[luceberg]

@GTALegacy It is well known that SLI/Crossfire does not work too well with GTA4, but good it worked better with patch 1.0.4.0.

@LoreLegend Start by using two basic commandlines, -reservedApp0 and -memrestrict 381681660. The memrestrict number is 1024 x 1024 x 364(your resource usage), giving a number in bytes. This should go a long way towards reducing the stutters and popin. As for lag that happens occasionally, meaning when the fps slows so you can see the individual frames, that's cos the cpu is a bit weak.

[GTALegacy]

QUOTE (luceberg @ Wednesday, Sep 12 2012, 23:11)

@GTALegacy It is well known that SLI/Crossfire does not work too well with GTA4, but good it worked better with patch 1.0.4.0.

It works, but you have to set the Cross-Fire rendering to AFR (Alternate Frame Rate), or else you get the stuttering even in patch 1.0.4.

What is ironic is there are tons of videos on YT with people with the same card (4870x2) experiencing stutters that make the game unplayable. They don't know you have to alter the Cross-Fire profile in the Catalyst Control Center like I did (just create a new CF profile with AFR and link it to the "GTA.exe").

Also, it goes without saying the vast majority of mods that are available are made for 1.0.4., too.

This includes ENB, IcEnhancer, the majority of card mods, etc. So, downgrading to this version is going to have to be done by the OP eventually if they want to play the game with Mods after they've played through the initial story line...

[jpm1]

@ lorelegend : that's your destiny , don't look any further

[LoreLegend]

Thanks GTALegacy it worked like a charm
I re-installed GTA IV like you said and I installed patch 1.0.4.0
I also turned Clip Capture off and I gotta tell you its way better
The only time I actually have a tiny stutter is when driving for about 30 minutes but thats it afterwards it goes really smooth
Thanks again

[jpm1]

QUOTE (GTALegacy @ Wednesday, Sep 12 2012, 22:58)

The most recent patch (1.0.7) causes tremendous stuttering for AMD/ATI cards.

sorry but i don't agree with this . 1.0.7.0 is stable . thing is the game is very detailled maybe too much for hardware that's all . but there are lot of tips around to increase smoothness like what you said disconnecting clip capture . i made thousands of changes in my game and i still can't get it to crash or to make a mess , that's what i call a good game/patch . why i didn't thought of clip capture thing sooner , maybe cause i posted this already hundreds of times and i was a bit bored with it lol . when you install ATI drivers you should not process to catalyst control thing installation it's very ressource demanding and with generally very few improvements , and install display driver only

This post has been edited by jpm1 on Thursday, Sep 13 2012, 15:48

[GTALegacy]

QUOTE (LoreLegend @ Thursday, Sep 13 2012, 15:25)

Thanks GTALegacy it worked like a charm I re-installed GTA IV like you said and I installed patch 1.0.4.0 I also turned Clip Capture off and I gotta tell you its way better The only time I actually have a tiny stutter is when driving for about 30 minutes but thats it afterwards it goes really smooth Thanks again

If you really want to maximize your gaming experience...

Create a "Commandline.txt" and limit your frames per second to 30.

-framelimit 1
-refreshrate 31

Ideally we want 60 FPS or more on a computer monitor, but 30 is what the game was designed to run at due to consoles and their frame rate limitations for TV. It's also what the in-game physics (Euphoria) are programmed for, too. This is why a lot of people find it hard to drive in GTA IV. They are pushing the physics beyond specs and this directly effects the physics simulation in the game.

This will also even out the FPS fluctuations since THIS is what most people refer to as "lag". It's when the game drops from 60 FPS to 30 FPS (or below) every few seconds and then jumps back up to 60. It makes the game appear choppy which also effects your response time with the controls and in-game physics.

[LoreLegend]

QUOTE (GTALegacy @ Thursday, Sep 13 2012, 15:50)

QUOTE (LoreLegend @ Thursday, Sep 13 2012, 15:25) Thanks GTALegacy it worked like a charm I re-installed GTA IV like you said and I installed patch 1.0.4.0 I also turned Clip Capture off and I gotta tell you its way better The only time I actually have a tiny stutter is when driving for about 30 minutes but thats it afterwards it goes really smooth Thanks again If you really want to maximize your gaming experience... Create a "Commandline.txt" and limit your frames per second to 30. -framelimit 1 -refreshrate 31 Ideally we want 60 FPS or more on a computer monitor, but 30 is what the game was designed to run at due to consoles and their frame rate limitations for TV. It's also what the in-game physics (Euphoria) are programmed for, too. This is why a lot of people find it hard to drive in GTA IV. They are pushing the physics beyond specs and this directly effects the physics simulation in the game. This will also even out the FPS fluctuations since THIS is what most people refer to as "lag". It's when the game drops from 60 FPS to 30 FPS (or below) every few seconds and then jumps back up to 60. It makes the game appear choppy which also effects your response time with the controls and in-game physics.

Thanks for trying to help but really didn't make a difference
These are my settings:

Resolution: 1920x1080 (60Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Reflection Resolution: Medium
Water Quality: Medium
Shadow Quality: Off
Texture Filter Quality: Medium

View Distance: 21
Detail Distance: 30
Vehicle Density: 45
Shadow Density: 1
Definition: On
VSync: Off

Tell me if I need to change anything

EDIT: wtf I fixed the lag really all I did was put the settings on the highest settings possible

Resolution: 1920x1080 (60Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Reflection Resolution: Very High
Water Quality: Very High
Shadow Quality: Very High
Texture Filter Quality: Highest

View Distance: 21
Detail Distance: 30
Vehicle Density: 45
Shadow Density: 1
Definition: On
VSync: Off

This post has been edited by LoreLegend on Thursday, Sep 13 2012, 17:48

[GTALegacy]

^GTA IV performs differently on different hardware.

That's why there is no one magic cure-all settings and tweaks thread.

As with most un-optimized software you have to see what does and does not work on your system and then make trade offs as to what you consider acceptable.

Like I said, I run it in 1080p with all "high" settings using the console settings for view distance, LOD and traffic density. It runs fine and looks fine, too. I'm not a stickler for perfection and don't need everything at 100% because I know the game can't handle it because of its poor coding for PCs.


@jpm1

I didn't say patch 1.0.7 was not stable. I said it gives AMD cards a lot of problems patch 1.0.4 does not. This is not just my own personal experience, but many others with Nvidia cards as well. R* changed the shadow shaders in the last patch and this put a lot more undo stress on the hardware than the previous patch. Hence, the lower and sometimes problematic performance experienced by many users.

It's not that the game itself is complex it's the amount of polygons it has to push at any given moment: Buildings, cars, pedestrians, etc. That's why the LOD is so important and why it kills frame rates if it is set to high along with view distance.

The poor performance of 1.0.7 is also backed up by the fact the majority of SP mods are made for patch 1.0.4 as well because modders don't just need no sum checks for mods, but because of the increased performance compared to 1.0.7, too.

The irony in all of this is if you buy / download TBOGT and TLAD... Gamers have no choice but to go with the latest patch (1.2.0) that is higher than 1.0.4 and 1.0.7, obviously. I get less performance in EFLC than the main GTA IV game and there is nothing I can do about (I can't downgrade to anything below 1.0.7). It's not terrible performance, but the constant stutter is there that makes the game very inconsistent and choppy due to the FPS fluctuations.

[jpm1]

@ GTALegacy : never tried 1.0.4 . but what i know it's that with 1.0.7 and a bit of modding GTA is fantastic , and i think all the game is made around modding . i see GTA like a kind of big cake shop you see , if you eat it all at once it's not good but if you make your choice it can be really cool . GTA is an extremely detailled game with astonishing amout of features . for me it's obvious that if you want all this at once you won't ever be able to run in good conditions . i think GTA is a game largely made around modding , and it's up to you then to make your choices . but if you take 1.0.7 as is , you'll get problems / lags . i repeat it for the 100th lol but once you modded a bit , reduced the number of some of the objects you're talking about a bit GTA is A.S.T.O.N.I.S.H.I.N.G . and you just can't blame R* for anything . i was astonished by Zelda or by gran turismo when i first played them but none impressed me as GTA IV did

[GTALegacy]

QUOTE (jpm1 @ Thursday, Sep 13 2012, 20:36)

@ GTALegacy : never tried 1.0.4 . but what i know it's that with 1.0.7 and a bit of modding GTA is fantastic , and i think all the game is made around modding . i see GTA like a kind of big cake shop you see , if you eat it all at once it's not good but if you make your choice it can be really cool . GTA is an extremely detailled game with astonishing amout of features . for me it's obvious that if you want all this at once you won't ever be able to run in good conditions . i think GTA is a game largely made around modding , and it's up to you then to make your choices . but if you take 1.0.7 as is , you'll get problems / lags . i repeat it for the 100th lol but once you modded a bit , reduced the number of some of the objects you're talking about a bit GTA is A.S.T.O.N.I.S.H.I.N.G . and you just can't blame R* for anything . i was astonished by Zelda or by gran turismo when i first played them but none impressed me as GTA IV did

GTA IV is not as complex as you think.

It can't be that complex since it had to run on current gen Xbox 360 and PS3 hardware which is equivalent to seven, or eight-year old hardware.

What you think in complex is simply the art direction and attention to detail versus the actual CPU routines that make Liberty City seem alive. Those are two very different things. The graphics in GTA IV are not that complex and actually have modest polygon counts (people, vehicles, buildings, streets, lamp posts, pieces of trash, pigeons, etc, etc). What makes GTA IV resource hungry is the AMOUNT of these things when running at the same time. On top of that, R* Toronto did a very bad job at porting a.k.a. optimizing the game code for PCs...

So, if there are thousands of polygons being rendered and numerous AI routines (traffic, pedestrians, air traffic) running at the same time that doesn't matter IF all of that code is properly optimized like it is on the consoles. It's just not for the PC. Hence, why GTA IV takes far too much resources than it should... But the game itself is NOT as complex as you think it is.

[unc13bud]

QUOTE

It works, but you have to set the Cross-Fire rendering to AFR (Alternate Frame Rate), or else you get the stuttering even in patch 1.0.4.

i am going to try this, that is some good info if it really works... i was wondering why this kid and his dad were enjoying tbogt like this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=22LEW35DcRk
and this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAV4zxvDgvE
but i bust my gta iv/eflc installation by adding an hd 6450 - even after i removed the card, it now runs like mud and no tweaking will fix it. haven't did a os/game reinstall or driver clean though since i added the card

[GroundZeroes]

Try what I did: http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=525309