Alan Wake 2is one of the most anticipated gaming releases of the year with a planned release date on the 27th of October. Its developer Remedy is known for pushing boundaries visually, especially on PC where users can pick and upgrade their way to a smoother and more visually pleasant experience. It therefore comes as no surprise that Alan Wake 2, which launches on Epic Games Store on October 27th, comes with beefed-up minimum requirements and a penchant for newer GPUs compared to most of their competitors.
Razer Blade 18 Gaming Laptop (RTX 4090)
Alan Wake II PC Hardware Requirements Explained
Alan Wake 2’s PC requirements, as detailed by Remedy Entertainment, have 7 distinct performance tiers. They require between 8 and 16GB of RAM and a GPU minimum of an Nvidia RTX 2000 or AMD RX 6000 series (6GB of GPU VRAM) to run. This is in addition to 90GB of storage that the developer specifies as SSD space necessary to run.
While the CPU and memory requirements remain relatively modest and the SSD requirements an expected move, the GPU requirements finally make last-generation AMD and Nvidia GPUs look aged, especially when looking at the Ray Tracing requirements. This could be a mix of Remedy aiming for a cutting-edge gaming experience for users, as well as a now-deleted tweet from one of its developers indicating that mesh shaders are part of the game’s tech stack. This would explain the exclusion of the older GTX series GPUs as well as AMD’s RX 5000 and older series GPUs.
Note: While the GTX 16XX series, which also uses the Turing architecture should in principle support this, the minimum spec chosen (the RTX 2060) is a performance tier above the highest-end 16XX series GPU, the GTX 1660TI. This makes it unfeasible to use older gaming PCs or Laptops that sport these when playing Alan Wake 2 as intended by the developer.
Alan Wake 2’s hardware requirements as detailed by Remedy Entertainment via their official X/Twitter account.
The Best Gaming Laptops For Alan Wake 2
MSI Katana 15 15.6" 144Hz FHD Gaming Laptop
The MSI Katana is an excellent budget-centric high-end gaming laptop that outperforms most of the high-end laptops in its price bracket while maintaining an efficient, value-for-money approach to offer the latest and greatest in PC hardware to its audience.
Target Performance Preset:High/Ultra Graphics or Medium w/low Ray Tracing Graphics
The MSI Katana 15 15.6" 144Hz FHD Gaming Laptop is a balanced, well-built gaming laptop that skips on some of the features that more premium models have, while throwing in a very respectable 10-core Intel Core i7 mobile CPU in addition to a powerful RTX 4070 GPU. This, coupled with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD allows the Katana to sit comfortably between the RTX 3070 and RTX 4070 desktop requirements for Alan Wake 2 (accounting for thermal and power restrictions for the GPU).
In addition to this, the Katana also comes bundled with a free copy of Alan Wake as part of Nvidia’s ongoing promotion for RTX 4070 or higher gaming laptops. It benefits from having support for both Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6E, but does make compromises to get to the price point it currently sits at, as mentioned earlier. It uses a low-end webcam restricted to a 720P resolution, has a somewhat disappointing battery life, and an entry-level display with limitations in terms of color as well as resolution, with competing alternatives going with a 2K resolution on average.
MSI Raider GE78 HX 17.3 Gaming Laptop
The MSI Raider GE78 HX 17.3-inch Gaming Laptop is one of the best all-around RTX 4090 PCs players can currently grab with the top-of-the-line Intel Core i9 processor, the RTX 4090. It also has an excellent display coupled with plenty of RAM and SSD space.
Target Performance Preset:Ultra Graphics or High Ray Tracing With Path Tracing Graphics
The MSI Raider GE78 HX 17.3' Gaming Laptop is packed with features and hardware that hold its own with ease, even versus some of its much more expensive alternatives that clock in close to $5,000. It houses an RTX 4090 16GB along with a 24 Core Intel Core i9 CPU that all but allows it to dominate the field of gaming laptops for its price point. It also offers a full networking stack, with 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6E, and BT 5.3 support out of the box.
On the display side, the Raider continues to impress with an excellent QHD 240Hz display that allows users to play Alan Wake 2 in both a quality or a performance preset while benefiting from DLSS3.5’s performance. As with most of the gaming laptops handpicked by GameRant, it also comes with a free copy of Alan Wake itself, saving gamers the $50 it costs on the Epic Games Store in the process.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 14”165Hz Gaming Laptop (RTX 4070)
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 14”165Hz Gaming Laptop is one of the most well-respected compact gaming laptops in the business, throwing in impressive CPU and GPU combinations in a tight form factor while exacting a significant amount of performance out of them.With an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS and an Nvidia RTX 4070 in tow, the G14 comes equipped to take on games at its target display resolution of 2K with a refresh rate of 165Hz which offers an IPS panel and up to 500 nits of brightness as part of its feature set.
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 14-inch 165Hz Gaming Laptop ticks a lot of boxes with its powerful 8-Core Zen-4 based Ryzen 9 CPU and an RTX 4070 GPU. Its 2K 165Hz display is one of the brighter ones on offer, clocking in a full 500 nits in addition to 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCI-E 4.0 SSD in play. This, along with a dedicated MUX switch to allow for more performance and an above-average battery size for its form factor, builds up the G14 to be a formidable alternative to its more mainstream gaming laptop alternatives.
Its core strength however lies in how it bundles all of the above in a compact 14-inch chassis that weighs less than 4 pounds, making it one of the lightest and most powerful gaming laptops available to end users currently looking to game on the go.
ASUS ROG Strix G17 (2023) Gaming Laptop
Target Performance Preset:Ultra Graphics or Medium w/low Ray Tracing Graphics
For users looking for a more premium RTX 4070-based gaming laptop, the ASUS ROG Strix G17 (2023) Gaming Laptop does qualify as an excellent gaming laptop compared to some of its more inexpensive alternatives. It does deliver the goods, however, using a more efficient but powerful Ryzen 9 CPU versus its Intel-based competition, while throwing in the requisite memory and storage for gamers looking to hit the ground running.
This gaming laptop also allows the players to push higher than some of the more compact or thermally restrictive alternatives, thanks to its use of liquid metal to manage temperatures in addition to excellent and less audible air cooling. Apart from the glaring price difference that is in play as a fair exchange for the display and keyboard upgrade, other notable distinctions include the fact that the Strix G17 does have a lot of software that needs to be updated, some of which might delay users from playing Alan Wake 2 on release day.
Acer Nitro 17 Gaming Laptop AN17-41-R7G3
The Acer Nitro 17 Gaming Laptop is a large 17-inch gaming laptop powered by an efficient, but potent octa-core AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and Nvidia’s mid-range RTX 4060 GPU. The display features Quad HD resolution and a high 165 Hz refresh rate for fast-paced gaming. That is all topped up with a large 1TB SSD and 16 GB of DDR5 memory, making it an ideal desktop replacement for those looking to grab one.
Target Performance Preset:Medium/High Graphics or Medium w/low Ray Tracing Graphics
The Acer Nitro 17 Gaming Laptop (AN17-41-R7G3) is an excellent gaming laptop that allows gamers to benefit from some of the latest hardware on offer without breaking the bank, costing just north of $1100 for gamers on a budget. This makes it an excellent budget gaming laptop that can handle the needs of Alan Wake 2’s performance requirements fairly easily, even if it will see some degree of limitation as a result of the game being exceptionally GPU-bound based on its spec sheet.
It bundles a capable Ryzen 7 Zen 4-based CPU along with an RTX 4060 that should allow it to handle Alan Wake 2 with relative ease. However, it will struggle at the highest fidelity based on Remedy’s guidelines and also does not qualify for a free copy of Alan Wake 2, the only laptop to not do so from Game Rant’s selections for the title. This makes what is otherwise an excellent bargain into one that is somewhat less cost-effective, but still significantly better than other options in its price range.
The Razer Blade 18 Gaming Laptop is a laptop that pushes the boundaries of what people can genuinely call a gaming laptop (but in a good way). Razer has no qualms about it, calling it the ultimate desktop replacement with a feature-packed offering that also comes with some of the most premium pricing on the market.
If users are out for performance, the RTX 4090-based Razer Blade 18 Gaming Laptop delivers on all counts in addition to looks. The Blade 18 is one of the largest gaming laptops in play currently, but still happens to do so while limiting itself to under 7 pounds in weight. While this doesn’t make it one of the most portable options out there, it does put it head and shoulders above some of its heavier alternatives, especially as it packs an impressive amount of tech under the hood.
Paired to the RTX 4090 is a 24-core Intel Core i9 13950HX, 32GB of fast DDR5 memory, 2 TB of SSD storage in RAID-0 configuration, and an excellent 2K 240Hz display. The Blade also qualifies for Nvidia’s bundle offer, throwing in a free copy of Alan Wake along with what is essentially the priciest gaming laptop on the list that can play Alan Wake 2 in all its glory, thanks to its mobile GPU being a lower clocked desktop RTX 4080.
Alan Wake2releases on October 27 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
FAQ
Q: When does Alan Wake 2 Release?
Alan Wake2 releases on October 27 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Q: Why Does Alan Wake 2 Need A High-End GPU?
Alan Wake 2does have beefier requirements, even at the entry-level segment for the GPU, according to the studio, Remedy Entertainment. The main gameplay of Alan Wake 2 is expected to once again rely on Wake’s powerful flashlight in a darkened town, meaning that the game requires fairly recent mesh shaders found in the RTX 2000 series/RX 6000 series or higher, as it implements Ray Tracing at different performance tiers for enthusiast PC gamers.
