Alan Wake 2 PC Requirements Are Very Demanding Even Without Ray Tracing Enabled

Ahead of its release on October 27, the official and demanding PC requirements for Alan Wake 2 have been revealed. As outlined by developer Remedy Entertainment, anyone looking to see what Alan Wake has been up to in the decade-plus gap between games will need to have a GeForce RTX 2060 or Radeon RX 6600 GPU installed just for the bare-minimum experience.

Alongside other hardware like an Intel i5-7600K or AMD equivalent CPU and 16GB of RAM, that'll get you a cinematic 1080p version of the game running at 30fps and on low graphical presets. From there, going up to medium graphical settings and increasing the resolution to 1440p will require a GeForce RTX 3060 or Radeon RX 6600 XT GPU and even beefier PC gear. For the high-end Alan Wake 2 experience that has the game running on ultra graphical settings at 2160p and at 60fps, nothing but the latest will do as Remedy recommends a 12GB GeForce RTX 4070 or Radeon RX 7800 XT GPU, DLSS or FSR2 set to performance, and a Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel equivalent CPU.

The catch here is that none of these presets factor in ray tracing, which is part of an entirely separate list of recommended PC requirements. To play Alan Wake with medium graphical presets and ray tracing enabled in 1080p and 30fps, a GeForce RTX 3070 or Radeon RX 6800 XT GPU with 8GB of VRAM is required. For the maxed-out experience that ticks all the graphical boxes, adds in ray tracing, and enables path tracing, a GeForce RTX 4070 GPU with 16GB of VRAM, a Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel equivalent CPU, and 16GB of RAM will be used to assault your senses with 2160p frights.

Interestingly, an SSD is mandatory no matter which PC settings you choose and you'll need at least 90GB of storage capacity on your SSD. Alan Wake 2 has a grindhouse movie flair to its design that gives it a cinematic feeling, and while a Performance mode will be available for PS5 and Xbox Series X players looking for a smoother experience, Remedy believes that the game will look better on a lower frame rate.

"I'm glad to say that Alan Wake 2 will have a Performance mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X," Remedy Entertainment communications director Robert Puha recently explained. "The game has been built from the beginning as a 30fps experience focusing on visuals and ambiance, but somehow we have managed to include a solid Performance mode. Our Northlight engine scales well in this case though, lower resolution yet the game looks amazing. One of the big challenges from a performance standpoint on the Saga side is that the Pacific Northwest has a lot of foliage, trees, (transparent objects), expensive lighting (that looks amazing) amongst many other features that make it really challenging on the frame rate."

For more on Alan Wake 2, check out our Alan Wake 2 hub for updates on the global launch time, the Alan Wake story recap, and how the game's custom-made soundtrack adds to its lore. Our Alan Wake 2 review is now available to give you an idea of what to expect.

Alan Wake 2 PC requirements

Minimum (1080p and 30fps on low graphics preset)

• GeForce RTX 2060 or Radeon RX 6600
• 6GB VRAM
• DLSS / FSR2: Quality
• Intel i5-7600K or AMD equivalent
• 16GB RAM
• 90GB SSD

Recommended (1440p and 30fps on medium graphics preset)

• GeForce RTX 3060 or Radeon RX 6600 XT
• 8GB VRAM
• DLSS / FSR2: Balanced
• Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel equivalent
• 16GB RAM
• 90GB SSD

Recommended (1080p and 60fps on medium graphics preset)

• GeForce RTX 3070 or Radeon RX 6600 XT
• 8GB VRAM
• DLSS / FSR2: Performance
• Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel equivalent
• 16GB RAM
• 90GB SSD

Ultra (2160p and 60fps on high graphics preset)

• GeForce RTX 4070 or Radeon RX 7800 XT
• 12GB VRAM
• DLSS / FSR2: Performance
• Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel equivalent
• 16GB RAM
• 90GB SSD

Ray Tracing requirements for Alan Wake 2

Medium graphics preset at 1080p and 30fps with low ray tracing effects (1080p and 30fps on low ray tracing settings)

• GeForce RTX 3070 or Radeon RX 6800 XT
• 8GB VRAM
• DLSS / FSR2: Quality
• Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel equivalent
• 16GB RAM
• 90GB SSD

Medium graphics preset at 1080p and 60fps with medium ray tracing effects and path tracing on

• GeForce RTX 4070
• 12GB VRAM
• DLSS / FSR2: Quality
• Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel equivalent
• 16GB RAM
• 90GB SSD

High graphics preset at 2160p and 60fps with high ray tracing effects and path tracing on

• GeForce RTX 4070
• 16GB VRAM
• DLSS / FSR2: Performance
• Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel equivalent
• 16GB RAM
• 90GB SSD