NebuchadnezzarII: Ok because I had the same problem just like you, it's freeze shortly after I start (it seem to prefer to occur when a fight start but not always). The sounds lingers on but the screen freeze and then go black.

I didn't use to have this problem before as well. I suspect it has something to do with the latest expansion B&W. But I can't pin point what exactly. Most likely they tweaked the graphics are/or physics and that shifted something. But It hasn't happened again after I verify/repair the files (therefore I suggested it in the first place).

A thing you could try is to actually raise the graphics in the game. Just to see what happens, sometimes having lower graphic settings then what your computer is capable off can be a detriment to the game performance. Or start a game, let it crash, verify the files, wait for that to finish no matter how long it takes, and then restart the game.

Another thing you could try is to start an new game and see if the problem is still around.

Keep us posted! I'll return if I find anything out that can help you.

SoullessHunter: I did everything to make sure it's not my PC's fault before I write this suggestion, because it would be very unwise to write such suggestion without checking my PC! That's why I'm not asking for help! And no, it's not my PC's fault! Everything people have suggested me to do so far is already done before I wrote this topic! Doesn't matter which CPU my PC has, the old Intel Pentium G2020 or that Intel Core i5-2500k, the issue is the same. My PC's RAM is 8 GB, which is more than game needs. Okay, I admit it I wasn't grateful, when people tried to help me, but it's because they always try to help me when I don't ask for help!

SoullessHunter: My PC's RAM is 8 GB, which is more than game needs. Okay, I admit it I wasn't grateful, when people tried to help me, but it's because they always try to help me when I don't ask for help!

elvenpast: I think, you just told us the solution to your problem? Your OS + the programs your comp runs by default eat up too much RAM, so that you actually have less RAM than the minimum 6 GB. Cause on my own rig with 16 GB RAM, the game paused and minimized I'm still at 40% capacity (mind you, I'm playing with ultrasettings...but RAM-demand is still very notable...XD). And my old comp with actually 8 GB RAM died heroically at the challenge of getting geralt to move through the tutorial (also my GPU was shit...but that only produced some beautiful to look at slow motion XD)...Look through your taskmanager and turn off everything extra you don't need like camera, updaters, webclients and whatnot. Oh, and don't play the game through GOG. The .exe-file for the game should be in your gamingfolder. GOG cloggs up your RAM as well...XD Also, how much VRAM does your graphiccard have (not asking for the model). You need at LEAST 2GB and that's calling it very close....

Also, of course people help you. If you tell a community designed for helping people that you have a problem, that's what happens XD

Ayshiway: Friend, really, why we have to fight 3-4 pages, and only on 4 page you actually post some of you system information?(better to know everything). You telling me now "very unwise to write such things without checking my pc", well, i asked you about it on first page. What was your answer? "Why i must post this information? i dont need your help, game sucks. Basta!" That was my second post in your thread and not only i asked you for this information. People cant do anything without knowing your PC specs, thats basic things.

Of course people want to help you, even if you dont ask for it, they see that you're not objective about this game. For example i completed this game 5 times on 3 different desktops + 1 notebook and PS4. And i never experienced any problems with it, only on older versions of this game(crashes and save file bugs + texture problems), even before DLCs. And i played on 6+ year old PC with crappy processor and videocard, and everything was alright. Well, maybe now you understand why i want protect this game? Why i can play it without problems and you cant? Thats why i wanted to know your PC specs and help you somehow to enhance your experience with W3. There must be something wrong with your system, and if not, then your system just cant handle it on med+ graphic settings, but we cant say 100% if we dont know anything about your rig. If you play W3 on 1500$ machine and struggle, well, something wrong with PC. If you play on 400$ machine, then obvious, your PC just cant handle it. W3 is not easy game, it need huge PC resources to work, especially in Novigrad and near it.

And W3 is not game without flaws. There are different PCs, different hardware combination, people play on different OS's with different driver versions and you can continue almost endlessly. And game can work differently on different PCs. But there are always fix or workaround, bugged driver, too much processes in task manager eating CPU or RAM, viruses, broken services, overheating, CPU throttling, maybe your game dont have enough RAM(On my Rig it eats almost 11gb of RAM in novigrad), but hell, i am not psyker or extrasence, maybe you play on good PC, maybe on grandpa 100-year old calculator.

elvenpast: I think, you just told us the solution to your problem? Your OS + the programs your comp runs by default eat up too much RAM, so that you actually have less RAM than the minimum 6 GB. Cause on my own rig with 16 GB RAM, the game paused and minimized I'm still at 40% capacity (mind you, I'm playing with ultrasettings...but RAM-demand is still very notable...XD). And my old comp with actually 8 GB RAM died heroically at the challenge of getting geralt to move through the tutorial (also my GPU was shit...but that only produced some beautiful to look at slow motion XD)...Look through your taskmanager and turn off everything extra you don't need like camera, updaters, webclients and whatnot. Oh, and don't play the game through GOG. The .exe-file for the game should be in your gamingfolder. GOG cloggs up your RAM as well...XD Also, how much VRAM does your graphiccard have (not asking for the model). You need at LEAST 2GB and that's calling it very close....

Also, of course people help you. If you tell a community designed for helping people that you have a problem, that's what happens XD

janerose: how do I restart the game

janerose: how do I restart the game

Ayshiway: Glad that we can talk now without throwing some dirty stuff at each other, heh! Your reaction here is understandable.

I'll give you example of my old machine.
AMD Phenom 2 x4 965
R9 270x 2GB
16 GB RAM

I played W3 on medium/high(50/50 i think, textures and shadows on medium) settings in 900p, with 30 FPS average. In 1080p it will be 20-25. As you see we have somewhat similar CPU, but phenom have 4 cores, and you have only 2. And W3 really wants more cores to eat, it's heavily multithreading thing. Witcher 3 is one of main "benchmarking" games right now for a reason. I guess thats one of the reasons, why you have problems with performance. You have only 8gb of RAM, but right now i am not sure that it is main problem. You may see some "stuttering" or "freezes" but it will be still playable, because RAM usage always jump up and down. Novigrad is the only place where you will see difference, because of NPCs, houses, textures etc. And your videocard is "entry-level" gaming card, without factory overclock, combined with your 2-core CPU. Thats why when we combine everything we have bad performance.

As i know, there were problems with performance and freezing on 2-core CPUs, after 1.06 or 1.07 patch. Something with lack of support for old CPUs, as people say. You can google some information by typing "Witcher 3 dual core freezing". Theres a lot of topics about similiar problem, and there are solution to it. Method with some "BES" application. For example check those threads - https://www.gog.com/forum/the_witcher_3_wild_hunt/freezing_every_few_seconds_on_a_new_system
https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/3ipv3k/dual_core_stuttering_problems/

And here is BES fix: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/556/?

There are some guides and tutorials on youtube too, with demonstration before and after fix. Just type Witcher 3 dual core freezes or "Witcher 3 BES".
As i can see, it really help people with 2-core processors. I think it worth trying in your situation.

But you said before that after chaning to i5-2500 nothing changed. Thats very strange... of course you cant achieve massive performance boost with your graphic card, but uh... i think it should be noticable.

And about system requirements overal. Well... you can check them, but they dont guarantee you anything. Minimal req usually mean that their game will "start" on this hardware. It will run in 5fps, but hell, its working heh! xD. Same with recommended, it just show you that you will have good performance, but that doesnt mean that game will work in 60 FPS with highest settings possible on 4k TV. Same situation will all developers, not only CDPR. Sometimes its better to check some youtube videos, how people run their games on specific hardware, than reading official system requirements. Thats my opinion.

NebuchadnezzarII: I'm glad that it that this ended well, in a way. And good luck SoullessHunter. I hope you get to experience the game in all it's glory.

SoullessHunter: Now I consider CDPR lazy, because not only W3 is running worse than more demanding games on my PC, now controls are also glitching!

MaxStrauss: OMG! That will get you nowhere. And if you don't believe me, believe Ciri:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gFPjMTj-Xc

Hickory: As I said earlier in this thread, this idiot is here with an agenda: to bad mouth The Witcher 3 and CDPR, nothing more. Nothing the fool has said has made any sense whatsoever.

MaxStrauss: OMG! That will get you nowhere. And if you don't believe me, believe Ciri:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gFPjMTj-Xc