My girlfriend and I have put many hours into this game. We moved across the country and stopped playing for awhile. We recently stated playing again and the frame rate was making us both a bit quesy. When playing before we weren't doing 60+ all the time, but it was playable.

Testing things out I've noticed even if I set everything to low in both graphics options menus we are still only seeing 36ish FPS that fluctuates. I have a GTX 970, i5 2500k, 8 GB RAM, and the game is on an SSD. I just don't understand why it was playable with most things between high and ultra, but now barely playable at Low. Driver issue? Does having too many save files eventually slow the game down? Can anyone help? I realize my CPU isn't the greatest but I thought the Witcher 3 was mostly dependent on GPU.

I hear the DLC has a bigger impact on performance if your jumping into that, but yeah it could be drivers or could be something getting knocked around in the move. Maybe open the case up and see if everything is still connected proper, also check your temps to see if your having hardware issues.

What are your Hairworks and AA settings? If that is not the issue I would recommend checking your driver options and doing a clean reinstall of the latest drivers.

Even with both off it doesn't go above 40 FPS.

Forgot to mention, 1080p, non-DLC so far.

I have a 970 but a better processor and I get fine framerates. Try messing with the borderless windowed and fullscreen modes. I head that the borderless windowed causes some issues.

@barrock: did you check inside the case to see if anything was loose or check your Temps? Stuff can definitely get messed up in transit when moving.

Also it could be you got to a new section where performance is worse. I forget the large cities name atm but when i got there on my 980 it definitely dropped in the 40s alot. It was my cpu causing it, fx 8350 when i got the i5 6600 fps was smooth 60 even with hair stuff.

Also i remember one of the foilage settings was a real fps killer, i cant remember off the top of my head what it was called though.

@oursin_360: The DLC runs better than the rest of the game.

Does your motherboard have an onboard GPU? If so 2 things, check first that you've plugged your monitor cable into your 970 and not into your motherboard (could be something that happened after your moved). If it already is, check if your computer isn't doing some sort've fuckery and trying to use the onboard GPU instead of your 970.

Well there is no way its in a on board GPU and hitting 30-40 FPS.

Thats pretty odd to have it step down like that. I would install the newest drivers, or if that doesnt work try some of the older drivers. Maybe push on the card to make sure it is all the way into the slot, though thats prob a long shot. And worst case reinstall the game. Prob dont need to back up save files, but always good to do. Otherwise yea....Game should be doing better if its not the CPU, though dont think 30-40 fps should be a big issue. Least shouldnt make you sick unless its shifting BADLY. Maybe try Nvidia control panel and make sure your refresh rate is at 60 Hz.

@john1912: On very low? Maybe dependant on the onboard.

I would be amazed. On board GPUs are GARBAGE. Guess Im not up to date on them, maybe some are superior, but my general impression is they will run windows/video fine, but pretty much any game that is 3D its just going to run for complete shit. I would applaud CD Projekt Red for their optimization if a on board card ran it even on low at 30 FPS.

@john1912: I honestly don't know either, it's just something that I've known to happen so I thought I'd throw it out there.

Hmmm that is bizarre. Are other games exhibiting this?

Is there maybe some software that's competing with it in the background?

Did Witcher get patched recently?

@barrock: Witcher is the only one with performance problems? Because it sounds like loose radiator - your cpu is heating up and throttling. Check for loose parts inside your case.