HD 7870 not working as i expected?

[rvdman306]

Hi so i got my gigabyte OC'd HD 7870 yesterday and played some GTA 4. I am still mnot able to pass 1gb in memory for gta 4 without dropping to -20 fps. I have 2gb of VRAM yet it wont let me use half of it without lagging hard? I have all the atest drivers and everything. I am able to play Skyrim on ULTRA settings hitting 70+ fps. Is gta 4 really that big?

 

[ricardois]

Upgrade it, i think the game is locked at 1gb at the first versions, also there are some mods that allow you to overpass that limit even if you have less than 1gb check for thosse mods.

 

[rvdman306]

I'm sorry but upgrade what? my gta version or my drivers?

 

[ricardois]

I'm sorry but upgrade what? my gta version or my drivers?

i also edited my post xD

GTA version, drivers use the latest ones..

 

[rvdman306]

Ok sorry i just woke up running a bit slow haha

 

[ricardois]

try using 1.0.4.0 i am using those with good frames and great frames with SLi 560 ti

 

[rvdman306]

Wouldn't that be downgrading? I have 1.0.7.0. Although i found a update for the Episodes of liberty city so i'm downloading that

 

[freddy1765]

If you don't mind my asking, how is your 7870 behaving? I'm seriously considering the Gigabyte one, would like to hear from someone who actually bought it rather than read more reviews.

 

[4745454b]

Whats the rest of the system like?

 

[rvdman306]

Hi freddy so far its working amazing. Very low temps, very very quiet even while running skyrim on ultra settings. Every single game i play(except gta4) runs flawlessly on max settings. I'm downloading BF3 now so i shall update once that ios finished. I'm no expert but this card is pretty good. If you're gonna go with the 7870 get either gigabyte or saphire. Dont forget i just got this card yesterday so i'm still doing tests and whatnot.
@4745454b my system specs are

PSU is 650W if that matters. Any other info you may need let me know.
@ricardois I tried the availiblevidmem2.0 or whatever and its working but still whenever i hit 30-40 FPS it lags pretty bad... On my gtx 285 i wouldnt screen lag until i hit -30. Then again i have the view distance up ALOT more compared to before. Still sitting below 1gb though.

 

[rvdman306]

Also why does cpu-z say -2048 memory for my card? o.o
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/6808/33294206.jpg

 

[ricardois]

Also why does cpu-z say -2048 memory for my card? o.o
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/6808/33294206.jpg

if it says you have 2gb isn't it ok?

maybe the cpu-z don't recognize it properly, never personally tested it. make sure you have latest video drivers installed also.

 

[rvdman306]

if it says you have 2gb isn't it ok?

Well GTA4 says i have 2gb but i cant go over 1gb without lagging. and if you're talking about cpu-z i said it says -2gb.

 

[ricardois]

A sorry i tough in gta you just could go with 1gb, gta iv is really a very demanding game (bad implemented).

The cpu-z the -2gb is strange "-" but maybe it is normal on those amd cards.

 

[gary1]

Mine also says -2048mb, but it doesn't really recognize my card, it just says 7800 series, no info. Dunno if it's too new or what, you're fine.

 

[ricardois]

probably too new for the CPU-z, maybe they will upgrade CPU-z to detect those cards.

 

[rvdman306]

Ok thanks. My pc sadly just crashed for the 1st time but gta is working decent now at 40 fps.

 

[wolfram23]

Use GPUZ to check card info.

And yeah GTA 4 is not really built right for PCs. All kinds of issues. I've heard of people with really top end rigs not being able to play it at the highest settings. It's not a hardware issue, it's the game itself.

You'll just have to try to find the perfect settings for you. I'm sure some forum somewhere has all the info you need.

 

[rvdman306]

Thank you. I have been playing bulletstorm and i get 50-60 fps on average and sometimes 30-40. Skyrim is 60-70 avg and 40-50 low. Gonna test BF3 soon to see just how good this card is.

 

[freddy1765]

Thanks for your opinion on this specific card, it definitely reinforced my conviction that Gigabyte is the way to go I'm sick of my own XFX 5770 which is loud as sh*t!
Have you OC'ed your card above the factory 1100 MHz core clock?

 

[Proximon]

Do you have 32-bit Vista? If so that would explain everything.

 

[rvdman306]

@freddy Nope i have not. Too scared to mess with things lol. Just got done playing BF3 for a few hours. 40-70 fps all the time. Not one moment where i lagged Turns out gta4 is just all kinds of glitchy weirdness.

@Proximon Nope i have vista 64-bit

 

[ricardois]

yes gta IV is very problematic, i am able to play it at 50~120 frames (with 120hz display of course) setting everything to max only shadows on high (instead of very high) and view distance to 40 and textures on high (not sure if can really go over that), very playable that way at version 1.0.4.0 with 560ti sli 1GB.

 

[rvdman306]

Weird i have 120hz display and it caps my fps at 100. I get 30-50 fps on average on everything max except shadows view distance 40 textures high 1920x1080. Should i downgrade to 1.0.4.0? im at 1.0.7.0

 

[ricardois]

i was using 1.0.4.0 because of the ice enhancer mod it was recommending the 1.0.4.0 version. that is why i didn't upgraded it.
so yes try to downgrade and see if you get better frames.