How well is GTA4 running for you?

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emp

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I haven't really followed this game (Not that big of a GTA fan), but apparently there are reports over the internet of the game running horribly slow (think 10-20fps on top hardware). I'm asking anyone who took one for the team and bought this game to tell me how does it run. I really don't want to have a 30-fps-consolesque experience on my PC.
 

M3d

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If my local best buy would get their sh*t together and find the 8 missing GTA4 PC copies they say they have in stock I would tell you how it runs on a 4850.
 

JeanLuc

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From what I've read there are issues with Radeon 4XXX cards, on 3XXX card the game works fine at medium/high settings (so long as you max out the draw distance) and on Nivida cards GTA4 runs well except for the GX2.

One reoccurring theme has been very bad performance on the 4870X2 and the 9800GX2 so it's reasonable to assume there are SLI and Crossfire issues to sort out.
 

cappster

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While running the benchmark, I average 30fps on medium/high settings @1680x1050 on a oc'ed 3870 and an e6400 @2.9. While playing the game, there is lag and some of the cut scenes have horizontal lines from the choppiness. Overall, performance is not very good.
 

M3d

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I hope this is true and there will be a fix for this. The game looks and runs Terrible at medium settings at any resolution at and below 1680x1050.
I was waiting all year for this game so it's very disappointing. If there is a problem with the 4xxx series once it's fixed hopefully this game scales well with crossfire so I can pick up an extra 4850.
 

cappster

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I would say that you are going to be in for a slideshow at the moment.
 

psymanproductions

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i have it running on my system;

athlonx2 5600+

hd4850

2gig ram

xp pro x86

and it runs like ****. the cpu is the bottle neck, i get 23 fps at 800x600 and lowest settings and 22 fps at 1024x768 and medium/high settings. seems like a very cpu intensive game.... also it fille my page file up past 2 gig, i have a lot of background proceses nibbling at my ram but daym!
 

JeanLuc

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What draw distance have you got the game set to?
 

JeanLuc

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You guys might want to read this


THE GRAPHIC SETTINGS OF GRAND THEFT AUTO IV PC

Most users using current PC hardware as of December 2008 are advised to use medium graphics settings. Higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available.

Graphics settings are limited by system resources by default. 256MB video cards force minimum settings by default. If a user bypasses these safety measures using command line arguments and exceeds their system resources, the users gaming experience may be compromised.


Video Mode
Resolution scaling effects water, reflections, shadows, mirrors and the visible viewable distance. The resolution settings relate to the amount of available video memory. At 2560*1600 the game will require 320MB of video memory in addition to all the memory required for content. At 800*600 the game will require 32MB of video memory in addition to the content. Medium resolution settings are recommended for most users as higher settings are only usable if there is available video memory.

Texture Quality
Texture quality affects the visual quality of the content of the game. High setting for textures will require 600MB of video memory at a setting of 21 View Distance in addition to the memory taken by the Video Mode. A medium texture setting is recommended for most users.

Render Quality
Render quality is the texture filter quality used on most things in the world rendering. Most people would know this as anisotropic filtering. Medium settings are recommended for most users and will provide filtering beyond what the console versions can execute.

View Distance
View distance scales the distance in which different objects in the world such as building and cars are seen. Raising this option increases the distance in which high quality objects must be loaded and will increase the memory it requires. Restrictions are established to ensure the game runs optimally for most users. A setting of 22 or more will provide PC users an enhanced experience over the console versions.

Detail Distance
Detail distance scales aspects of the environment that the View Distance setting does not including vegetation, trash and other moveable objects. A setting of 10 would be the equivalent to the performance on a console. This setting has little effect on memory.

Vehicle Density
Vehicle density scales the traffic density of the traffic in the game. It has no effect on the mission vehicles or difficultly of the game, but can have a significant impact on CPU performance

Shadow Density
Shadow Density controls the number of shadows generated for positional lights in exterior environments. These shadows are exclusive to the PC version and can have a major impact on CPU and GPU performance.

Crossfire/SLI
With the latest ATI driver (8-11 series) the game supports crossfire modes (ie. 4870x2)
SLI is currently unsupported. Support will be added through a future game patch as well as an updated Nvidia driver.


NOTE: Background Processes
Certain background processes can have a detrimental effect on system performance when playing GTA IV, especially on systems with minimum required system memory. Users should ensure they disable their Virus scans when running the game to maximize performance


I found it here - http://forums.slizone.com/index.php?showtopic=30840
 

mi1ez

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Blimey!

Looks like they did actually put a bit of thought into the port. (That should be a campaign name!)

Does it pay off? what do you guys think of the graphics? I was apalled by the 360 version...
 

vochtige

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one thing to say: everybody complained about the bad graphics of the older games. bacause they had to be playable on the console (ps2)

now gta4 is the total opposite. almost nobody can play it on high settings?
 

llama_man

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I've got a Q9550, 8Gb Ram, 4870 1Gb. It defaulted to medium settings at 1280 resolution for me. I've got a CRT, so I reduced the resolution a notch and upped the detail and draw distance. Runs fine so far.
 

keither5150

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It ran great at default settings. As soon as I turned up the settings and benchmarked it, it crashed. It has not loaded since. I see that this is a common problem and perhaps Net framework 3.5 might solve some of the issues. I will try this this afternoon. I am thinking that a driver update will fix the problems...... hurry up ATI...... In the meantime I will kill some zombies.

It does look much better than the xbox 360 version. (which I sold because I can't get used to the controller with FPS's).
 

crusoe74

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The game won't even install on my machine. :fou:

Says that my machine isn't compatible with '%P' whatever that is. If they mean XP, they're right. I've got Vista.

Any other Vista users having problems?

 

keither5150

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Net Framework 3.5 seems to have fixed my problems.
I used the in game benchmark to get 39.96 fps with the following default settings.



1680x1050
High
High
view distance of 32
detail @ 65

It runs smooth and looks great.

Fraps says I get about 34fps average with a low of 24 and a high of 54

My system is E8400 @4.0 ,4 gigs of ddr3 10666, Hd 4870 X2, Samsung T260 1080P, P5E3 deluxe MB, Antec P190 case, bose Companion 5 speakers Vista 32

It is a great day when I can play GTA4 with a mouse. The PC version slays the Xbox 360 version.
 

pr2thej

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Blimey. I thought about picking this up over the weekend but i didnt realise the issues were this bad.
Nice article on the amount of GPU usage per graphical variable, would be nice to see that for more games.
 

cappster

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I installed a 4850 (680/1050) and it didn't make any difference over my 3870 as far as FPS. I believe my cpu is holding me back (e6400@2.8). This game really is CPU intensive.
 

ovaltineplease

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By most accounts, it sounds like GTA4 PC is a total f-ing lemon

I haven't tried it yet but i'm glad I didn't pre-order, would've been disastrous.

Everything i've read states its flakey and poor performance, I guess after making a hundred zillion dollars on the console version ( highest grossing stand alone non-mmo video game ever ) I guess they didn't care too much.

I've actually heard it doesn't perform great on consoles either.
 

cappster

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I installed catalyst 8.12 and improved my average FPS by 5. I was averaging 29 fps now I am getting 34 fps at the following settings:

GTA4benchmark812catsstockspeed.jpg


 
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