will go into the game and check everything. With synchronization turned on and frame jumps from 40 to 60, the gaps will not go anywhere. This is easy to check in cat. scenes where the camera moves, horizontal stripes are perfectly visible. Shadows are the same. Proofs in the studio as the setting affects the picture. All I saw was that the influence was not at all worth its 5-7 frames.
Don't make people laugh "Minimum hardware for comfortable gaming on ultra (<50fps) core i5-i7 / 8 gb ram / gtx970 or radeon 290x".
Ultra is when all the sliders are turned to the maximum, so, for reference. And for a comfortable game, less powerful cards are enough.
PS Left account? Which once again proves that you went to misinform people.
Alex Hawk
What other left account :) Ultra is all the sliders to the maximum, right. The hair is optional, so it really isn't worth 10 frames. Do you think I came to flood? I don't care about jerking in cut scenes, the main thing is that the gameplay and the camera are smooth, without vert synchronization, the frame is cut in the middle, I see that, if you don't care what proofs you have, there are a lot of them on the network, I say what I see with my own eyes. The same thing with HBAO +, the shadows are deeper, you can + turn it off, there is a slight difference, but there is. Then turn it off a little, turn it down there, remove the drawing, the soap will be worse than the console. Throw off any proofs for you, there will be no proofs. I see no reason to play such a beautiful game at low settings.
Alex Hawk
It makes no sense to enable vertical sync without having stable 60 (or 30) frames. About 30, I inserted a note, and few people will see 60 with video cards of the average level and even slightly above average. The twitching of the image will not disappear if you turn it on and observe jumps from 30 to 60 and vice versa.
It is desirable to have stable 60 frames for vert sync. What to do if your image breaks? Only turn it on
2dfx
I tested "shadows". What does HBAO + have to do with it? Firstly, the "plus" cannot be removed. In The Witcher, only an improved version, or SSAO, works. Secondly, I did not say anything about this option - it works properly and the difference is really visible. Perhaps just because this is one of the proprietary options. I said that the "Shadows" option does nothing. Shadows undoubtedly change their appearance. They become either clearer, or vice versa. And in general, he can never consciously distinguish between where "Ultra" and where "Minimum". Therefore, why lose 5+ frames? And the last thing: "Ultra" is ultra. Hairworks including. If it's off, it's not Ultra anymore.
Aha ... not left ... 
Vinni-Pukh
The fact is that these two options do not make sense without each other. If there are no stable frames, tearing will be even with Vsync enabled. It works correctly in GTA 5 - when the frame drops below 60 (if the lock is at 60 initially), the frames do not decrease further one by one, but instantly drop to 30. Yes, this is terribly annoying for many, but for that the "vertical sync" parameter is not interrupts its work when the frames start to jump from 55 to 60 (after all, it actually does not work).