Cyberpunk 2077: Best user.glp for Path Tracing on Mid-Range GPUs

The goal is to shift the load from raw ray calculation to Ray Reconstruction ($RR$). By lowering the “Ray Intensity” and “Bounce Count” ($N_b$), we allow the AI denoiser to fill in the gaps, maintaining a playable 60 FPS on mid-range hardware.

File Path & Setup

1. Requirement: Install Cyber Engine Tweaks (CET) and the Advanced Path Tracing mod.
2. Navigate to: [Cyberpunk Install Path]\bin\x64\plugins\cyber_engine_tweaks\mods\AdvancedPathTracing\ptSettings.lua
3. Note: In 2026, the user.glp is often bypassed by these mod configurations for more granular control.
4. Pro Tip: Always enable DLSS Ray Reconstruction. Without it, Path Tracing on mid-range GPUs will look like a “noisy oil painting” due to insufficient ray data.

Optimized “Path-Traced Mid-Range” Table

Parameter	Recommended Value	Technical Purpose
PathTracing.RayCount	1	The Performance Fix. Sets minimum rays for basic PT logic.
PathTracing.BounceCount	1 or 2	Limits light to 2 bounces. 3+ will tank mid-range FPS.
RayReconstruction	Enabled	Mandatory for cleaning up the noise from low ray counts.
RTXDI.HistoryWeight	0.85	Increases temporal stability to reduce flickering.
r.SSR.Quality	0 (Off)	Path Tracing handles reflections; SSR is redundant overhead.

HowTo: Engineering the PT Overdrive Balance

Follow these GameEngineer.net technical steps to achieve “Impossible” visuals:

1. The Ray Count Compromise: Setting RayCount to 1 might sound low, but with DLSS 4/Ray Reconstruction, the AI effectively “upscales” the lighting data. This is the only way to keep an RTX 4060 above 60 FPS at 1080p/1440p.
2. Accumulation Tuning: In your config, look for Light Frame Accumulation. Set this to Optimized. This reduces the “ghosting” behind moving cars while still allowing the light to “settle” nicely in dark alleyways.
3. Volumetric Balance: Even with PT on, Volumetric Fog still uses traditional shaders. Set this to Low. Path Tracing already calculates light scattering in the air; high-res fog is an unnecessary $T_{frame}$ thief.
4. The “Dogtown” Rule: Act 3 (Phantom Liberty) areas are ~20% heavier. If you drop below 45 FPS, change ReSTIR DI to Performance mode. This reduces the precision of direct light sources (neon signs) but keeps the global bounce active.
5. VRAM Management: Path Tracing uses a significant amount of VRAM for the BVH ($Bounding\ Volume\ Hierarchy$). If you have an 8GB card, set Texture Quality to Medium to avoid the “stutter-crash” when the memory pool overflows.

Technical Explanation: ReSTIR and Spatio-Temporal Sampling ($S_{samp}$)

The “Advanced Path Tracing” configuration works by optimizing the ReSTIR DI/GI pipeline. Instead of calculating every light path ($P_{light}$) every frame, the engine uses Spatio-Temporal Sampling.

$$L_{out} = L_{in} + \sum (Ray_{hits} \times AI_{recon})$$

It looks at the light data from the surrounding pixels (Spatial) and the previous frames (Temporal). By engineering the HistoryWeight to 0.85, we are telling the engine to trust previous frames more. This results in a “solid” image that doesn’t shimmer, allowing a mid-range GPU to simulate the lighting of a high-end RTX 5090 at a fraction of the hardware cost.