[Gta3Expert1989]

So I bought GTA4 yesterday and installed it on my computer, and after waiting SO long for it too install the game ran very slow on my computer. I made my resource usage as low as possible (I got it down to about 235 MB I believe) And benchmarks showed the fastest it ran was 9.35 fps (I think the actual game ran faster then what the benchmark said) Is there a solution to fix this so my comp can run the game at a normal speed? My computer is about 2 years old but here are my specs (unchanged since I got the computer)

Dell Vostro 400
Windows Xp SP3
160Gb Hard Drive (this game takes 10% of My hd space? Wow )
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.64 Ghz
2 Gigs of Ram
NVidia GeForce 8300 512MB
DirectX 9.0

So it seems as if my computer is well within the requirements, but the game is still running slow. Can somebody help me with a solution? My comp runs San Andreas, Vice City, and GTA3 with no problems. I used to be huge into modding back when I played GTA3 and VC, but Im a total noob when it comes to GTA4

[CharmingCharlie]

I am not sure where you got the impression your PC is well within the requirements ? Yes your cpu and ram are within the requirements, but your graphics card most definitely does not meet the requirements to play this game.

The minimum GPU you should run GTA 4 with is a 7900gt I can tell you now that the 8300 (although it has a higher product name) comes no where close to the power of a 7900gt. If you want to stand any chance of playing GTA 4 at "reasonable" settings and frame rates then you are going to have to upgrade your graphics card. Even with a decent graphics card you will still be restricted to low/medium settings because of your dual core cpu.

[Gta3Expert1989]

but I thought my card was good enough to run it, according to the box, 256 MB of video memory is required, I have 512, 2x as much. So I dont see how my card isn't powerful enough

Maybe I don't know computers as well as I think?

[CharmingCharlie]

The amount of memory on a graphics card is only a small part of the story, you could think of the memory as the graphics cards "fuel tank" the ability your graphics card has to render also matters immensely. In your case the 8300 is an incredibly low end card, it is little better than the integrated graphic solutions offered by Intel. The only way you are going to get playable frame rates on GTA 4 is if you replace the graphics card and I would also surmise your power supply would need upgrading too since it's a Dell

If you are looking for suggestions then it comes down to what you want to pay, I wouldn't go any lower than a 9600gt, if possible go for a GTS250 or an ATI 5770. Those three cards should allow you to reach at least medium settings (probably higher) with playable framerates. If you want better than that then you will need to move up to a quadcore cpu.

[Gta3Expert1989]

so how much do one of these cards go for? does best buy sell em?

i'll try googling them

This post has been edited by Gta3Expert1989 on Monday, Jun 7 2010, 23:54

[CharmingCharlie]

I have had a look on bestbuys website :-

http://www.bestbuy.com/

They don't have any 9600gt's (not surprising it is an old card now). You could go with a 9800gt for $120 link. The cheapest GTS 250 is around $149 link . The HD 5770 is around $199 link . Remember though you may need to factor the cost of a better PSU into your budget, I really can't see Dell putting a decent power supply into a PC with such a low end card.

However before you go buying a new graphics card it is important you check to see if your motherboard has a PCI-E slot to plug a new graphics card into it. A lot of PC manufacturers skimp on a PCI-E slot to save money. Just do a google search for PCI-E slot and check the images out to see what the slot looks like.

This post has been edited by CharmingCharlie on Tuesday, Jun 8 2010, 00:03

[Gta3Expert1989]

QUOTE (CharmingCharlie @ Jun 7 2010, 23:59)

I have had a look on bestbuys website :- http://www.bestbuy.com/ They don't have any 9600gt's (not surprising it is an old card now).  You could go with a 9800gt for $120 link.  The cheapest GTS 250 is around $149 link .  The HD 5770 is around $199 link .  Remember though you may need to factor the cost of a better PSU into your budget, I really can't see Dell putting a decent power supply into a PC with such a low end card.

its really not worth it then if i have to spend that much i might as well get an xbox 360 and tv set, and it would cost me less or the same. either way i dont think its worth all that money just so i can play one game. im just going to take the loss of $20 (the cost of the game at Target, i cant return it) and perhaps send it to my younger brother in Florida as a gift

my computer is dated now i guess. Im not really a hardcore gamer, so the money isn't worth it

I found on bestbuy.com an Nvidia 9400 GT 1GB video card for $85, would that be good? If so then maybe my cause isn't lost

This post has been edited by Gta3Expert1989 on Tuesday, Jun 8 2010, 00:12

[sammclean23]

Just for the record....check my sig for extra spec...but I use 2 x 7950 GT (similiar enough to 7900) and the game runs fine, medium settings

you dont need to spend alot. Trust me. Obviously my computer is outdated alot now, but the Sli setup works a treat.

Again though, it is an old card and the overclocked version I use has proven pretty hard to find.

Good luck finding what you need.

P.S. THE BOX SPECIFICATION IS USUALLY BASED ON A FRESH INSTALLATION OF AN OPERATING SYSTEM. AFTER 2 YEARS OF USE THAT OPERATING SYSTEM (AND PROCESSING ALIKE) WILL HAVE DECREASED GREATLY IN PERFORMANCE, UNLESS IT IS MAINTINAED OF COURSE.

[CharmingCharlie]

QUOTE (Gta3Expert1989 @ Jun 8 2010, 01:03)

I found on bestbuy.com an Nvidia 9400 GT 1GB video card for $85, would that be good? If so then maybe my cause isn't lost

I would personally say that $80 for a 9400gt isn't worth it, yes it is better than your 8300 but you would still be looking at low settings and around 15fps in GTA 4. The lowest I would go is a 9600gt (about twice as powerful as the 9400gt). You could look to ATI graphic cards but I am not all that knowledgeable on ATI's stuff (not a big fan of their cards myself) but their stuff is cheaper than Nvidia. I would have a look around if you can find somewhere selling an 8800gt or a 9600gt you should get decent performance out of GTA 4 but don't go for cards lower than that.

Remember when shopping for a graphics card the second digit in the name is important, so an 8800gt is much more powerful than a 9400gt.

QUOTE (sammclean23 @ Jun 8 2010, 10:55)

Just for the record....check my sig for extra spec...but I use 2 x 7950 GT (similiar enough to 7900) and the game runs fine, medium settings

I appreciate what you are saying but you do have 2 x 7950, the TC only has 1 x 8300 the 8300 is probably about 4 - 5 times slower than one of your 7950gt's.

Now I am a tight git at the best of times and yes it is possible to do PC gaming on a budget but you just waste money by buying a low end graphics card for under $100.

[sammclean23]

Oh right yeah. Do you mean instead of upgrading to an older card...you might aswell purchase a performance card for less than the old one would have cost?

[CharmingCharlie]

The problem with upgrading to an older card is firstly trying to get one new, I haven't seen a 7XXX series card sold for ages now. Obviously there is the second hand market but I have always been wary of buying PC components second hand. Secondaly if you buy an older 7 series card you are not going to get much life out of it, I think we can certainly say you won't be able to play the next GTA on a 7 series card. So it seems silly to buy a card that can only just about play GTA 4 and have to pay more money when another GTA comes out for a new card. Thirdly this is GTA 4 we are talking about here when the game first came out it barely worked with a 7900 I believe it didn't even show car damage on those cards when it was first released and there were problems with square leaves (unbelievable but true).

I just feel that people can save themselves an awful lot of hassle by just pushing their budget a bit higher and getting something midrange that will give you a decent boost in performance. The TC's situation is a good example he can buy a 9400gt for $80, this card is obviously better than the 8300 but not by much and it will probably manage all low settings at around 15fps. However if he could just find another $40 he could go for a 9800gt ($120) now this is a decent midrange card that will probably get GTA 4 running at mostly medium settings at around 25 - 30fps. In fact I would say the 9800gt would probably last till after the next GTA comes out on the PC but a 9400gt is already old and dated now and certainly won't play the next GTA decently.

I know money doesn't grow on trees and we are all feeling the pinch but to me $80 on a low end card like a 9400gt is just throwing money away. You are much better putting that money aside till you can afford a 9800gt or alternatively put it towards an xbox 360 which will let you play the game at a much higher quality than a 9400gt ever will.

I don't know if the TC has the ability to buy off the net, but there is a US company called Newegg that does some fantastic deals price wise. They have a 9600gt going for $90 which will be more than enough to play GTA 4 at medium settings :-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130360

Or better still here is a 9800gt for $2 more :-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814261046

This post has been edited by CharmingCharlie on Tuesday, Jun 8 2010, 15:43

[Garfield 2]

I paid 400eur ($550) for the computer in my specs below.
Playing IV in Medium-High settings with a stable 30fps (1280x720) or at medium with 25-40fps (1920x1080)

[Gta3Expert1989]

Here's what I found on bestbuy.com for ATI Video Cards

BTW I've been emphasizing Best Buy because I have a credit card with them

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemplatemap...es&nrp=15&iht=n

Which of these ATI cards looks the best in your opinions?

[CharmingCharlie]

As I said my knowledge of ATI is a bit "basic" so I am probably not the best guide as to which ATI card to get. I had a look around and from what I can see out of the ATI cards there the HD 5670 is probably your best option price wise if you don't want to spend too much money :-

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sapphire+-+ATI...=ATI&cp=1&lp=13

Looking at a general review of this ATI chipset you are probably looking at around 25 - 30fps on medium settings with that card :-



Even though the test was done on an i7 you should see comparable results on your dual core (the graphics card would actually be slowing down an i7 but you won't have that problem). You can read more about the HD5670 here :-

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,703129/...-Euros/Reviews/

The GTA 4 benchmark test can be found here :-

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,703129/...Reviews/?page=8

[Gta3Expert1989]

was at Best buy today, found a GeForce 9500 GT for I believe $120? It was marked down from $140 It was a 1GB card

There were selling several other ones I thought would have been good but now I cant remember them

This post has been edited by Gta3Expert1989 on Tuesday, Jun 8 2010, 20:32

[CharmingCharlie]

I am glad you didn't get it, the 9500gt is still too slow to run GTA 4, yes it is better than your 8300 but it is still too slow to run GTA 4 at playable framerates on "decent" settings. Any Nvidia card below the 9600gt (with the exception of the 8800gt) is NOT worth the money you pay. The 9300/9400/9500 are not gaming cards their principal job in life is to just run the desktop display and maybe show movies that is it. They are no good at rendering complexed 3D scenes that you find in GTA 4. Also don't get caught in the memory trap, a 9500 with 1gb of ram is useless, the 1gb will give no performance boost. A 9600gt with 512mbs will slaughter a 9500gt with 1gb of ram.

You have to understand GTA 4 is a highly demanding game even on low settings you still need decent hardware to run it well. I have to be honest if you cannot meet the cost of a 9600gt or the HD 5670 then it really is not worth bothering with GTA 4 on the PC.

[shiek]

I hate GTAIV for this reason you need to spend a ton of money on your pc...

[KLLRDG]

My graphics card is an ATI Radeon HD 4650 and I could run IV on a steady 35fps on med-high graphics...
Throw in the enviornment mod (which for some reason boosted my FPS) and I got around 38-40, even with modded vehicles...
Maybe the fact that my CPU is a quad core helped, but my graphics card isn't much and it still did fine...

[Gta3Expert1989]

QUOTE (KLLRDG @ Jun 9 2010, 00:18)

My graphics card is an ATI Radeon HD 4650 and I could run IV on a steady 35fps on med-high graphics... Throw in the enviornment mod (which for some reason boosted my FPS) and I got around 38-40, even with modded vehicles... Maybe the fact that my CPU is a quad core helped, but my graphics card isn't much and it still did fine...

I purchased the 4650 today after reading your post and am installing the drivers as I speak, we'll see how it goes

[Gta3Expert1989]

Just ran the benchmark on my ATI 4650

SImply summed up
21 FPS
CPU Usage 87%
Memory Usage 96%
Video Usage 68%

That was on medium settings, I lowered them a little bit and got higher rates. Highest I got was 25 or 26 FPS, with textures set to low, everything else set the same