GTA4 on PC!

cherryghost

ScumLord wrote: »

I'm very tempted to buy a new cpu. It would max out my motherboard but I'm half thinking I should buy it now while the moneys there, God only knows how we'll be fixed in the new year.

Would I notice much improvement going from an E6600 to Q6700?

Before I answer, no, I didnt give in and upgrade my PC, I already had planned on purchasing.

I've tested the two following builds(basically switched over CPUs in the process) to test the average FPS in GTA4. I didnt use the benchmark given, because the benchmark is quite inaccurate tbh.

1st Build:
Intel Core 2 E7200 2.53ghz
2GB DDR2 800mhz RAM
Gainward 9800GT

Texture Settings: High
Render Settings: High
Draw distance: 35
Car detail: 30
Resolution: 1680x1050

Average FPS using fraps in-game was about 23-27, 40-50 indoors. Minimum reached was 17 FPS

2nd Build:
Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.4ghz
2GB DDR2 800mhz RAM
Gainward 9800GT

Texture Settings: High
Render Settings: High
Draw distance: 35
Car detail: 30
Resolution: 1680x1050

Average FPS using fraps in-game was about 30-45, 60+ indoors. Minimum reached was 20 FPS.

The tests were done after the latest drivers and patches installed, beforehand tests were about 5 FPS lower than they are shown above. Hope that helps to anyone, as you can see the Quad Core does bolster performance, but upgrading just to play the game is giving into R*.

ScumLord

It is a bit mad spending any more money on this game. It runs ok. Even when it's running around 18fps it's still playable. I've already spent around €250 just to play this game.

My M/B is supposed to be very overclockable. I've never overclocked before so I'm a bit apprehensive about doing that. Would I see much improvement overclocking?

cherryghost

ScumLord wrote: »

It is a bit mad spending any more money on this game. It runs ok. Even when it's running around 18fps it's still playable. I've already spent around €250 just to play this game.

My M/B is supposed to be very overclockable. I've never overclocked before so I'm a bit apprehensive about doing that. Would I see much improvement overclocking?

the E6600 is very overclockable.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/core2duo_e6600/12.html

a 5 frame/second increase would be gained for a 2.4 to a 2.8ghz overclock, perhaps more. your gpu is a 4850 1Gb, so thats not a problem.

ScumLord

cherryghost wrote: »

the E6600 is very overclockable.

Cool, cheers. I might do this at some stage. It might even make my system more stable. At the moment when it's turned off it won't turn back on for 45minutes, (it beeps a couple of times but nothing happens on screen). Something to do with memory timings I'm told.

Stephen

New patch, apparently:

Eurogamer wrote:

* Better memory management to improve stability, especially for players with lower-end machines
* Added a fix for the ATI 1900 series video cards to improve stability and the visual quality of shadows
* Custom graphic settings and multiplayer characters will now save
* Several improvements to the Video Editor, including higher rendering quality, smarter naming of videos and better effects during replays
* Mouse-based movements with sensitive mice or gaming mice will properly detect
* CPU speeds will now query periodically rather than just at startup, resulting in smoother frame-rates
* Fixed a crash after legal screen German customers were reporting

cherryghost

Stephen wrote: »

New patch, apparently:

doesnt do much actually :rolleyes:

kaimera

Stephen wrote: »

New patch, apparently:

a second patch?

cherryghost

kaimera wrote: »

a second patch?

no its just a re-post of the one and only

Stephen

Really? wtf at eurogamer then.

PogMoThoin

cherryghost wrote: »

Before I answer, no, I didnt give in and upgrade my PC, I already had planned on purchasing.

I've tested the two following builds(basically switched over CPUs in the process) to test the average FPS in GTA4. I didnt use the benchmark given, because the benchmark is quite inaccurate tbh.

1st Build:
Intel Core 2 E7200 2.53ghz
2GB DDR2 800mhz RAM
Gainward 9800GT

Texture Settings: High
Render Settings: High
Draw distance: 35
Car detail: 30
Resolution: 1680x1050

Average FPS using fraps in-game was about 23-27, 40-50 indoors. Minimum reached was 17 FPS

2nd Build:
Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.4ghz
2GB DDR2 800mhz RAM
Gainward 9800GT

Texture Settings: High
Render Settings: High
Draw distance: 35
Car detail: 30
Resolution: 1680x1050

Average FPS using fraps in-game was about 30-45, 60+ indoors. Minimum reached was 20 FPS.

The tests were done after the latest drivers and patches installed, beforehand tests were about 5 FPS lower than they are shown above. Hope that helps to anyone, as you can see the Quad Core does bolster performance, but upgrading just to play the game is giving into R*.

Is the test not limited by ram, I mean the game will quite easily fill 2GB if its running the OS as well. My Vista64 hits 3.5ish

cherryghost

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Is the test not limited by ram, I mean the game will quite easily fill 2GB.

i'd say 1.5gb even might do the trick. its all the cpu. quite shoddy. considering the ram usage is about 75% in-game(ill get photo proof for that). so i dont think ram is an issue

bizmark

Game plays like utter crap on my dual core 5200 amd 2 gig of ram and 1 gig 4850

>_< why did i buy this

Geff

Haven't had any real performance issues with the game so far as bad as people have been reporting.

Running a 2.4Ghz Dual Core, 2GB DDR2 RAM, 8800GTS 512MB.

Draw Distance is like 40
Detail Distance is 60
Vehicle Density is 100

Highest render quality and Medium Textures running @ 1680x1050.

It was alright before the patch but I deffo got a boost in FPS after the patch.

Guess I'm just lucky.

CM21

Running pretty good for me too on an E6600 overclocked to 3ghz, 2gb ram and a Gainward 9800gtx+
Seems to work better on nvidia cards. Was definitely rushed out for christmas by Rockstar though judging by the amount of complaints on other forums.

the_syco

bizmark wrote: »

Game plays like utter crap on my dual core 5200 amd 2 gig of ram and 1 gig 4850

>_< why did i buy this

Have you put -norestrictions and -nomemrestrict after the command
launchergtaIV.exe ? Also, what did the game set you at, in regards to draw distance, etc? I presume you're using the latest drivers, and the patch? They made the game a lot smoother for me.

kaimera

Still getting corruption and bad pop up textures :mad:

ffs, i dont know what I changed!

the_syco

Getting between 30fps and 46fps, depending where I am. 46fps on the streets, 30fps in the airport.

Got the DD3D30 error, but found once I disabled having output to a second screen (TV, which hasn't woked anyway), it worked.

Nicking a SWAT van is a bad idea, it would seem...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjfVF4u1Qr4

steamjetjoe

Oh dear God,
My OS finally arrived today so I could get my pc up & running. Started to install GTA iv at around 8 this evening. Its taking untill now to get all latest drivers installed ( I think im missing a patch or 2 ), The biggest pain in the arse was the Windows Live account setup:mad: Why on earth can you not just buy a game, install & play, simple:D

Ive left my visual settings at default or recomemded & so far it runs fine except for a few texture issues with shadows, but then again ive only played for about 2o mins so far:rolleyes:

Im playing on a Core 2 Quad 4x 2.4GHz, Q6600 + a 22" monitor



ATI Radeon HD4870 GDDR5
4GB RAM DDR2 800MHz Kingston
Mainboard ASUS P5QL PRO
MAXTOR 500GB SATA-2 HDD
LG GH22LS30 DVD Lightscribe
8 Channel Superior Quality Audio
DSL Ready Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Ankermann 905 Case | Cardreader
600 Watt | XILENCE CPU cooler

If anyone is running this game on a similar spec can you post your settings please. Im a novice when it comes to gfx options & settings:rolleyes:

Thanks all

BopNiblets

I second the horrible install setup procedure, what am I doing, registering for a POW camp?
Screw you Social Club and screw you Games For Windows Live, if you're trying to copy Steam, you fail!

Installed Forceware 181.00 and the PC patch, then on the specs below, the game looks awful, it threw out these rubbish lies when I tried to adjust the sliders from the recommended resolution of 800x600..... 800x600 ME HOLE YOU BLOODY GAME!! 1650x1080! :mad:

I can get Crysis to look decent, Far Cry 2 to look splendid, but in this game Niko Bellic looks like a blurry brown sack of spuds!

And Vista threw a wobbler when I quit the game, took about a minute for my OS to become usable again!

PogMoThoin

I've actually gotten bored with it, too much repitition, Nico is a crap character and it doesn't really excite me anymore, been there, done that. I finished Vice City and San Andreas but I just couldn't be arsed with this. I've not even unlocked the 3rd city. I'll probably leave it installed to go back at some stage, but I doubt I'll ever get to finish it. Glad I didn't buy it.

ScumLord

I don't know whats wrong with this game but the performance is getting worse the more I play it. Changing the settings has little or no affect on frame rates either. I've tried putting the res down to 800x600 with everything at minimum and only get high 20s at best, average low 20s, at worst 9! No better than 1280x1024 with minimum settings which is running low 20s at best.

It even says I'm only using 300/1001mb but I'm still getting **** performance. I'm not getting the same results as others here even though I've followed all the tips here.

the_syco

At the moment, I'm only getting 20 to 30 fraps, but I'm running Folding@Home on all 4 cores (Q9550) at 80% CPU usage, so meh, it's just a bit jittery. When not running F@H, it's usually better. Rig is in the sig, 1280*1024 resolution, 50 draw distance, everything else on max.

Scumlord: I have a 1GB 4870, so 50 draw distance is 992MB or 999MB. What memory does your 4870, and what is your draw distance? Also, I take it you've gotten the patch? If not, get it. Made a BIG difference for me.

BopNiblets

I sent Rockstar an email with this screenshot telling them my experience with their game kinda sucks (put more eloquently of course )

ScumLord

the_syco wrote: »

Scumlord: I have a 1GB 4870, so 50 draw distance is 992MB or 999MB. What memory does your 4870, and what is your draw distance? Also, I take it you've gotten the patch? If not, get it. Made a BIG difference for me.

I have the patch. Unless there's been another one?

The card has 1gb.

stakey

the_syco wrote: »

Scumlord: I have a 1GB 4870, so 50 draw distance is 992MB or 999MB. What memory does your 4870, and what is your draw distance? Also, I take it you've gotten the patch? If not, get it. Made a BIG difference for me.

Syco, are you getting any crashes at that setting? I have the same card and the using the same settings and after about an hour play the machines blue screens. I think it might have more to do with the Catalyst 8.12 drivers though... they've been a bit narky since going in

kaimera

BopNiblets wrote: »

I sent Rockstar an email with this screenshot telling them my experience with their game kinda sucks (put more eloquently of course )

I'm getting that corruption too lately

Cant finger what exactly started it tho



She also sucked up 95% of my 4gigs of ram after an hour+ of gaming...loading times were ****ing horrible, one particular load was when I got into an elevator and it took 10 mins to ****ing load :mad:

This also happened earlier today :pac:

GhostInTheRuins

kaimera wrote: »

loading times were ****ing horrible, one particular load was when I got into an elevator and it took 10 mins to ****ing load :mad:

That happened to me a few times. On a few of the assassin missions it'll take ages to load to a tiny cutscene.

There is a really bad one though, it's a known bug that happened to me. One of the missions (Can't remember the name, top left of the map, Ray someone?) Never ever loads. You just have to kill the game. I finished everything else except for that missions because I couldn't play it. I eventually found out that if you plug in a usb key before you start the game, go to start the mission and unplug the usb stick when the loading screen comes on it will fix the problem.

What sort of a joke is that? This game is nothing but a badly programmed mess to cash in on the christmas sales.

ScumLord

GhostInTheRuins wrote: »

That happened to me a few times. On a few of the assassin missions it'll take ages to load to a tiny cutscene.

There is a really bad one though, it's a known bug that happened to me. One of the missions (Can't remember the name, top left of the map, Ray someone?) Never ever loads. You just have to kill the game. I finished everything else except for that missions because I couldn't play it. I eventually found out that if you plug in a usb key before you start the game, go to start the mission and unplug the usb stick when the loading screen comes on it will fix the problem.

I had a problem like that early on in the game, but I let it go because I had a few crc errors during install. Reinstalling fixed the problem. It worked but I'm expecting a new one to come up eventually I still had one crc error during the reinstall. Hopefully your fix will work save another reinstall.

Not that I'll be playing again for a while. I bought far cry 2 and left4dead in the sales Far cry gets 40fps+ and looks amassing.

KamiKazi

lol :pac: think I'll stick to the xbox

kaimera

Bumped up some settings and took a benchmark

High textures & 100% vew distance and got the following

Statistics
Average FPS: 39.77
Duration: 37.57 sec
CPU Usage: 35%
System memory usage: 61%
Video memory usage: 100%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Render Quality: High
View Distance: 100
Detail Distance: 76

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Business
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Video Driver version: 7.14.10.630
Audio Adapter: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz

Now I have no game sound except for the car/apt radio! -.-