Alan Wake 2: PC Performance Benchmarks for Graphics Cards and Processors
| BASIC GAME INFORMATION |
We tested Alan Wake 2 at the highest graphics settings, on video cards from the GEFORCE RTX and RADEON RX series. Also, during the tests we conducted, we assessed the performance and quality of the graphic display of the game itself.
| NEW PRODUCTS PROVIDED FOR TESTS BY ASUS |
In our review, we present to you the ASUS ROG Strix B650-A Gaming WiFi motherboard . ROG Strix B650-A Gaming WiFi includes 4 DDR5 DIMM modules with a maximum capacity of up to 64 gigabytes and a frequency of up to 6400 MHz. For the file subsystem, the motherboard supports 3 M.2 PCIe 5.0/4.0 x4 slots and 4 SATA 6 Gb/s ports. You can directly view the testing of this motherboard on our website.
In our review, we present you ASUS Z790-A GAMING DDR4 motherboards . We use this motherboard as a test bench for testing new generations of Intel processors .
This time our test involves the new ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 OC video card . ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4080 OC Edition is built on the AD103 GPU with 9728 CUDA cores. Test this video card on our website.
This time our test involves the top video card from ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC . The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is based on the AD104 GPU and features 7680 CUDA cores and 12GB of GDDR6X memory. Test this video card on our website.
This time our test involves the company's top-end video card ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XT OC Edition 20 GB . . This video card is based on the RDNA 3 architecture, operates at a frequency of 2500 MHz and has 20 gigabytes of video memory.
This time our test involves the company's top-end video card ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7700 XT OC Edition 12 GB . . This video card is based on the RDNA 3 architecture, operates at a frequency of 2600 MHz and has 12 gigabytes of video memory.
| NEW PRODUCTS PROVIDED FOR TESTS BY DEEPCOOL |
This time we're testing the case from DeepCool CH510 WH - it's an elegant and minimalistic mid-tower case with excellent component compatibility and wide cooling power support for a truly versatile build.
Also participating in our test this time is the premium-class DeepCool LS720 WH for processors. DeepCool LS720 WH provides maximum cooling efficiency and low noise levels, as well as a sophisticated design.
| NEW PRODUCTS PROVIDED FOR TESTS BY GIGABYTE |
In our review, we present to you the GIGABYTE Z790 GAMING X AX motherboards . We use this motherboard as a test bench for testing new generations of Intel processors .
This time our test involves the company's top-end video card Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING OC . Its testing on our website.
| NEW PRODUCTS PROVIDED FOR TESTS BY KINGSTON |
In our review, we used RAM: 32 GB DDR4 3600 CL16 Kingston FURY Renegade , 32 GB DDR4 4000 CL18 Kingston FURY Renegade , 32 GB DDR5 6000 Kingston FURY Renegade, 16 GB DDR4 4600 CL19 Kingston FURY Renegade and 32 GB DDR5 7 200 Kingston FURY Renegade . And for gaming tests we use an external Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD 1 TB ..
| THE GRAFICAL PART |
This subsection of our review highlights the main graphical aspects of this game. Particular attention is paid to the version of the graphics engine used, the version of the API used, graphic settings and the quality of development of the main visual aspects.
| SUPPORTED OS AND GRAPHICS API |
Alan Wake 2 is supported on Windows 10/11.
The preferred and primary graphics API for Alan Wake 2 is DX12 .
| GAME ENGINE |
Alan Wake 2 is the highly anticipated sequel developed by Remedy Entertainment using its proprietary Northlight game engine. The development story for Alan Wake 2 reflects Remedy's commitment to pushing the boundaries of storytelling and visual presentation in games. Here's a detailed look at the engine's development history and specifications:
Development history:
Following the release of Alan Wake in 2010, Remedy Entertainment began discussing ideas for a sequel. A prototype was created to demonstrate new game mechanics and enemies, such as the ability to rewrite reality, in order to attract potential publishers. However, Microsoft Studios, the publisher of Alan Wake, showed no interest in a sequel at that time, and Remedy switched to developing Quantum Break. Most of the ideas for Alan Wake 2 were implemented in Alan Wake's American Nightmare, a downloadable sequel to the original game.
Alan Wake 2 was revived periodically over the following years, but due to financial constraints and other projects such as Control and Quantum Break, the sequel was shelved. The desire for a sequel remained, and the internal codename "Project Big Fish" indicated its importance to Remedy. The game's development received a boost when Remedy acquired the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft in 2019, which became the starting point for Alan Wake 2. The sequel was officially announced at the Game Awards 2021 after forming a partnership with Epic Games Publishing.
Northlight engine:
The move to the Northlight engine was a significant change for Alan Wake 2, capturing the atmosphere and visual style of the original game while also delivering a cinematic visual experience. The Northlight engine, developed in-house at Remedy, was first used for Quantum Break, demonstrating the high degree of fidelity in character movements, facial expressions and interactive destructible environments that were recognized as essential for Alan Wake 2.
Northlight was created in response to technical limitations encountered during the prototyping of Alan Wake 2, with the goal of improving the narrative and gameplay. The engine has evolved to include features such as real-time physics, global illumination, ray tracing, lighting particles and real-time deterministic physics on a large scale, which are essential to realizing the complex storytelling and cinematic gameplay planned for Alan Wake 2.
The engine has been adapted to ensure that the atmosphere and visual style of Alan Wake 2 is maintained, now with improved real-time physics, lighting and motion capture systems, all of which are crucial for the sequel. The current trailer for Alan Wake 2 showcases Northlight's capabilities, particularly the global illumination and particle effects used on enemies, as well as the actual physics of destructible environments, in keeping with the game's enhanced cinematic experience.
Mesh Shaders:
Mesh Shaders technology is a new approach to processing geometry in graphics engines, allowing significant improvements in performance and flexibility when working with complex 3D scenes. This technology is part of Microsoft's DirectX 12 Ultimate specification.
In the context of Alan Wake 2, Mesh Shaders technology plays an important role as the game is one of the first to fully utilize the capabilities of DX12 Ultimate. According to information from Remedy Entertainment, the game's developers, Alan Wake 2 will require graphics cards that support Mesh Shaders. Older graphics cards such as the NVIDIA 10 series and AMD 5000 series do not support Mesh Shaders technology, making Alan Wake 2 one of the first games to have such hardware requirements.
Mesh Shaders technology allows you to process large numbers of polygons more efficiently, which is important for creating visually appealing and complex 3D scenes in modern games. This is achieved by more efficiently allocating GPU resources and reducing CPU load, which in turn can lead to higher performance and graphics quality.
| DIFFERENT QUALITY MODES |
Low settings in Alan Wake 2:
On low graphics settings, players can expect simpler textures and less detailed character and environment models. Shadows may be less realistic, and lighting and reflection effects may be simplified to improve performance. These settings are ideal for players with less powerful hardware who want consistent frame rates in exchange for visual quality.
Maximum settings in Alan Wake 2:
At maximum graphics settings, the game becomes visually immersive with high-quality textures, detailed models, and realistic lighting and reflection effects. Effects such as ray tracing can be enabled to create more realistic lighting and reflections in water and other surfaces. Higher levels of anthraaliasing and anisotropic filtering are also possible, resulting in sharper, more detailed images. These settings are ideal for players with more powerful hardware who want to enjoy the visual beauty of the game to the fullest.
DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) are performance and image quality enhancement technologies that can be used in games such as Alan Wake 2.
DLSS in Alan Wake 2:
DLSS, developed by NVIDIA, uses deep learning algorithms to improve image quality. In Alan Wake 2, DLSS can provide sharper and more detailed images, even at low resolutions. This can be especially useful during intense scenes with many objects and characters on screen, helping to maintain high performance without sacrificing image quality.
FSR in Alan Wake 2:
AMD's FSR, on the other hand, increases image resolution to improve performance. However, unlike DLSS, FSR may not be as good at enhancing the details of textures and objects in a scene. In Alan Wake 2, this may result in less detailed images, especially in fast-paced or dark scenes where detail may be important to the gaming experience.
Depending on which aspects of visual quality and performance are more important to a gamer, DLSS may be preferable for those who want better image quality and are willing to spend a little more on more powerful hardware, while FSR may be more suitable for those who seeks a balance between performance and image quality on less powerful hardware.
Ray tracing technology, also known as path tracing, accurately simulates light throughout a scene, which is commonly used by visual effects artists to create graphics in films and television that differ from reality. In Alan Wake 2, full ray tracing enhances the quality of ray tracing effects, creating transparent and opaque reflections that recreate their surroundings at full resolution, increasing immersion in the game.
| TEST PART |
| Test configuration | |
| Test benches |
ROG Strix X570-E Gaming Z490 AORUS PRO AX GIGABYTE Z590 VISION GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G GIGABYTE Z790 GAMING X AX MSI MPG Z790 Edge WiFi ASUS ROG Strix B650-A Gaming WiFi |
| Sponsored video cards |
MSI GEFORCE RTX 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24 GB ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4070 Ti OC ASUS TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XT 20G Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GAMING OC |
| Multimedia equipment |
Monitor Philips 326M6VJRMB/00 Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 power supply 16 GB DDR4 4600 CL19 Kingston FURY Renegade 32 GB DDR4 3600 CL16 Kingston FURY Renegade 32 GB DDR4 4000 CL18 Kingston FURY Renegade 32 GB DDR5 5600 CL40 KingstonFURY Beast 32 GB DDR5 6000@6400 CL30 KingstonFURY Renegade 32 GB DDR5 7200@7600 CL36 KingstonFURY Renegade Kingston FURY Renegade PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD MPG CORELIQUID K240 housing Case DeepCool CH510 WH SVO DeepCool LS720 WH |
| Software configuration |
|
| operating system | Windows 10 21H2/ Windows 11(Alder Lake) |
| Graphics driver |
Nvidia GeForce/ION Driver Release 545.92 WHQL AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 23.20.17.05 For Alan Wake 2 |
| Monitoring programs |
MSI Afterburner |
Our video cards were tested at resolutions of 1920x1080 , 2560x1440 and 3840x2160 with maximum graphics quality settings.
| GPU TEST |
In the video card test, the default resolution is 1920x1080; other resolutions are added and removed manually. You can also remove and add any positions of video cards. You can also select any of our test processors from the list in the drop-down menu, comparing its performance with the given video card tests (by default, the most productive solution is selected). The test is carried out on the most powerful CPU in this game and is scaled to other processors, taking into account their testing on NVIDIA and AMD video cards.
High
At a resolution of 1920x1080, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 6600 or GeForce RTX 2070 level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 6600 or GeForce RTX 2070 level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX 6800 or GeForce RTX 3070 solutions .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 6600 or GeForce RTX 2070 level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 6600 XT or GeForce RTX 2070 level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX 6800 XT or GeForce RTX 4070 solutions .
At a resolution of 3840x2160, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 6800 or GeForce RTX 3070 Ti level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 6800 or GeForce RTX 4070 level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX 6800 XT FSR or GeForce RTX 4070 Ti DLSS solutions .
RT
At a resolution of 1920x1080, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 6800 or GeForce RTX 3070 level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 6800 XT or GeForce RTX 2080 Ti level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by Radeon RX 7900 XTX FSR or GeForce RTX 4070 Ti solutions .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 7900 XT or GeForce RTX 3080 Ti level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX or GeForce RTX 3080 Ti level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by GeForce RTX 4070 Ti DLSS solutions .
RT
At a resolution of 3840x2160, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 7900 XT FSR or GeForce RTX 4080 level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX FSR or GeForce RTX 4070 DLSS level .
Path Tracing
At a resolution of 1920x1080, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 6800 XT FSR or GeForce RTX 2080 Ti DLSS level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the Radeon RX 6950 XT FSR or GeForce RTX 3080 Ti level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by GeForce RTX 4080 solutions .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX FSR or GeForce RTX 4070 Ti level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti level . . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by GeForce RTX 4080 DLSS solutions .
At a resolution of 3840x2160, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti DLSS level . . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the GeForce RTX 4080 DLSS level . .
Path Tracing + Frame Generation
At a resolution of 1920x1080, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by GeForce RTX 4070 solutions .
At a resolution of 2560x1440, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by GeForce RTX 4080 solutions .
At a resolution of 3840x2160, an average FPS of 25 frames was shown by video cards of the GeForce RTX 4070 DLSS level . A minimum FPS of at least 25 frames can be provided by video cards of the GeForce RTX 4070 DLSS level . A comfortable average FPS of 60 frames can be provided by GeForce RTX 4080 DLSS solutions .
| VIDEO MEMORY CONSUMPTION |
Testing of video memory consumed by the game was carried out by MSI Afterburner. The indicator was based on results on video cards from AMD and NVIDIA at resolutions of 1920x1080, 2560x1440 and 3840x2160 with various anti-aliasing settings. By default, the graph displays the most current solutions. Other video cards are added and removed from the chart at the request of the reader.
GameGPU
High
At a resolution of 1920x1080 , video memory consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 7 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 7 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 9 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 8 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440 , video memory consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 8 gigabytes, with 12 gigabytes 8 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 9 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 3840x2160 , video memory consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 8 gigabytes, with 12 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 11 gigabytes, with 24 gigabytes 11 gigabytes .
RT
At a resolution of 1920x1080 , video memory consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 8 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 11 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440 , video memory consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 8 gigabytes, with 12 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 13 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 3840x2160 , video memory consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 8 gigabytes, with 12 gigabytes 12 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 15 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 16 gigabytes .
Path Tracing
At a resolution of 1920x1080 , video memory consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 8 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 12 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440 , video memory consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 8 gigabytes, with 12 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 12 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 13 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 3840x2160 , video memory consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 8 gigabytes, with 12 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 14 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 16 gigabytes .
| CPU TEST |
Testing was carried out at a resolution of 1920x1080. In the processor test, you can remove or add any processor positions. You can also select any tested video card from the list in the drop-down menu, comparing its performance with the given processor test results (by default, the most productive solution from NVIDIA is selected). Testing takes place on the most powerful NVIDIA and AMD video cards and scales to low-end models.
High
When using NVIDIA video cards , Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and solutions at the Ryzen 3 3300 or Core i 3 10100 level can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
When using AM D video cards, Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and solutions at the Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 level can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
RT
When using NVIDIA video cards , Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and solutions at the Ryzen 3 3300 or Core i 3 10100 level can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
When using AM D video cards, Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and solutions at the Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 level can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
Path Tracing
When using NVIDIA video cards , Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and solutions at the Ryzen 3 3300 or Core i 3 10100 level can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
When using AM D video cards, Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and solutions at the Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 level can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
Path Tracing + Frame Generation
When using NVIDIA video cards , Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and solutions at the Ryzen 3 3300 or Core i 3 10100 level can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
When using AM D video cards, Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 processors showed an acceptable rate of at least 25 frames per second , and solutions at the Ryzen 3 3100 or Core i 3 10100 level can provide an FPS rate of at least 60 frames per second .
GameGPU
The game can load up to 12 streams. Maximum efficiency uses up to 8 threads.
| RAM TEST |
The test was carried out on the basic configuration of Core i 9 13900K with 32 GB DDR5 6400 MHz pre-installed memory. All used RAM was taken as an indicator. The RAM test for the entire system was carried out on various video cards without launching third-party applications (browsers, etc.). In the graphics, you can add and remove any resolutions and video cards as desired.
GameGPU
High
At a resolution of 1920x1080 , RAM consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 10 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 10 gigabytes, with 24 gigabytes 8 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440 , RAM consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 10 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 8 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 3840x2160 , RAM consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 12 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 10 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 8 gigabytes .
RT
At a resolution of 1920x1080 , RAM consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 8 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 11 gigabytes, with 24 gigabytes 11 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440 , RAM consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 12 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 8 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 3840x2160 , the RAM consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 18 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 12 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 8 gigabytes .
Path Tracing
At a resolution of 1920x1080 , RAM consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 11 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 11 gigabytes, with 24 gigabytes 8 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 2560x1440 , RAM consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 12 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 11 gigabytes , with 24 gigabytes 8 gigabytes .
At a resolution of 3840x2160 , RAM consumption for video cards with 8 gigabytes is 15 gigabytes , with 12 gigabytes 14 gigabytes , with 16 gigabytes 12 gigabytes, with 24 gigabytes 8 gigabytes .
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