Alan Wake 2 Performance Benchmark

[W1zzard]

Alan Wake 2 is out soon, with incredible graphics, but demanding hardware requirements, too. There's forced DLSS/FSR, but we show you how to tweak the config files to get native back. In our performance review, we're taking a closer look at image quality, VRAM usage, and performance on a wide selection of modern graphics cards.

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[W1zzard]

Will add performance results for more cards throughout the day.

 

[scope54]

FYI article says there is no driver for AMD but there is a driver here: https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-23-20-17-05-alan-wake-2

 

[jarebear603]

Is it me or does ray reconstruction remove shadows, if you look at the image with the chain fence there is absolutely no shadow from it like in the raster image. Not sure if that's because the raster is wrong at adding the shadows or the PT isn't working correctly.

Even in the dlss and fsr comparison, if you look at the shadows from the power lines and telephone pole on the left brick building, the PT version shadows seem to disappear vs the raster version.


Path tracing is actually broken in this game and removes a ton of shadows, look at dsogsmings article, he mentions it completely removes a ton of shadow.

 

[SCP-001]

Thanks for the review and guide! But the fact that the game basically forces you to use an upscaler is appalling imo. I thought these technologies were suppose to help a card last longer, not become a crutch.

 

[theouto]

Game runs way better than expected, and those low settings look insanely good for the performance bump they offer, I am pleased to see it be this good! Considering that remedy reeeeeally wanted to make a game that looked insane and would last for a long while at max settings, I mean, the ground cover is insane.

I also wonder if the performance on amd cards is due to the lack of drivers (someone mentioned that there are alan wake 2 drivers, but w1zz mentioned no drivers, so maybe he didn't have em)

EDIT: Just realized that upscaling is forced, nah that's ass, that sucks, why the hell man, nah

 

[Guwapo77]

In this particular game Path Tracing greatly enhances the visuals and I really like what I see when activated. Sadly, we are looking at another two to three GPU generations before it becomes something we can use with minimal performance hit. I did have a question... The room with the single source lighting and the chain-linked fence, which was rendered correctly when it came to the fence's shadow - path tracing or ray tracing? All other screen shots was Path tracing > Ray tracing.

 

[john_]

Interesting numbers. This is obviously an RTX 4000 series game. Optimized for that series alone where Frame Generation is a necessity. The VRAM requirements can also be linked to the need for a new RTX 4080 with 20GB or VRAM. At 4K and max settings, those 16GBs of RTX 4080, are barely enough.

I also wonder if the performance on amd cards is due to the lack of drivers

Just heavily optimized for RTX 4000 as Starfiled is heavily optimized for RX 7000.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

I'm starting to feel like the conclusions are largely based on a 4090 owners opinion.

When most will be using a 3060 at best.

Yes more than one card is tested.

I'm talking about the end conclusion and general perspective sounding like a guy who didn't try much game time on anything like what 98% will be using.

 

[Guwapo77]

I'm starting to feel like the conclusions are largely based on a 4090 owners opinion.

When most will be using a 3060 at best.

Yes more than one card is tested.

I'm talking about the end conclusion and general perspective sounding like a guy who didn't try much game time on anything like what 98% will be using.

3060 is entry level and those who bought it should understand that. Reviews aren't conducted on the lowest common denominator and I hope that doesn't become the norm. However, I have stumbled across a few reviewers who focus on entry level hardware on YouTube.

 

[Vya Domus]

This is obviously an RTX 4000 series game.

Applies only to cards with sufficient VRAM apparently, lol a 4070ti is sometimes slower than a 16GB 4060ti because it's running out of VRAM.

 

[clopezi]

I suggest a new category: RT full + PT full + DLSS full or FSR full.

I think most gamers with a high-end PC, play everything to the max.

Knowing how the game performs in rasterization or RT is certainly interesting, but benchmarks lose importance if they don't reflect how users will play the game...

 

[Dragokar]

They got one plus from me, they use their own engine. Everything else is just a no-go for me.

 

[izy]

Well , we need RTX 4080 for 1080p max settings with RT and stuff

 

[Prior]

I wonder if the rtx 2060 hits more then 30 fps on 1080p in this benchmark ...

 

[cowcatwithahat]

The second image from the image quality comparison blew me away.
The patch tracing version in that scene is astonishing. Wow!

 

[izy]

The second image from the image quality comparison blew me away.
The patch tracing version in that scene is astonishing. Wow!

Did you compare with the Max settings picture ? Look at the lights in right middle of the picture , they are broken compared with the simple RT.

 

[3DVCash]

Applies only to cards with sufficient VRAM apparently, lol a 4070ti is sometimes slower than a 16GB 4060ti because it's running out of VRAM.

Odd that the AMD cards don't seem to choke quite as badly. 6700XT > 4070 Ti?

 

[penicheiro]

First page, last paragraph mentions another game, Lords of the Fallen. Copy paste much?

 

[HD64G]

VRAM capacity saves the day with RT on for some of the Radeon GPUs.

 

[Denver]

Odd that the AMD cards don't seem to choke quite as badly. 6700XT > 4070 Ti?

Probably the effect of VRAM being saturated, and the 3D cache factor.

"Alan Wake forces you to enable either DLSS or FSR. A native rendering option is not available!"

Automatically, it forces me to not want to play.

 

[izy]

Probably the effect of VRAM being saturated, and the 3D cache factor.

"Alan Wake forces you to enable either DLSS or FSR. A native rendering option is not available!"

Automatically, it forces me to not want to play.

You can use DLAA i think.

 

[theouto]

You can use DLAA i think.

That may be native, but it still uses the upscaling bit that may cause image instability (though it has improved in recent years). In my case as an AMD user, I'd be stuck with FSR 2.2 AA, which is ridiculously heavy while still suffering the weaknesses of FSR, so I don't get the stability of native, and probably worse performance (though this depends on the AA solution). I imagine it's why people may also opt to not use DLAA, but I don't know enough of DLAA to be sure.

 

[Crackong]

This is obviously an RTX 4000 series game.

More like a RTX 4090 exclusive

 

[Vayra86]

Is it me or does ray reconstruction remove shadows, if you look at the image with the chain fence there is absolutely no shadow from it like in the raster image. Not sure if that's because the raster is wrong at adding the shadows or the PT isn't working correctly.

Even in the dlss and fsr comparison, if you look at the shadows from the power lines and telephone pole on the left brick building, the PT version shadows seem to disappear vs the raster version.


Path tracing is actually broken in this game and removes a ton of shadows, look at dsogsmings article, he mentions it completely removes a ton of shadow.

Had the same impression.

There are also instances where path tracing adds a shadow, but that only happens ON objects: in the first screenshot for example the sign by the road and the sign in front of the house.

When the object that shadow needs casting on is further away, Path tracing seems to fade it away. Gimmicky indeed. Also, Maximum vs Path tracing? I wouldn't care one bit, maximum every day of the week given the perf benefit.

RT: the problem looking for solutions we already had.