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Alan Wake 2's Saga Anderson

Does Alan Wake 2 Run on Lower Spec PCs/Unsupported Graphics Cards?

Alan Wake 2 is finally here, thirteen years after the original game. But if you’re on a PC you might be put off by the high minimum specs and wondering if Alan Wake 2 can run on lower spec PCs or unsupported graphics cards? I’ve got the answer.

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Here’s How Alan Wake 2 Runs on Older PC and Graphics Cards

The good news is that Alan Wake 2 will run respectably well on older machines, as long as you’re prepared to dial the resolution and graphics detail down.

How far down? That depends on your PC. I managed to get the game running on a 3GB GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card by manually putting every quality setting to low and then slowly upping them until I was happy with the way the game ran. One of the best tweaks is to lower is the render resolution to below 960 x 540. You can go lower, but there’s a balance between performance and potato mode.

As spotted by PCGamesN, YouTuber Daniel Owen dove into this subject and his video is well worth a watch if you want to play Alan Wake 2 on your aging PC.

However, you may run into problems. Wandering around indoor locations I was fine but on my PC I found that the forest went a little weird. Saga appeared to be wading through textures, as you can see below. It didn’t stop me playing the game but it was offputting.

Running Alan Wake 2 on lower spec machines or unsupported graphics cards can cause significant graphical issues, as seen here.

Was this Remedy’s fault? No. Unlike Starfield, Alan Wake 2 actually told me that I had insufficient video memory and there could be problems.

Speaking of Starfield, while that game juddered badly on a hard drive, Alan Wake 2 did run off my hard drive without any in-game jerkiness. Loading times were slow, though, which is why I eventually moved it to an SSD.

So, the answer to does Alan Wake 2 run on lower spec PCs or unsupported graphics cards is yes, but there’s a likelihood you will run into graphical glitches.

KEEP READING: How to Fix Alan Wake 2 Audio Issues for PC & Consoles


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Image of Chris McMullen
Chris McMullen
Chris McMullen is a freelance contributor at The Escapist and has been with the site since 2020. He returned to writing about games following several career changes, with his most recent stint lasting five-plus years. He hopes that, through his writing work, he settles the karmic debt he incurred by persuading his parents to buy a Mega CD. Outside of The Escapist, Chris covers news and more for GameSpew. He's also been published at such sites as VG247, Space, and more. His tastes run to horror, the post-apocalyptic, and beyond, though he'll tackle most things that aren't exclusively sports-based. At Escapist, he's covered such games as Infinite Craft, Lies of P, Starfield, and numerous other major titles.