Alan Wake Remastered Performance Analysis

Rejuvenated after a decade. A lot of classic games have been remade and remastered already. After Crysis and Mafia, Alan Wake gets a major face-lift. We conduct our performance analysis to determine the system requirements.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Stanislav Kokhanyuk), Published 10/18/2021 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...

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 MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	110 (41.4^min, 49.3^P0.1, 65.4^P1) fps ∼32% 107 (40.4^min, 45.9^P0.1, 63.3^P1) fps ∼30% 103 (39.1^min, 44.8^P0.1, 61.3^P1) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	109 (40.3^min, 46.6^P0.1, 64.1^P1) fps ∼32% 106 (40.4^min, 45^P0.1, 63.5^P1) fps ∼30% 102 (43.7^min, 47.4^P0.1, 61.2^P1) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	107 (42.1^min, 48.2^P0.1, 63.9^P1) fps ∼31% 104 (42.3^min, 43.5^P0.1, 61.4^P1) fps ∼29% 101 (40.1^min, 45.8^P0.1, 59.5^P1) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	104 (41^min, 45.3^P0.1, 80.6^P1) fps ∼30% 99.5 (39.3^min, 44.6^P0.1, 75.9^P1) fps ∼28% 95 (34^min, 43.2^P0.1, 73.6^P1) fps ∼30%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	103 (41.9^min, 46.1^P0.1, 82.5^P1) fps ∼30% 98.7 (40.6^min, 44.6^P0.1, 78.7^P1) fps ∼28% 93.9 (28.5^min, 43^P0.1, 76.5^P1) fps ∼30%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	102 (32.9^min, 40.1^P0.1, 68.2^P1) fps ∼29% 96.3 (38.2^min, 39.9^P0.1, 62.6^P1) fps ∼27% 89.3 (37.8^min, 40.1^P0.1, 63.3^P1) fps ∼28%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP	99.7 (40.1^min, 45.1^P0.1, 82.1^P1) fps ∼29% 92.3 (42.1^min, 45.8^P0.1, 76.8^P1) fps ∼26% 84.7 (42.9^min, 44.1^P0.1, 74.5^P1) fps ∼27%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	95.8 (37.6^min, 47.1^P0.1, 76.6^P1) fps ∼28% 80.5 (40.9^min, 43^P0.1, 66.5^P1) fps ∼23% 69 (33.2^min, 41^P0.1, 57.8^P1) fps ∼22%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	92.8 (10.4^min, 22^P0.1, 54.4^P1) fps ∼27% 87.6 (29.1^min, 42.5^P0.1, 53.7^P1) fps ∼25% 82.6 (29.9^min, 40.8^P0.1, 50.9^P1) fps ∼26%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	87.3 (36^min, 42.4^P0.1, 69^P1) fps ∼25% 73.2 (31.4^min, 41.7^P0.1, 59.2^P1) fps ∼21% 63.4 (34.3^min, 39.9^P0.1, 51.5^P1) fps ∼20%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H Dell G5 15 SE	84.4 (19.5^min, 31.4^P0.1, 57.6^P1) fps ∼24% 79.1 (22.6^min, 39^P0.1, 52.6^P1) fps ∼22% 75.3 (25^min, 39.4^P0.1, 51.3^P1) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce MX450, i7-11370H Xiaomi RedmiBook Pro 15	12.6 (9.3^min, 9.34^P0.1, 9.74^P1) fps ∼4% 10.3 (7.13^min, 7.36^P0.1, 8.11^P1) fps ∼3% 8.82 (6.12^min, 6.18^P0.1, 6.5^P1) fps ∼3%

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 MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	102 (35.9^min, 45.8^P0.1, 61.9^P1) fps ∼39%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	101 (41^min, 45.1^P0.1, 61.8^P1) fps ∼39%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	98.1 (26.9^min, 44.4^P0.1, 59.7^P1) fps ∼37%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	91 (42.4^min, 44.4^P0.1, 73.3^P1) fps ∼35%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	90.1 (41.9^min, 42.6^P0.1, 75.9^P1) fps ∼34%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	82.9 (25.3^min, 33.1^P0.1, 54.2^P1) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	65.5 (23.6^min, 39.9^P0.1, 44.2^P1) fps ∼25%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Focus 17 @75 W TGP	64.6 (33.6^min, 37.7^P0.1, 54.5^P1) fps ∼25%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H Dell G5 15 SE	58.4 (23.1^min, 37.3^P0.1, 42.1^P1) fps ∼22%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	45.8 (29.3^min, 38.3^P0.1, 40.5^P1) fps ∼17%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	42 (23.1^min, 30.9^P0.1, 37.4^P1) fps ∼16%

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 MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	97.9 (42.7^min, 47.3^P0.1, 60.1^P1) fps ∼46%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	97 (17.4^min, 40.1^P0.1, 61.3^P1) fps ∼46%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	84.3 (37^min, 41.9^P0.1, 54.9^P1) fps ∼40%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 15 @165 W TGP	73.9 (31.6^min, 41.4^P0.1, 62.1^P1) fps ∼35%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Neo 17 @140 W TGP	68.7 (41^min, 41.6^P0.1, 59.1^P1) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H XMG Core 15 @130 W TGP	50.9 (23.7^min, 25.5^P0.1, 33.2^P1) fps ∼24%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	34.9 (11.4^min, 25.3^P0.1, 27.6^P1) fps ∼16%
AMD Radeon RX 5600M, R7 4800H Dell G5 15 SE	31.6 (19.2^min, 23.6^P0.1, 26.3^P1) fps ∼15%

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

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Editor of the original article: Sebastian Jentsch - Managing Editor Consumer Laptops - 1753 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2010

Computers always had an important place in my life, starting with an Intel 80286 microprocessor in the early 1990s. I became interested in the productive side of technology, especially in campus radio, while studying at TU Chemnitz and during a trainee program in Belfast. Hardware interests led me to manage Notebookjournal.de, which is now a division of Notebooksbilliger, for a few years. I became self-employed in 2010 and took the next logical step in my career by starting to write for Notebookcheck.

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Translator: Stanislav Kokhanyuk - Translator - 78 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2021

I am a big fan of technology, which is why I try to keep up with it. Among my other passions are literature and writing, and so it should not be surprising to anyone at all that I have a four-year bachelor's degree in philology. However, my interests are not limited just to the world of technology, or, for that matter, the world of literature. I am also interested in people and the stories they have to tell. And more recently, I took an interest in artificial intelligence.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Alan Wake Remastered Performance Analysis

Florian Glaser, 2021-10-18 (Update: 2021-10-19)

Legend
5	Stutters – This game is very likely to stutter and have poor frame rates. Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, average frame rates are expected to fall below 25fps
	May Stutter – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, stutters and poor frame rates are expected.
30	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 58fps
	May Run Fluently – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, fluent frame rates are expected.
?	Uncertain – This graphics card experienced unexpected performance issues during testing for this game. A slower card may be able to achieve better and more consistent frame rates than this particular GPU running the same benchmark scene.
	Uncertain – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game and no reliable interpolation can be made based on the performances of surrounding cards of the same class or family.
The value in the fields displays the average frame rate of all values in the database. Move your cursor over the value to see individual results.