[DrG24]

I'm having a similar problem, I bought the game and because of my crappy connection it took about 9 - 10 hours to download, I got really excited and launched the game. I noticed in the cinematic it was really laggy, and the gameplay was too. This is the same with GTA: Episodes from Liberty City, my specs are well above the minimum:

Minimum:
OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / Windows XP - Service Pack 3
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHz
Memory: 1.5GB XP / 1.5GB Vista
Graphics: 256MB Nvidia 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card
Hard Drive: 16GB of Hard Disc Space
Sound Card: 5.1 Channel Audio Card
Other Requirements: Initial activation requires internet connection; Online play requires log-in to Games For Windows - Live and Rockstar Games Social Club (13+ to register); software installations required including Adobe Flash, DirectX, Microsoft’s .NET Framework 3.0, Games For Windows - LIVE, and Internet Explorer.

My specs:
OS: Windows 7 Professional
Processor: Intel Core i7 2.8GHz (8 core)
Memory: 4GB DDR3
Graphics: 1GB Nvidia GeForce 9500GT
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Hard Drive (irrelevant but still): 1TB SATA II 7200RPM

What is going on here?

[mkey82]

9500GT is not a gaming card and it's terribly paired wit the i7.

[iolet11]

QUOTE (kenwyne @ Friday, Jan 2 2009, 01:14)

Memory leak. create a text file called commandline in the main gta iv folder and add -memrestrict 314572800 start the game and set your graphics to medium and the problem should go away.

oh my gosh!!! this works!! finally this game is playable in my laptop.. mine used to lag every 20 seconds or less i cant play it at all thank god i finally found the fix for the lag after searching in forums and in youtube all of them did nothing...
my laptop specs:

i5-2430m
geforce gt540m
2gb ram

thank you man i love you

[YankeesPwnMets]

You need a RAM upgrade as well... adding another 2GB will increase performance by a ton.