So i understand correctly as with DragonAge:inquisition and FarCry4. (all new Generation Console Ports).
This game will not work on my Phenom II X3 720 because of 4 core Hardcoded :(

Thanks for the info!

Hmm, so they buy this code for nvidia cards from nvidia:
HairWorks, HBAO+, PhysX, Destruction, Clothing
And then write similar code for AMD cards or will they just provide a less good version of HBAO for AMD users?

They could just disable some of the features on AMD cards, but that would make the game look less good. Which they probably do for the consoles anyway, mostly based on AMD hardware?

Think of the Nvidia Advanced Wolf Pelt TechnologyTM.

I think the PC gamer's complaints were much louder back when some SVGA DOS games started to appear. Especially certain flight combat simulator, possibly US Navy Fighters? Some games had an optional SVGA mode even before that which was too much for most gamers, e.g. Magic Carpet and System Shock.

I recall USNF really put even the fastest PCs of the time on their knees begging for mercy, if you tried to play it in the highest resolutions. Oh the wailing, many wowed never to buy another PC game because of that, I guess they became Playstation or Saturn gamers then. They probably couldn't play USNF on them, though.

Nowadays it seems a bit different. It is mainly the new console generation which hikes the PC game requirements, in this case also for The Witcher 3. So as long as you are able to get a PC that can run The Witcher 3 (and other modern cross-platform AAA games) nicely now, you should be pretty fine for quite some time.

Sure the PC requirements may still increase steadily somewhat, but only moderately. Until the next console generation, that is.

That's a relief. And as seeing from the article you linked, it seems we won't be able to tell if the technologies would interfere or not with AMD cards, even if PhysX and other effects are disabled. But I still feel kinda sad that AMD had similar but better TressFX hair simulation back in Tomb Raider 2013 and it worked well on both Nvidia and AMD. And hope of Mantle support goes down seeing no other NGW games support it; and only Crytek showed interest in the past. Was surprised to find BL:TPS on the list. I'm happy to report it works very nicely on my PC, which lacks any Nvidian or Intel bone in its construction. So lets summarize what we know:

1.NGW is a set of technologies which improve the visuals of a particular kinda such as AA or cloth textures. It will consume performance to render those effects. If the game is properly optimized, it''l run fine, like The Crew :http://gamegpu.ru/racing-simulators-/-gonki/the-crew-test-gpu.html

2.Most NGW effects can be turned off like PhysX and hence reduce performance impact.

3.The catastrophic AC:U seemed to use NGW tesselation, and none other used it. Leads me to believe it has something to do with the performance issues, since neither FC4 or TC ran so poorly. TW3 doesn't use NGW tesellation; sigh.

4. TW3 uses HairWorks, HBAO+, and PhysX; all of which have been used by lesser-dedicated developers and still worked properly.

5. The only new NGW techs that TW3 uses are destruction in environments and clothing textures. Clothing textures can easily be turned down to increase performance from what we know.

6.The only thing worth worrying about is destructible environments, but owing to its similarity to PhysX, which worked well in Borderlands:TPS (it does, personally verified), we can remain positive that Gearbox used it efficiently, so CDPR can do it as well, but probably better.

=stop panicking people!

Indeed, that is the jist of it. I am optimistic that CD Projekt RED will deliver a solid PC experience where the specific Nvidia Gameworks features not being available on AMD GPUs would not hinder performance otherwise. We will find out more when the game is released and benchmarks are analyzed properly. :)

Considering CDPR's dedication and the tested nature of most of the technologies, I agree! Don't think there is much need for alarm, especially if one is running 768p like me :D

Hmmm, well I guess I have an excuse to build a new rig now. Gonna have to figure out how I'm going to pitch the idea to my wife though...

not right now, wait until Broadwell-K gets available just before W3 launch
and maybe some new VGA aswell ;)

Actually, that's kind of what I had in mind. Since my birthday is a week after W3 launch, I'm thinking this will make the new rig idea far easier to get rolling. :P

dang! the planets will align! :)

Well, a question: I exceed all requirements mentioned above; I have 16GB of RAM, Sapphire Dual-X R9 270 Ati Radeon with 2GB memory and ofcourse Windows 7 64bit.
But I have Intel Core i5-4460 3.2 GHz processor and minimum requiremets mentioned above says 3.3GHz, so will I be able to play the game?!

P.S. I only recently bought this new computer and will not in near future (at least 2-3 years) buy anything new; unless something breaks! Good thing I didn't preorder it, yet!

Thanks for any info on this! ;-)

another upgrade ideea that will be available then:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150106006600/en/Samsung-Electronics-Mass-Producing-Extremely-Fast-Low-powered#.VK5fuSvF98E

Your processor actually seems to be much more up to date than the one mentioned in the requirements ( 2nd generation core i5? ), regardless of core speed, so I'd say you'll be fine.

That is a good summery!

I am still panicking, though...