[kbps]

First off sorry for my English if I made any mistakes.

What have I done to increase FPS on my system.

Don't forget to create backup copies of files you will modify!
All files I modified here are for patched GTA IV [v1.0.1.0]

0) install DOX optimized Nvidia drivers 180.84 ( XP_180.84.1.exe 20,2 MB ) - with "Balanced settings" (if you have Nvidia GPU)
( you can get drivers here http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/drivers )

1) get - Magic IV Mod - Enables file modding in GTA IV.

2) after you setup MagicIV, overwrite your C:\Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\pc\data\timecyc.dat with one of my modified files
timecyc_101_IntensityBloom_000_FarClp_101.rar - FarClp is 101.00
timecyc_101_IntensityBloom_000_FarClp_151.rar - FarClp is 151.00
timecyc_101_IntensityBloom_000_alwaysExtraSunny.rar - default FarClp (1500.00) and always good extra sunny weather =)

FarClp - is distance drawing.

3) overwrite your C:\Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\common\data\visualSettings.dat with my one
visualSettings_101_bloom_off.rar - it just disables bloom too, and game looks more realistic.

4) create C:\Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\commandline.txt file with lines:

CODE

-width 800 -height 600 -refreshrate 60 -texturequality 0 -renderquality 0 -viewdistance 0 -detailquality 0 -shadowdensity 0 -availablevidmem 2.00 -nomemrestrict -novblank -fullscreen

You can try to play with this options, add or remove: -nomemrestrict, -noprecache options.
change: -availablevidmem 2.00 - to 1.00 or 0.50 or 2.25.
change other lines on your point.

You can also clean your older settings before launch GTA IV. remove all files from your C:\Documents and Settings\[your_username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\Settings\*

5) you can also put all 90 shader *.fxc files from C:\Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\common\shaders\win32_30_atidx10\*
to C:\Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\common\shaders\win32_30_nv8\ with overwrite.
it can significantly boost your FPS.

6) just to avoid logos when game is loading
loadingscreens_pc_101_nologos.rar

7) overwrite your C:\Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\common\data\fragments\fragment.xml with my
fragment_globmaxdrawdist250.rar - I guess it may increase a little FPS.

8) make sure your GPU is not getting too hot!
because when my GPU is getting too hot - drivers(?) automatically puts my GPU on lower clock/shaders/mem MHz speed to cool GPU. (and CPU(?))
find any ways to keep your Laptop/PC cold

9) keep your Video, Chipset, Sound drivers updated! And BIOS firmware too!

10) when you are launch GTA IV, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc, Task Manager pops up - in "Process" tab find RGSC.exe process - and terminate it!
find "GTAIV.exe" process - right click on, select "Set Priority" -> "High". And back to your game.

Upd1
11) get "Contig.exe" tool
here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinte...s/bb897428.aspx
direct link: http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/Contig.zip
unzip and put Contig.exe tool to your C:\Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\ folder
press Win+R and type: "C:\Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\Contig.exe" -s -v
press OK button and wait until Contig finishes defragmentation of your GTA IV game files.

[Turning off Shadows with Asi loader - doesn't increase FPS]


Upd2
---------=== my Nvidia driver settings ===---------
launch "NVIDIA Control Panel"

go:

CODE

=== 3D Settings === - Adjust image settings with preview (*) Use the advanced 3D image settings - Manage 3D settings Global Settings tab Anisotropic filtering: Off Antialiasing - Gamma correction: Off Antialiasing - Mode: Off Antialiasing - Setting: None Antialiasing - Transparency: Off Conformant texture clamp: Use hardware Error reporting: Off Extension limit: Off Force mipmaps: None Maximum pre-rendered frames: 6 Multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration: Single display performance mode Texture filtering - Anisotropic sample optimization: On Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias: Allow Texture filtering - Quality: High performance Texture filtering - Trilinear optimization: On Triple buffering: Off Vertical sync: Force off - Set PhysX configuration PhysX GPU acceleration is... (*) Disabled === Mobile ===  Change PowerMizer settings  (*) Not manage my power consumption (Disable PowerMizer)

I suggest you to play with "Maximum pre-rendered frames: 6" (default was 3, I put 6)
because Maximum pre-rendered frames limits the number of frames the CPU can prepare before the frames are processed by
the GPU. Increasing this value can result in smoother gameplay at lower framerates.

This post has been edited by kbps on Thursday, Dec 25 2008, 16:07

[Spider-Vice]

My GPU reaches 80ºC when I play normally so you mean that the tweak will fry my card?

[kbps]

QUOTE (Spider-Vice @ Dec 25 2008, 15:09)

My GPU reaches 80ºC when I play normally so you mean that the tweak will fry my card?

that tweak makes your game use less your video/cpu, I hope it cause a lower temp.

[Spider-Vice]

Me too

I'll try this when I get home.

[kbps]

QUOTE (Spider-Vice @ Dec 25 2008, 15:45)

Me too I'll try this when I get home.

It will be very interesting to compare your FPS before that list of tweaks and after

[Spider-Vice]

Yes, I will post my before and after benchmarks, I was thinking on that!

[Khalids19]

Men i know u ur the Best kbps Ur the best Im gona try this and see if it works for me thank u sooooooooooooo muchhhhhhhhh

[kakarot_9]

Nice job man.

[proh1]

hey asshole, your no-logo mod f*cked my game and now it wont even start. f*ck you.

[DAPPA_T_A]

QUOTE

My GPU reaches 80ºC when I play normally so you mean that the tweak will fry my card?

Thats perfectly normal for a Nvidia GPU, i have ran tests before and one of them involved purposly stopping the GPU fan and running Crysis a graphics intensive game to see how far she would go.

The GPU temp stabalized at a temp of about 120ºC, and didnt go any higher with that game, the GPU still ran stable at that temp aswell, but i ended up turning the fan back on, as i got board after 20mins as it didnt fry.

This was using a 256MB Geforce 8600GTS

[kbps]

QUOTE (proh1 @ Dec 25 2008, 18:24)

hey asshole, your no-logo mod f*cked my game and now it wont even start. f*ck you.

good assholes always get assholes xD wish you more assholes in your life ))))

[DIRTYDUNKY]

QUOTE (Spider-Vice @ Dec 25 2008, 10:09)

My GPU reaches 80ºC when I play normally so you mean that the tweak will fry my card?

make sure your GPU fan is running at full power
i use profiles in CCC for my ATI 3870 so that when i enter a game my fan spped increases to 100% (very loud) and when i exit a game it reduces it to 50% for noise reduction

my gpu stays about 41deg after playin GTA4 for an hour
it stays at about 45 deg withthe fan at 50% when im just bouncing around the internet and doing less GPU intense things

This post has been edited by DIRTYDUNKY on Thursday, Dec 25 2008, 19:02

[Spider-Vice]

QUOTE (kbps @ Dec 25 2008, 15:13)

QUOTE (Spider-Vice @ Dec 25 2008, 15:09) My GPU reaches 80ºC when I play normally so you mean that the tweak will fry my card? that tweak makes your game use less your video/cpu, I hope it cause a lower temp.

Whoa, thank you. Previously I ra the game at less than 18/15 FPS and now I play it between 20 and 30!
Thank you so much!!!

[kbps]

QUOTE (Spider-Vice @ Dec 25 2008, 20:00)

QUOTE (kbps @ Dec 25 2008, 15:13) QUOTE (Spider-Vice @ Dec 25 2008, 15:09) My GPU reaches 80ºC when I play normally so you mean that the tweak will fry my card? that tweak makes your game use less your video/cpu, I hope it cause a lower temp. Whoa, thank you. Previously I ra the game at less than 18/15 FPS and now I play it between 20 and 30! Thank you so much!!!

Excellent! I'm so glad that tweaks helped you!

[Benny1981]

To start with I thought this had worked!

first mission in the car with the annoying guy with the even more annoying east European accent and i was at a decent 30 - 40fps. WOW! this was a big jump from the usual 15 that I get.

BUT, after leaving the pad everything sunk back into the norm and FPS was back at 15 and stutters were everywhere and the game rebooted my computer like it always does! No idea why and there seems to be no pattern to it at all - just random.

Im holding out that a new patch may fix things somewhat but I don't hold my breath!

Good work on putting that guide together - hope it works for many more of you out there that just want to play a game!

Benny*

[kbps]

QUOTE (Benny1981 @ Dec 25 2008, 21:38)

BUT, after leaving the pad everything sunk back into the norm and FPS was back at 15 and stutters were everywhere and the game rebooted my computer like it always does! No idea why and there seems to be no pattern to it at all - just random.

play with this options, add or remove: -nomemrestrict, -noprecache options.
change: -availablevidmem 2.00 - to 1.00 or 0.50 or 2.25.
or just remove that line (-availablevidmem x.xx)

try to change Nvidia's: Maximum pre-rendered frames: 6

reinstall your Windows (don't forget to backup your GTA IV saves and XLive profile !)

and what's your specs?

[Rallzor]

This is Highly recommended for EXTREMELY LOW-END PC'S ONLY!.

if you're having a very low end computer and just want to experience the great game with the gameplay and so on, i highly recommend this. The view distance improves the fps alot. This is how it looks with this tweak.



it may not look that great. But it really improves your fps. So i recommend it for low-end pc's.

Btw you've done a great job with the tweak

Regards

Rallzor.

[proh1]

QUOTE (Rallzor @ Dec 25 2008, 21:50)

This is Highly recommended for EXTREMELY LOW-END PC'S ONLY!. if you're having a very low end computer and just want to experience the great game with the gameplay and so on, i highly recommend this. The view distance improves the fps alot. This is how it looks with this tweak. it may not look that great. But it really improves your fps. So i recommend it for low-end pc's. Btw you've done a great job with the tweak Regards Rallzor.

Tell me what you did so I can do the same.

[High]

my GPU gets to 44ºC. i need a tweek to get him sweaty...even if it doesn't improves performance

[Matija442IsBack]

Texture filtering - Quality: High performance in Nvidia Control Panel is a no-no it f*cks up the water