PC version

[stemot]

You can only run Medium textures on your card bacuase anything higher is considered for future PC's.

On medium the graphics are the same as the 360 version, so your not losing anything. It's a future proof idea.

On the other hand, the shitty performance really needs to be sorted.

 

[Evo]

After getting around their stupid ass resource restrictions, ive finally made it so the game at least looks moderately good. The framerate is playable usually, though just barely. I would drop my resolution down, but that only makes the performance worse. GG Rockstar! Also, what this is essentially saying is that a 4850 is not a good enough card to play with medium texture resolution.

Heres the benchmark stats


Statistics
Average FPS: 22.01
Duration: 37.71 sec
CPU Usage: 59%
System memory usage: 35%
Video memory usage: 100%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: Highest
View Distance: 100
Detail Distance: 100

Hardware
Microsoft? Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Video Driver version: 7.14.10.618
Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- SB Audigy)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz



And just to show you what settings I would have to play on to get an average frame rate according to rockstar with my good pc...

EDIT: AND GUESS WHAT!

I just ran the bench mark with those settings and I got an amazing 21.22 FRAMES PER SECOND!!! WHOOOOOOO!!!! Thats ****ing stupid. There is no point in not setting everything to maximum, I get the same performance either way. BRB testing it with highest textures.

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.

Krynn - I think GreyFox was the one that posted that earlier, take a look at some of the things I highlighted.

Take note that the settings you are increasing may have a big impact on your performance because GTAIV relies heavily on the memory you have on you graphics card. You are pushing the settings to at least 2x what was available on the consoles, bear that in mind.

I said this earlier here, but R* have really done a poor job of explaining this stuff.

 

[Krynn72]

I dont think shadows are calculated on the video card. At least, according to the "Resource usage" counter on the bottom, which only shows your video card's memory. The view distance, texture quality, and resolutions are the only options that change how many megs you're using. And since my video card's resources are the only thing thats maxed out (cpu is <60% ram is 35%) I dont think shadows matter for me. It probably does for others who dont have a quad core processor and 8 gigs of ram. But I'll try it anyways.


Also, when I have the textures on high, the benchmark wont even load. It just hangs on the loading screen until I use end task to close it. Awesome.


EDIT: Didnt see Evo's post.


Most of that doesnt explain why I got worse performance after dropping everything. When I played on high settings, going ~300mb past what I have available I got the same (actually, slightly better) performance as when I was not over my available resources.



EDIT 2: Here, I used these settings (note that I am 38 megs under)

I get this in the benchmark.

Statistics
Average FPS: 22.14
Duration: 37.62 sec
CPU Usage: 58%
System memory usage: 37%
Video memory usage: 98%

 

[Kyorisu]

Runs and looks just fine. This is the defaults I was given.

Statistics
Average FPS: 36.16
Duration: 37.16 sec
CPU Usage: 84%
System memory usage: 91%
Video memory usage: 99%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: High
View Distance: 25
Detail Distance: 37

Hardware
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Service Pack 3
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Video Driver version: 180.43
Audio Adapter: Realtek HD Audio output
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 3.20GHz

And then this for shits and giggles:

Statistics
Average FPS: 33.23
Duration: 37.19 sec
CPU Usage: 83%
System memory usage: 91%
Video memory usage: 99%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: High
View Distance: 35
Detail Distance: 100

 

[taviow]

My monitor really sucks, so the max res here is 1024x768.

Statistics
Average FPS: 36.99
Duration: 37.25 sec
CPU Usage: 80%
System memory usage: 90%
Video memory usage: 78%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1024 x 768 (75 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: Very High
View Distance: 74
Detail Distance: 100

Hardware
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Service Pack 3
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Video Driver version: 180.84
Audio Adapter: Realtek HD Audio output
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6850 @ 3.00GHz

 

[Kyorisu]

I should try that new driver out. Too bloody lazy right now though.

 

[Sedako]

After getting around their stupid ass resource restrictions

I haven't been able to figure out how to do it. What was your method?

 

[Kyorisu]

From OCAU

Statistics
Average FPS: 65.57
Duration: 37.07 sec
CPU Usage: 68%
System memory usage: 56%
Video memory usage: 92%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: High
View Distance: 25
Detail Distance: 37

Hardware
Microsoft? Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2
Video Driver version: 180.84
Audio Adapter: Speakers (Creative SB X-Fi)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz

Statistics
Average FPS: 65.70
Duration: 37.06 sec
CPU Usage: 68%
System memory usage: 55%
Video memory usage: 93%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: High
View Distance: 25
Detail Distance: 37

Hardware
Microsoft? Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2
Video Driver version: 180.84 CARD OC'ed to 700/1750/2200 over 600/1500/2000
Audio Adapter: Speakers (Creative SB X-Fi)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz

I don;t think its using SLi yet either as many nvidia users reporting similar gains.
I don;t think i had v-sync on either.. i'll muck about with other sw over this weekend.

 

[jondy]

Anyone post a screenshot showing close to max settings? I'd like to see this game maxed out :E

 

[Mutley]

I run:

1280x1024
Medium Textures
High Rendering
100 View Distance
100 View Detail
50 Vehicle Density
12 Shadows

I'd really like High Textures but at 890/1024mb usage it still lags for me - though to be fair, I'd have AA instead anyday, hopefully they'll patch it in.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I run:



I'd really like High Textures but at 890/1024mb usage it still lags for me - though to be fair, I'd have AA instead anyday, hopefully they'll patch it in.

I'm hoping that it would support multisampling too

Just a question, the internet cafe has a website for a furniture store called Krapea (Obviously a a piss-take on Ikea).

Does that mean you can buy furniture for your apartment? I don't know how its done.

 

[Krynn72]

I wouldnt count on them adding anti-aliasing. Thats beyond porting, and would require changes in the code of the renderer, which is unlikely to happen. Same with multisampling.

 

[Mutley]

Holy crap. Everyone must try the video editor RIGHT NOW. It's like... amazing.

 

[stemot]

Holy crap. Everyone must try the video editor RIGHT NOW. It's like... amazing.

Tied it, couldn't make head nor bleedin tale of it.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I wouldnt count on them adding anti-aliasing. Thats beyond porting, and would require changes in the code of the renderer, which is unlikely to happen. Same with multisampling.

So it didn't have AA support in the Xbox360 version; did they not even experiment with it?

 

[Krynn72]

They probably did, but AA is a big resource hit, and it considering how intensive this game is even without it they probably just came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be feasible to include it.

 

[CombineHunter]

It isnt essential anyway.

 

[CR0M]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/936/936304p1.html

Wow,just wow! Talk about being in denial.

It's called Plausible Deniability. That tosser could flat out say the game is perfect in every way and we are all just whiney shit peas, and nothing would change. Nobody would care. No action would be taken. Yay for free west capitalism.

 

[StardogChampion]

I think a lot of people don't understand that the shadow density is only designed for a certain type of light in the game. In the daytime there's a general shadow that covers the entire world. That is hooked up directly to the video mode. It scales automatically with resolution. So the higher the resolution you set the game, the higher your shadow, mirrors, water, reflection, everything automatically scales.

We had all those options available and we found that people were confused by so many options so we wound up merging them into the video mode.

I'm not liking the sound of that... "lets remove all those options so idiots don't get confused, instead of putting it into an Advanced Options section"...

 

[Acepilotf14]

Advanced options are for nerds.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Does anybody know how to use the phone to dial out

I've pressed P twice (so I can use the phones touchpad) and when I've entered 911, I press enter and it just adds a repeat of the last digit input; I've tried every other key included the mouse buttons, which frightend a load of people as I fired my gun by accident

Also the AI hasn't been improved since the last game, all NPCs are still complete assholes. If R* wanted a true next gen game, they should of concentrated on AI more than graphics

 

[Gunner]

Does anybody know how to use the phone to dial out

I've pressed P twice (so I can use the phones touchpad) and when I've entered 911, I press enter and it just adds a repeat of the last digit input; I've tried every other key included the mouse buttons, which frightend a load of people as I fired my gun by accident

Also the AI hasn't been improved since the last game, all NPCs are still complete assholes. If R* wanted a true next gen game, they should of concentrated on AI more than graphics

I have the same problem, I can't dial 911.

 

[Krynn72]

Just use the arrow keys. Press "up" twice to get to the numberpad, type your number on the your keyboard's numpad or use the arrow keys to move to the numbers and press enter to hit them, then use the arrow keys to move to the green "call" button.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Thanks Krynn, your my hero

 

[Mutley]

After playing this some more and doing lots of tweaks to get a playable High setting, I'm really enjoying it. Much more than I did on PS3. So much easier to control cars... and shooting with a mouse - it kicks the controllers ass!

I just create a LAN game and mess about on my own with everything unlocked, it's great fun, done the story on PS3 so don't want to do it again just yet.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I've only just unlocked the island that looks like manhattan, and boy do I see the fuss about missing textures. But for me, its more about objects appearing/reappear and textures that only take about 15 (sarcastic) minutes to pop up on a road surface.

 

[Kadayi]

Just use the arrow keys. Press "up" twice to get to the numberpad, type your number on the your keyboard's numpad or use the arrow keys to move to the numbers and press enter to hit them, then use the arrow keys to move to the green "call" button.

Nice. I'm going to have to start calling some of these advert numbers to see what the messages are like. :E

 

[Krynn72]

I've only just unlocked the island that looks like manhattan, and boy do I see the fuss about missing textures. But for me, its more about objects appearing/reappear and textures that only take about 15 (sarcastic) minutes to pop up on a road surface.

What is your texture setting at?

 

[StardogChampion]

Anyone made a movie using the editor yet? I'm talking movies with a story and realistic camera angles, not randomly beating someone up.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

What is your texture setting at?

Low, using a 9800GTX :cheers:

Want to make every FPS count

 

[Mutley]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpt_IjleZ9A&fmt=22

One I made just testing editor out.

 

[Qonfused]

I lol'd.

That editor looks really, really neat.

 

[Adrien C]

The multyplayer is quite fun specially cops and crooks.

 

[Ennui]

Athlon 64 x2 5600+, 2x1gb DDR2 PC6400, overclocked 256mb 7900GS

only way it is playable is on absolute minimum settings but it looks pretty decent regardless

 

[Kadayi]

Put together my new Rig today and I have to say the game looks spectacular when you can turn up a few notches. It's kind of crazy just how much detail is in the environments and everything. ...:rolling:

 

[StardogChampion]

Athlon 64 x2 5600+, 2x1gb DDR2 PC6400, overclocked 256mb 7900GS

only way it is playable is on absolute minimum settings but it looks pretty decent regardless

I have a similar system, but I haven't overclocked my Core 2 Duo yet. Maybe I'll just use the PC version for the editor, since I have it for the 360 anyway.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

*sigh* i give up. I've got a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHZ, 3GB DDR2,ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb Overclocked and it's still unplayable even on low. The games shudders to a halt when night comes, or if i play for around 20 mins.

 

[Kadayi]

*sigh* i give up. I've got a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHZ, 3GB DDR2,ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb Overclocked and it's still unplayable even on low. The games shudders to a halt when night comes, or if i play for around 20 mins.

Your rig isn't that far off mine tbh by the sounds of it. What kind of resolution are you running in?

 

[Gray Fox]

There is a problem with ATI cards, people with way stronger systems then mine are having trouble with ATI cards.

 

[AiM]

*sigh* i give up. I've got a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHZ, 3GB DDR2,ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb Overclocked and it's still unplayable even on low. The games shudders to a halt when night comes, or if i play for around 20 mins.

Did you try the new Catalyst 8.12 drivers? Supposedly there's mixed opinions about the effects of the new driver on GTA IV, but I suppose it's worth a shot since my rig is virtually identical to yours - I have an extra GB of Ram - and I have absolutely no problems running it at a steady 3x FPS. Of course, my monitor is quite small so my resolution is locked at 1280 x 1024 but I've got everything else maxed except Textures (Medium) and Draw Distance ( ~ 50 ). Although one thing to keep in mind is that this was with the old 8.11 drivers...