Alan Wake Remastered Performance Analysis
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Technology
Remedy Entertainment has a knack for unconventional, if not outright crazy, games. While the ability to slow down time in Max Payne was probably inspired by Matrix, Quantum Break introduced rather unique time manipulation mechanics. One of the latest titles from the developer is Control, which focuses on supernatural phenomena and grants players supernatural abilities.
Alan Wake was one of the first titles for which we did a performance analysis. All in all, Alan Wake left a very good impression, what with its great storytelling and remarkable protagonist. The third-person title deals with the trials and tribulations of a horror fiction writer who, just like the player, is not always sure what is real and what is not.
Light plays a very important role in Alan Wake, both visually and gameplay-wise. For instance, the light beam from the flashlight was impressive back then and it looks impressive today, as well.
While the main campaign often takes players into secluded places, Alan Wake manages to maintain a dark and gloomy atmosphere all throughout, thanks to creative storytelling.
In the light of day, the remastered version looks good. However, the ageing engine does not always manage to pull off a modern presentation when it comes to face animations, polygon counts, etc. The reworked textures look solid, though. Light physics and the slick effects (for example, the slowdown of time when firing the flaregun) are the main highlights of the title.
Unfortunately, the remastered version does not appear to be completely finished. We ran into graphics glitches and crashes during our benchmarks (with GPUs with less than 6 GB of VRAM at 4K).
The remaster inherits a few gameplay weaknesses from the original. PC controls are not that tight. Moreover, the game can get a bit repetitive over time.
The graphics menu was reworked when compared to the original. While some settings are missing, new settings were added. Alan Wake now features support for DLSS, which only works with certain Nvidia GPUs. The resolution scaling setting is also a new addition (Note: problems may arise when changing graphics settings with resolution scaling enabled).
In the expanded menu, there are graphics presets which affect the anti-aliasing (TAA, FXAA, MSAA), anisotropic filtering, three visual settings, and the draw distance. Players can also create a custom graphics profile. Positive: graphics settings can be changed without a restart.
Benchmark
With our performance analysis of the original version of Alan Wake, we used a nighttime sequence, here we use a daylight one. As you can see from the video below, our benchmark sequence consists of the ride on the ferry to the town. For each benchmark pass, we record a 40-second chunk of gameplay with CapFrameX (until the waterplane makes the landing). The playable character stands still the whole time.
Because Alan Wake is a third-person title that does not require split-second reactions, the game is playable even at well below 60 FPS. 40 FPS should be enough for most gamers. However, performance can tank in very intensive scenes.
Results
The benchmarks were conducted mainly using the laptops which our partners MSI and XMG (Schenker Technologies) lent us.
FHD (1920x1080)
While entry-level GPUs with meagre amounts of VRAM (up to 2 GB) cannot handle Alan Wake even at the lowest settings, mid-range graphics cards such as the GeForce GTX 1650 (Ti) can achieve playable frame rates at 1080p at the highest settings.
Alan Wake Remastered | |
1920x1080 Low Preset 1920x1080 Medium Preset 1920x1080 High Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H | |
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce MX450, i7-11370H |
QHD (2560x1440)
Mid-range GPUs on the level of the Radeon RX 5600M or the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti can run Alan Wake at 1440p and maximum settings. However, here you should expect a sub-60 FPS experience with such GPUs.
Alan Wake Remastered | |
2560x1440 High Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H |
UHD (3840x2160)
The system requirements jump significantly at 4K. Here, you will need a powerful graphics card such as the GeForce RTX 3060 or better to enjoy Alan Wake at high settings.
Alan Wake Remastered | |
3840x2160 High Preset | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H | |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H | |
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H |
Note
Because benchmarking video games is very time consuming and is often constrained by installation/activation limits, at the time of publishing, we were able to provide only a part of our performance analysis of Alan Wake Remastered. Other graphics cards will be added in the coming days and weeks.
Overview
Test Systems
Device | GPU | CPU | RAM | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
XMG Neo 15 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 @165 W TGP (16 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-11800H | 2 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
XMG Neo 17 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 @140 W TGP (8 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-11800H | 2 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
XMG Core 15 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 @130 W TGP (6 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-11800H | 2 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
XMG Focus 17 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti @75 W TGP (4 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-11800H | 2 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GP65 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-9750H | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GP75 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti (4 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-10750H | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI GL75 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR6) | Intel Core i7-10750H | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 15 | Nvidia GeForce MX450 (2 GB GDDR5) | Intel Core i7-11370H | 1 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
Dell G5 15 SE | AMD Radeon RX 5600M (6 GB GDDR6) | AMD Ryzen 7 4800H | 2 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
MSI Prestige 14 Evo | Intel Iris Xe (96 CUs) | Intel Core i7-1185G7 | 1 x 16 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
Desktop PC I | MSI GeForce RTX 3090 (24 GB GDDR6X) MSI GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB GDDR6X) MSI GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB GDDR6) |
Intel Core i9-9900K | 4 x 8 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
Desktop PC II | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 FE (24 GB GDDR6X) Nvidia Titan RTX (24 GB GDDR6) Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (8 GB GDDR6)Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super (8 GB GDDR6) KFA2 GeForce GTX 1660 Super (6 GB GDDR6) PNY GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB GDDR5) KFA2 GeForce GTX 1650 Super (4 GB GDDR6) KFA2 GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR5) AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (12 GB DDR6) AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (8 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (8 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5700 (8 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (8 GB GDDR6) |
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | 2 x 32 GB DDR4 | Windows 10 64 Bit |
4K monitors | Nvidia drivers | AMD drivers |
---|---|---|
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Acer Predator XB321HK | ForceWare 496.13 | Adrenalin 21.10.2 |