photorealistic Cyberpunk (help)

[drestadre]

Hey guys. I am new here and this is my first post. I have an RTX 4080 and I would like to be able to run Cyberpunk with a more realistic look to it, similar to what I see in the Youtube videos. I have been here installing LUTs, ENVs, texture updates, and a few other mods that were just out of interest, like the Lizzie's BD mod, lol. I have it looking somewhat realistic, but it isn't totally there. I keep hearing that I shouldn't be using Reshade because it hits the performance, but I did add a Reshade to get rid of the green tint that is in the base game. Some LUTs seem very harsh, washing out the color, and although some of the ones that are washed out actually do look realistic in their basic form, the world obviously has COLOR. I think I am looking for something that is in between the washed out look and the super saturated "You're playing a video game" look.

What combination of mod is going to get me to a more realistic-looking Cyberpunk that I can actually run on a 4080 that isn't behind a paywall? 

[BlueGunk]

I get a good result combining one of the Nova Luts with GITS Fuji, (though I see the GITS I used is currently temp hidden on Nexus - worries me. This version is still available but watch the game version).  GITS comes with the weather ENV, so Nova handles only the LUT.  I didn't like Nova rain anyway.

There are several Nova LUTS so it's worth experimenting with the Nova/GITS mix you like. The author has done quite a few. Classic and Pure are both good. I use HDR on a 21:9 OLED 4k monitor.

GITS really brings out the Nova LUT image with contrasts and weather.  I use Path, Ray Tracing, Framegen. Path Tracing is an FPS killer BUT makes the game look excellent. I have to compromise to save my FPS. I run a 4080 Super but an i9 processor.  In the Game Settings, turn Screen Space reflections to Medium to save a bit of FPS.

You can also pop in some of the nice HD reworked textures available. 

To keep performance up I use this mod and choose the PT21 and the Balanced presets in the on-screen menu. I believe I added the Bright and Colourful Reshade for Nova to make it pop a bit.

Here's a screen from mine, though I confess I mucked about with it a lot since I took it.

Have fun!