GTA IV and Fermi problem

[cmasupra]

Hi guys. I have a problem when playing GTA IV. I have installed the game on 3 desktops.

The first desktop had a Core 2 Duo and an 8800GT. It ran GTA IV at about 20 FPS, but at least it ran.

The second desktop had an i7 920 and GTX 480. It would run GTA IV on the highest settings while I was inside my safehouse, but as soon as I stepped outside, it went to 1 fps. I was using an Nvidia beta driver for this machine and I have not updated it since, but I'm not sure that is the problem because my third desktop is having a similar problem with a different driver.

The third desktop has an i7 870 and GTX 470. I've restarted the game on this one, so I am only at the part where you drive away from the dock to go see your cousin's house. I first tried the 260.63 beta drivers, and the game ran at 60 fps as long as I didn't move anywhere. As soon as I moved anywhere, whether it was driving or walking, the game got extremely laggy. The sound, however, continued to play at normal speed. I could move my mouse around and still stay around 60 fps, but I couldn't move anywhere without the lag. I then tried the 258.96 official drivers, but the same problem still occurs. It does not matter what my graphic settings are. Cut scenes do play fine at about 30 fps.

It doesn't make sense for the game to be laggy on an i7 870 and GTX 470 because my Core 2 Duo and 8800GT were able to play it. I've also seen videos of people successfully playing on a GTX 480. Does anyone know why the game is doing this or how to fix it? The problem is only GTA IV. My other games work fine on my second and third desktops.

 

[HaakonXCI]

This link here should help you out very much as it did with me when I had this same issue. It happened with me usually after 5 minutes of gameplay though. Hopefully this works for you

Enjoy!

 

[jerreece]

How about updates for GTA IV? Have you installed any of the updates for the game?

I've played it on my GTX 470 without a problem (one of the 258 drivers if I recall).

Now, the other thing to consider, is system RAM & Hard Disk details. Being such a large "outdoor" game environment, data can be loaded into RAM/VRAM as you're moving.

How about GPU temps? The GTX 470/480 run very hot and need sufficient case cooling to keep themselves from cooking. Can you run GPU-Z and see what your GPU temps are while gaming? Just want to make sure they aren't getting super hot. I'd expect to see under normal circumstances anything between 80-95C on those cards while gaming.

 

[cmasupra]

HaakonXCI, that didn't work for me. I could definitely tell that textures weren't very good at all with it, so it did apply, but I still got the stuttering.

Jerreece, I haven't installed any updates for the game. I'm running version 1.0. I'll update the game and see if that helps.

For RAM, on the first desktop (C2D and 8800GT), I had 2GB DDR2 800. On the second desktop (i7 920 and GTX 480), I have 6GB DDR3 1333 triple-channel. On the third desktop (i7 870 and GTX 470), I have 8GB DDR3 1333 dual-channel.

All 3 desktops have had a 7200RPM hard drive.

I monitor my temps with MSI Afterburner, and it's never gone above 80C in GTA IV. Mine does have an aftermarket cooler that was pre-installed, though.

 

[cmasupra]

Alright. I got it to work. I updated to 1.0.7.0, which gave me an error. Googling told me to install Games for Windows Live, so I reinstalled that. It is now working. 2800 fps ( ) in the loading screen, and 120 fps in-game. Thanks, Jerreece for suggesting that I should update the game.

The weird thing is, none of the release notes for the patches mentioned anything about Fermi.

 

[cmasupra]

Best answer selected by cmasupra.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey