Hi people,

I've been trying to get the maximum quality of the game and max fps at the same time. Mi PC is not like others with 3 SLI just 1 580 GTX and 4.0 GHz overclocked i980 and I'm happy with the result that I've found with all in ultra.

Settings:

1) NVIDIA Control Panel for maximum performance with all the optimizations. I've tried all settings to maximum quality and IMHO I prefer the quality of maximum performance, the only setting that have an important difference is AF 16X.

2) User.ini with this settings:

[Engine]
CustomRenderingSettings=1
PerformancePlatform=3

[Graphics]
Brightness=0.923077 (1 brakes some intense daylight spots, I prefer with a little less)
Gamma=2 (with my monitor the game is very dark, not natural for me at daylight)

[MouseInput]
KeyboardCooldownSpeed=0.1
MouseDampX=7000
MouseDampY=7000
MouseSensitivityX=0.1
MouseSensitivityY=0.0625
MouseSmoothness=1 (I prefer maximum smoothness moving the camera)
SensitivityX=0.5
SensitivityY=0.5
Smoothness=0 (IMPORTANT change in smoothness)
UseMouseDamp=false

[Rendering]
AllowAntialias=0 (always 0 is you use US because no difference in quality, 1 when no US)
AllowBloom=0 (I prefer without always)
AllowBlur=1
AllowCutsceneDOF=1
AllowDOF=1
AllowDecals=1.0
AllowMotionBlur=1
AllowRain=1
AllowSSAO=1 (important difference in realism with it but 15 less fps in my case)
AllowScatterDOF=1
AllowShafts=1
AllowSharpen=0 (for me always off, is like adding cartoon style to the game when US is off)
AllowVignette=1
AtlasTextureDownscale=0
CharacterLodGameplayDownscale=0
DanglesLimiter=0
DetailTextureDownscale=0
FoliageDistanceScale=1.0
Fullscreen=1
MaxAtlasTextureSize=4096
MaxCubeShadowCount=1
MaxCubeShadowSize=256
MaxSpotShadowCount=3
MaxSpotShadowSize=512
MaxTextureSize=2048
MeshDistanceScale=1.0
ShadowQuality=3
ShadowedLights=3
TextureDownscale=0
TextureMemoryBudget=400
TextureTimeBudget=10
UberSampling=2
VSync=0 (I'm using D3DOverrider for secure Triple Buffering and V-Sync always on, but I think works the same if you use 1 and don't use D3DOverrider)

[Viewport]
Height=1200
Width=1600

result = 20fps min 30fps normal 45fps interior (I'm ok with 30 fps but not with less)

So now my suggestions is:

1) Option 1:
AllowAntialias=0
AllowBloom=0
AllowSharpen=0
AllowSSAO=0 <----- this change
UberSampling=2

result= 30fps min 45 normal 60fps interior

2) Option 2:
AllowAntialias=1 <----- this change
AllowBloom=0
AllowSharpen=0
AllowSSAO=1
UberSampling=0 <----- this change

In NVIDIA Control Panel: AF 16X

result: always 60fps

Here are some screenshoots:

1) Without US and with 16X AF
2) Without US and with 16X AF and Sharpen
3) With US and without SSAO
4) With First settings above (US on)

As you can see if you compare them in your computer the difference between with or without US on is not too much. Less detailed and a bit more aliasing but for me is enough. IMHO I prefer the effect without US because in real life you don't see all things sharpen like that at that distance, but I would like to increase antialiasing effect with US off and I can't force it with the CP.

What is your system RAM, and your VRAM?

you should be able to crank up the TextureMemoryBudget higher with that setup

OP: why did you post the exact same thing twice (that I know of)?

Good set of screenshots though they seem a little bleak... (colour seems to be washed out).
In addition it's hard to compare them since the elements including fire and light from it as well as NPCs are quite far away and not static (same on all screenshots). Any chance of you posting something with a static scenery and close detail to compare (I really do not want to use ground detail as the part I am basing my judgement on)?

Personally I run i7 with 570 and 12GB RAM (on Win7x64)and my settings are all set on maximum possible (in 1920x1200 on 27” monitor) with the exception of uber sampling with is off. The game in the above scenario looks awesome and runs very well (though I did not measure fps because i did not feel a need for it).

I've tried with 400 and 600 but I didn't notice any difference in performance, I will try again with 600 (max settings in configurator) Sorry for that but I've posted the same message with another title without replies so I thought that the problem that people didn't see it was the Title.

if you got alot of VRAM, you should be able to crank it up to 900. make loading when moving between areas more smooth

Ok I will try it thanks for the tip! :)

The colour seems washed out because I'm using Gamma=2 (max) because my monitor is very contrast, sorry about that.

Here is another screenshot comparison:

1) Without US and with Sharpen=1
2) Without US + 16 AF
3) With US
4) With US and without SSAO

It's a matter of personal preference. I would choose UB over SSAO because I absolutely hate jaggies and love how the game looks with UB on (did you see Zoltan's beard without UB? it's HORRIFIC lol!)

Same here... I hate jaggies :P
I've tried a lot of things with NVIDIA inspector, NVIDIA control panel but I can't increase AA quality of the game, because I love the smoothness without US off... always 60 fps but I would like to increase at least a little the quality of the AA. I hate when moving the camera and a lot of things in the screen flicker, it distract me a lot.

Another thing that I hate is when I'm moving the camera and the shadow of the grass flickers when SSAO is enabled, Have you seen it? It's terrible!!

If someone tells me that there are a solution that can reduce to 0 that flicker and jaggies effects but at cost of reduce the quality of the textures... in my case I will choose the first.

I was able to force AA through the nvidia control panel by renaming the witcher2.exe file, but the game stopped rendering any textures and it became a mess of lighting effects. I guess its not compatible with conventional AA yet, which is sad cause the current MLAA implementation isnt sufficient for my taste, and I cant run UB above 10 fps.

I have that flickering shadows thing even without SSAO, and would love to find a solution for it. I dont see why they didnt offer a soft shadows option for highend system without that dithering effect. I realize it might be too taxing for this game, but at least make it an option!