Best gaming PC for Alan Wake II (2026)
Choose a PC tier based on the resolution and frame rate you want for Alan Wake II. We cover four tiers below.
What Alan Wake II actually demands from your PC
Steam's recommended spec for Alan Wake II is unspecified with —GB RAM and a mid-range CPU. That spec was written for the Epic Games Publishing team's internal "minimum acceptable" target, not for a buyer in 2026 planning to keep this PC for the next four years.
What makes Alan Wake II more demanding than its spec sheet suggests: ray traced visuals. We've factored this into the tier picks above.
GPU-bound title: Framerate scales directly with GPU power. If you have a fixed budget, prioritise the graphics card and accept a mid-range CPU.
What you can skip vs what matters
- Worth spending on: GPU first, then a fast NVMe SSD (most modern games benefit from sub-3000MB/s sustained reads), then RAM at the tier amount.
- Worth skipping at this budget: RGB lighting, exotic cooling, brand-name PSUs above 850W (unless you're building enthusiast tier), and motherboards with more than 4 M.2 slots.
- Don't compromise on: The PSU. A reliable 750W gold-rated unit will outlast two GPU upgrades.
Frequently asked questions
- What's the cheapest PC that can run Alan Wake II?
- Most modern entry-level gaming PCs (around £700–£800) will run Alan Wake II at 1080p.
- Is Alan Wake II CPU-heavy or GPU-heavy?
- Alan Wake II is primarily GPU-bound. Prioritise the graphics card; a mid-range CPU like the Ryzen 5 7600 will keep up at 1080p/60.
- Do I need ray tracing for Alan Wake II?
- Alan Wake II looks dramatically better with ray tracing enabled. A 4070 Super or above is the sensible minimum for RT at 1440p.
- How much RAM do I need?
- For Alan Wake II, 32GB is the sensible answer in 2026. 16GB still works for the budget tier but limits future-proofing.