an my pc run the game?

[Jacefied]

My pc has a Ryzen 3 3100, GTX 1650 Super, and 16GB ram

[fujikawa17]

I think you may have some issues running it based on your specs unfortunately. I found that I needed a 6 core processor, a GPU with at least 8 gigs(GTX 1070 minimum) and 32GB of DDR4 3200 RAM to run it decently(faster RAM matters with this game). You may be able to run it on low settings but i think you would likely still end up in reprojection most of the time, resulting in low FPS. When it first released it could run decently on less, but an update somewhere along the way changed that for most users.

[Bobermeister]

Originally posted by Jacefied:

My pc has a Ryzen 3 3100, GTX 1650 Super, and 16GB ram

You will lag a lot in some areas, but most areas should run fine. I lagged in 4 areas with my ryzen 5800x and 3080

[wrOngplanet]

So this is no guarantee it'll work on your system, but:
https://youtu.be/zlCYrimGYZA?t=248

HL:A minimum is stated as 6 GB VRAM, and the GTX 1650 have 4...

I don't know what if any tweaks that guy has done. There are ppl with 3080s that have issues (most probably don't, but it can happen - just do a search for stutter etc here in the forum). Looks like he set low fidelity level, and I'm guessing also textures to low. Plus probably a few other tweaks like launch options to fix the resolution scaling etc, and maybe turn off that spectator window.

Idk what headset you have, he used an Oculus Quest, I assume Quest 1 (which is what I got btw). You may need to play with SteamVR render scale etc.

Also, you don't have to have DDR4 3200 RAM. Ofc it doesn't hurt, but not necessary. You don't need 32 GB RAM either, 16 should be enough (12 is stated as minimum for HL:A). I have 32 GB DDR3 2133 MHz RAM, and I play it just fine for the most part. I use GTX 1080 Ti.

CPU wise you should be fine I think. I have an old i7-4790 and appearantly that is a tad weaker than yours, but pretty similar from what I get.

[fujikawa17]

Originally posted by wrOngplanet:

So this is no guarantee it'll work on your system, but:
https://youtu.be/zlCYrimGYZA?t=248

HL:A minimum is stated as 6 GB VRAM, and the GTX 1650 have 4...

I don't know what if any tweaks that guy has done. There are ppl with 3080s that have issues (most probably don't, but it can happen - just do a search for stutter etc here in the forum). Looks like he set low fidelity level, and I'm guessing also textures to low. Plus probably a few other tweaks like launch options to fix the resolution scaling etc, and maybe turn off that spectator window.

Idk what headset you have, he used an Oculus Quest, I assume Quest 1 (which is what I got btw). You may need to play with SteamVR render scale etc.

Also, you don't have to have DDR4 3200 RAM. Ofc it doesn't hurt, but not necessary. You don't need 32 GB RAM either, 16 should be enough (12 is stated as minimum for HL:A). I have 32 GB DDR3 2133 MHz RAM, and I play it just fine for the most part. I use GTX 1080 Ti.

CPU wise you should be fine I think. I have an old i7-4790 and appearantly that is a tad weaker than yours, but pretty similar from what I get.

I may not have clarified. I ran the game fine on a GTX 970 and 16 GB of Ram at first but something changed in 2020(some have speculated that it was an asset/object update). After that the store page system requirements don't seem to be correct for many users(leading to many confused reports of stuttering that wasn't originally there). I really do think more ram than 16 is needed now(willing to be wrong on the ram speed question). That said if it runs good for some people on less than great for them. I don't think it will however looking at the reports i am seeing in these forums and elsewhere. Things didn't pick up for me until I upgraded. Granted I went ahead and did CPU/GPU and Ram just to be safe and since I was due for a new PC anyway. I really think it came down to CPU and RAM that killed the stutter(although the new GPU didn't hurt I am sure). That said, with only 4 gigs on his card, this game will eat up system Ram pretty quick even on low settings.

[wrOngplanet]

Originally posted by fujikawa17:

I may not have clarified. I ran the game fine on a GTX 970...

The 970. Guessing that was your problem. I had the same card btw, still have it in my backup PC. Never played HL:A with it tho.

The issue with 970 is it's beyond stupid RAM management. It has 4GB but only 3.5 GB of them have fast access, and the remaining 0.5 GB is slower. Just search for "gtx 970 3.5 gb problem" or similar.

The guy in the video linked above claims to have 16 GB as well btw.


EDIT:
Not saying something didn't change in 2020 btw. (as you ran it fine in the beginning)..

[fujikawa17]

I agree that the 970 wasn't helping(but again, it ran fine originally for a year at least). After whatever happened(I still suspect an update, but I admit I don't know what it was) I couldn't even run low settings without stutter until i upgraded. Users with way better cards than me were reporting the same thing.

That said, he is overclocking the 1650. I never OC my GPU, it is too tricky to get a decent stable configuration most of the time. He has the memory OC'd at +750 if I am seeing that right, and the core clock is at +175. If he is a good overclocker who knows how to get a stable config than that would help quite a bit. My answer to OP assumes stock parts/no OC.

Still surprised that he is running it smoothly on 16 gb. I wonder if his stutter would even show up in captured video. When i capture using OBS, it uses the desktop video. When I had the stutter issue, I remember that desktop view still ran buttery smooth according to captured videos. Possible he is just suffering through the low framerates. Although more power to him if it works for him.

[Jacefied]

Originally posted by wrOngplanet:

So this is no guarantee it'll work on your system, but:
https://youtu.be/zlCYrimGYZA?t=248

HL:A minimum is stated as 6 GB VRAM, and the GTX 1650 have 4...

I don't know what if any tweaks that guy has done. There are ppl with 3080s that have issues (most probably don't, but it can happen - just do a search for stutter etc here in the forum). Looks like he set low fidelity level, and I'm guessing also textures to low. Plus probably a few other tweaks like launch options to fix the resolution scaling etc, and maybe turn off that spectator window.

Idk what headset you have, he used an Oculus Quest, I assume Quest 1 (which is what I got btw). You may need to play with SteamVR render scale etc.

Also, you don't have to have DDR4 3200 RAM. Ofc it doesn't hurt, but not necessary. You don't need 32 GB RAM either, 16 should be enough (12 is stated as minimum for HL:A). I have 32 GB DDR3 2133 MHz RAM, and I play it just fine for the most part. I use GTX 1080 Ti.

CPU wise you should be fine I think. I have an old i7-4790 and appearantly that is a tad weaker than yours, but pretty similar from what I get.

Hey, thank you for this answer. BTW i was able to run it on low fidelity with no stutters, the only time I had any stutters was when i was outside

[wrOngplanet]

Originally posted by Jacefied:

Hey, thank you for this answer. BTW i was able to run it on low fidelity with no stutters, the only time I had any stutters was when i was outside

Nice!

Do you use some launch options as well?

Here's a few (I've yet to find a nice list of these somewhere, this is a mess also)
-nowindow turns off the spectator window on the 2D display, which can help performance
- novid skips the intro video (doesn't help with performance, but game starts quicker)

and these are the ones I use atm, as an example:
-novid +vr_fidelity_level_auto 0 +vr_fidelity_level 3 +sv_gameinstructor_disable 1 +hlvr_continuous_normal_speed 130 +hlvr_continuous_combat_speed 150

Which in short turns off dynamic resolution scaling and sets fidelity to 3, plus a few other tidbits like somewhat faster normal walking and combat walking.

It might not be ideal to fix the dynamic resolution scaling in all instances (maybe if you're very low spec). I just found this great writeup:
https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/jgxdn5/half_life_alyx_wireless_configure_dynamic/

[Jacefied]

Originally posted by wrOngplanet:

Originally posted by Jacefied:

Hey, thank you for this answer. BTW i was able to run it on low fidelity with no stutters, the only time I had any stutters was when i was outside

Nice!

Do you use some launch options as well?

Here's a few (I've yet to find a nice list of these somewhere, this is a mess also)
-nowindow turns off the spectator window on the 2D display, which can help performance
- novid skips the intro video (doesn't help with performance, but game starts quicker)

and these are the ones I use atm, as an example:
-novid +vr_fidelity_level_auto 0 +vr_fidelity_level 3 +sv_gameinstructor_disable 1 +hlvr_continuous_normal_speed 130 +hlvr_continuous_combat_speed 150

Which in short turns off dynamic resolution scaling and sets fidelity to 3, plus a few other tidbits like somewhat faster normal walking and combat walking.

It might not be ideal to fix the dynamic resolution scaling in all instances (maybe if you're very low spec). I just found this great writeup:
https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/jgxdn5/half_life_alyx_wireless_configure_dynamic/

Thank you! i'll be sure to check them out, but can you please provide me with the links to "Nowindow" and 'Novid" since i can't seem to find them?

[wrOngplanet]

Originally posted by Jacefied:

Thank you! i'll be sure to check them out, but can you please provide me with the links to "Nowindow" and 'Novid" since i can't seem to find them?

Yeah me neither, kinda. Just bits and pieces from wading through this forum, the Guide section and some web searches. As I got a bit interested in this, somewhat ironically after completing 2 playthroughs in the last two months. And sort of begun a 3rd.

(I was a bit stressed for time earlier, so probably skipped some details. Figured it was better to post something than nothing).

This might not be the exact answer you are looking for, but lots of info and still kinda messy presented I'm afraid

Btw it's "-nowindow", and "-novid". Without the quotes. The minus sign is important. You set this in the game's Launch Options from the game properties window in your Steam library. It's all just on one line, separated by spaces.


Here's some tips from the Guide section:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2041609017

According to user phobos2077 there's no "vr_render_scale" launch option. Idk, but it makes sense since there's the "vr_fidelity_level" option.
He also comes with this tip:
+vr_msaa 2 - this will improve performance at very minimal visual difference (note this gets reset if you use vr_fidelity_level command while in game)


Here's a great article how HL:A's different settings work:
https://petrakeas.medium.com/half-life-alyx-performance-analysis-or-why-low-graphic-settings-produce-a-sharper-image-4d17fb8c19bb

This also explains the value for "+vr_fidelity_level 3" etc, which goes from 0 (65% render resolution) to 8 (200%). 3 is 100%. It's relative to the setting in SteamVR's resolution.


GMOLargey made an excellent post for fixing stutters (mainly for Oculus) with explanation about what happens and why, on reddit. Might be worth a read, especially if you have stutters (it seems you don't, but figured I mention it, and does contain some tips):
https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/uwnnvq/2_years_later_ive_fixed_it_nobody_breath_nobody/


Later I found the link in the above post, I'll post it here again for completion:
https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/jgxdn5/half_life_alyx_wireless_configure_dynamic/

But maybe that was overkill and just confusing? (idk). I haven't meddled with this yet myself btw (lots of stuff I haven't tried). You probably won't need to mess with this (up to you ofc).


For a faster game start put it on an SSD if you can (not directly performance related but still nice)


There's also optimizations you can do with Windows. Like setting power options to performance, debloating it, etc.

In particular I've removed "Virtualization based security" in Windows, which can cause performance issues with some older CPU's. IIRC somewhere around 10-15%, which is a lot really. Ofc, do at your own risk and all that.. this could be a long(er) post, but at least there's some keywords to search for if you are interested.