How is GTA4 on PC ?

I was looking in GAME and saw the GTA4 Complete edition with the base game plus the expansions. I actually own the XBOX 360 version of GTA4 (without expansions). I thought getting the complete edition would be a good excuse to switch over to the PC version (im aware this is available on xbox aswell ;) )

I hope to be building a new PC in the near future, and I kinda fancy getting the PC version of GTA4, however, is it really worth getting it on PC? have they sorted out the problems which were there when the game was first released ?

Thanks but I wasnt asking how well it would run, plus I did say i was building a new system anyway. The question was, how good is the game on PC ? have they sorted out the bugs that were in the original release ?Chris_53

[QUOTE="Chris_53"]Thanks but I wasnt asking how well it would run, plus I did say i was building a new system anyway. The question was, how good is the game on PC ? have they sorted out the bugs that were in the original release ?sakshamH

You can run it just fine, TC, keep in mind if you want to max the settings out, it's safe to say you HAVE to have at lest 1GB of video memory on your video card, otherwise you have to do tweaks/change shortcut properties to be able to select those details.

With the PC version you get to have your own music in a 'user' radio station, along with the ability to capture clips to make videos seen on the "Rockstar Social Club" stie and youtube. Your system in your sig will run the game - I ran the game the first time on an AMD Opteron 170 (dual-core running at 2.0 GHz, with 4GB PC3200 DDR and an 8800 Ultra card with 768MB of ram and with some settings adjustments I was able to have a game that looked great and ran smooth enough for me.

I recommend turning down AA, shadows and view distance in most cases, while keeping "detail distance" max - with textures, water, reflections whatever your video memory allows you to set them at. GTA IV, and the Episodes From Liberty City add-on can be just as fun as the console versions while having those added features. With separate Rockstar Social Club and Games for Windows logins, you can even run the game on up to 3 different LAN-connected computers both offline and on. - You get 3 activations and if you uninstall from one you can have it revoke the activation to retain it for a later reinstall.

Here's a link to my first test capture with the clip capture feature of the game. At the time I was using 1600x1200 resolution and basically high settings and it was enough to render the video at 1280x720 without much hassle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uauBWAhQUzc

I ended up uploading 3 other videos - all from around the same time - all the same settings. It should give you at least some idea of how the game can run and look, though you do have a faster CPU than I do, and while less RAM, yours is DDR 2 - and as far as I know your 9800GTX should have similar capabilities to the 8800 Ultra I had at that time. Though, I'm now running a GTS 250 with 1GB of ram.

Edit: This video might better represent how my computer ran the game at the time of capture -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1sR4e9XgW4&feature=related

The game itself is great (base game + EFLC) but its performance is not so good, just remember to set your shadows to low or medium since those have a great impact on performance and don't go overboard with the settings... and most importantly disable fraps fps counter ;) ... that thing is evil.

Performance was really bad when it was released. It's gotten better since, but it's still quite bad. It starts out fine, but as you progress through the game and start venturing into the bigger parts of Liberty City, it starts to chug quite noticeably.

You'll certainly be able to get away with settings at least as good as the 360/PS3 versions (here) with an okay frame rate.

The main bonus is that you can play at a higher resolution. I have a similar-ish spec to you (same GPU, dual core CPU), and performance is exactly the same at 1680x1050 and 800x600.

Overall, with your current spec there's nothing about the PC version to recommend it over the PS3 or 360 version. But with a better rig, it's obviously the better version.

It's awesome. Much better controls, much better graphics, Independence FM, video editor. Loads of awesome mods, too. It was never a buggy game, it's just badly optimized. To their credit, Rockstar has been working on this a lot and released quite a few patches that managed to improve things.

It's awesome. Much better controls, much better graphics, Independence FM, video editor. Loads of awesome mods, too. It was never a buggy game, it's just badly optimized. To their credit, Rockstar has been working on this a lot and released quite a few patches that managed to improve things.

UpInFlames

[QUOTE="UpInFlames"]

It's awesome. Much better controls, much better graphics, Independence FM, video editor. Loads of awesome mods, too. It was never a buggy game, it's just badly optimized. To their credit, Rockstar has been working on this a lot and released quite a few patches that managed to improve things.

the_ChEeSe_mAn2

I ran it just fine on a dual core, E84000 3.2 ghz gtx285 and 4 gigs ram. I didnt notice any problems.

Once I played with enb mod series and other improved texture and weather cycles I could not go back to playing the game without those mods. I also agree what everybody else has been saying it wasn't optimised that well and certainly at launch but the patches have improved it a bit but not that great imo. GTA IV despite its problems is still worth playing if your spec'd up well but I don't know you have already played on 360 so its up to you since you still want to pick up the episodes.

[QUOTE="the_ChEeSe_mAn2"][QUOTE="UpInFlames"]

It's awesome. Much better controls, much better graphics, Independence FM, video editor. Loads of awesome mods, too. It was never a buggy game, it's just badly optimized. To their credit, Rockstar has been working on this a lot and released quite a few patches that managed to improve things.

blues35301

i can't play it with high textures (the game doesn't allow me to select the high setting, it only goes up to medium) but it runs well enough with shadows at medium and everything else maxed out on my system. i'm 6 hours in and it hasn't frozen/crashed once. fps usually stays in the range of 40-55 fps.

I was looking in GAME and saw the GTA4 Complete edition with the base game plus the expansions. I actually own the XBOX 360 version of GTA4 (without expansions). I thought getting the complete edition would be a good excuse to switch over to the PC version (im aware this is available on xbox aswell ;) )

I hope to be building a new PC in the near future, and I kinda fancy getting the PC version of GTA4, however, is it really worth getting it on PC? have they sorted out the problems which were there when the game was first released ?

Chris_53

It won't run well at all on your current system because GTA IV recommends a quad-core processor to run smoothly and at high settings. I had fun on my quad-core, GTX 275 system, but people with lesser systems may think otherwise.the_ChEeSe_mAn2

You can run it just fine, TC, keep in mind if you want to max the settings out, it's safe to say you HAVE to have at lest 1GB of video memory on your video card, otherwise you have to do tweaks/change shortcut properties to be able to select those details.

With the PC version you get to have your own music in a 'user' radio station, along with the ability to capture clips to make videos seen on the "Rockstar Social Club" stie and youtube. Your system in your sig will run the game - I ran the game the first time on an AMD Opteron 170 (dual-core running at 2.0 GHz, with 4GB PC3200 DDR and an 8800 Ultra card with 768MB of ram and with some settings adjustments I was able to have a game that looked great and ran smooth enough for me.

I recommend turning down AA, shadows and view distance in most cases, while keeping "detail distance" max - with textures, water, reflections whatever your video memory allows you to set them at. GTA IV, and the Episodes From Liberty City add-on can be just as fun as the console versions while having those added features. With separate Rockstar Social Club and Games for Windows logins, you can even run the game on up to 3 different LAN-connected computers both offline and on. - You get 3 activations and if you uninstall from one you can have it revoke the activation to retain it for a later reinstall.

Stinger78

I was looking in GAME and saw the GTA4 Complete edition with the base game plus the expansions. I actually own the XBOX 360 version of GTA4 (without expansions). I thought getting the complete edition would be a good excuse to switch over to the PC version (im aware this is available on xbox aswell ;) )

I hope to be building a new PC in the near future, and I kinda fancy getting the PC version of GTA4, however, is it really worth getting it on PC? have they sorted out the problems which were there when the game was first released ?

Chris_53

[QUOTE="Chris_53"]

I was looking in GAME and saw the GTA4 Complete edition with the base game plus the expansions. I actually own the XBOX 360 version of GTA4 (without expansions). I thought getting the complete edition would be a good excuse to switch over to the PC version (im aware this is available on xbox aswell ;) )

I hope to be building a new PC in the near future, and I kinda fancy getting the PC version of GTA4, however, is it really worth getting it on PC? have they sorted out the problems which were there when the game was first released ?

SPBoss

It won't run well at all on your current system because GTA IV recommends a quad-core processor to run smoothly and at high settings. I had fun on my quad-core, GTX 275 system, but people with lesser systems may think otherwise.the_ChEeSe_mAn2

GTAIV... as an FPS? I must know how! :o

GTAIV... as an FPS? I must know how! :o

psn8214

It generally depends on the PC , some PC's suffer from stuttering while others can run it smoothly . Unfortunately i am the former, even though i have a quad core i5, 4gb ddr3 ram and a ATI 5770, It is pretty much unplayable for me (even on the lowest possible settings). I've only tried EFLC though and I dont mean to put you off, but i'm just giving you my experiances with it.

You can run it just fine, TC, keep in mind if you want to max the settings out, it's safe to say you HAVE to have at lest 1GB of video memory on your video card, otherwise you have to do tweaks/change shortcut properties to be able to select those details.

With the PC version you get to have your own music in a 'user' radio station, along with the ability to capture clips to make videos seen on the "Rockstar Social Club" stie and youtube. Your system in your sig will run the game - I ran the game the first time on an AMD Opteron 170 (dual-core running at 2.0 GHz, with 4GB PC3200 DDR and an 8800 Ultra card with 768MB of ram and with some settings adjustments I was able to have a game that looked great and ran smooth enough for me.

I recommend turning down AA, shadows and view distance in most cases, while keeping "detail distance" max - with textures, water, reflections whatever your video memory allows you to set them at. GTA IV, and the Episodes From Liberty City add-on can be just as fun as the console versions while having those added features. With separate Rockstar Social Club and Games for Windows logins, you can even run the game on up to 3 different LAN-connected computers both offline and on. - You get 3 activations and if you uninstall from one you can have it revoke the activation to retain it for a later reinstall.

You can run it just fine, TC, keep in mind if you want to max the settings out, it's safe to say you HAVE to have at lest 1GB of video memory on your video card, otherwise you have to do tweaks/change shortcut properties to be able to select those details.

With the PC version you get to have your own music in a 'user' radio station, along with the ability to capture clips to make videos seen on the "Rockstar Social Club" stie and youtube. Your system in your sig will run the game - I ran the game the first time on an AMD Opteron 170 (dual-core running at 2.0 GHz, with 4GB PC3200 DDR and an 8800 Ultra card with 768MB of ram and with some settings adjustments I was able to have a game that looked great and ran smooth enough for me.

I recommend turning down AA, shadows and view distance in most cases, while keeping "detail distance" max - with textures, water, reflections whatever your video memory allows you to set them at. GTA IV, and the Episodes From Liberty City add-on can be just as fun as the console versions while having those added features. With separate Rockstar Social Club and Games for Windows logins, you can even run the game on up to 3 different LAN-connected computers both offline and on. - You get 3 activations and if you uninstall from one you can have it revoke the activation to retain it for a later reinstall.

Make sure you have a graphics card with enough memory, as this game requires a lot ot look nice. It is quite the game to try and run in some aspects! That said it is fun to play with someone and joke around. It is overall one of the best GTA games, but with that said it just isnt as fun as San Andreas IMO, which is mainly due to the fact that the environment is boring and repetitive. The PC version is better then the others though in case you are wondering.

[QUOTE="SPBoss"]

[QUOTE="Chris_53"]
[QUOTE="the_ChEeSe_mAn2"]It won't run well at all on your current system because GTA IV recommends a quad-core processor to run smoothly and at high settings. I had fun on my quad-core, GTX 275 system, but people with lesser systems may think otherwise.sakshamH

I haven't bothered with flying car mods, but I do have a flying bike mod that can be turned on and off,

And that image with the cars/people in the air is actually telekenisis, you can throw cars and people around like anything :D

Heres my gamespot forum link to all the mods I have done (LINK)

[QUOTE="sakshamH"]

[QUOTE="SPBoss"]

I get more fps than some people who have quad cores, and all I got is a dual core phenom. To TC your game will run fine, just dont put the draw distance to more than 25 in the settings.
When you get bored of GTa, tbogt and eflc you can start modding.
Heres my In-Game screenshots

SPBoss

I haven't bothered with flying car mods, but I do have a flying bike mod that can be turned on and off,

And that image with the cars/people in the air is actually telekenisis, you can throw cars and people around like anything :D

Heres my gamespot forum link to all the mods I have done (LINK)

[QUOTE="SPBoss"]

[QUOTE="sakshamH"] I loved them! car flying mods are awesome. Do they work with 1.7?

sakshamH

I haven't bothered with flying car mods, but I do have a flying bike mod that can be turned on and off,

And that image with the cars/people in the air is actually telekenisis, you can throw cars and people around like anything :D

Heres my gamespot forum link to all the mods I have done (LINK)

[QUOTE="the_ChEeSe_mAn2"]It won't run well at all on your current system because GTA IV recommends a quad-core processor to run smoothly and at high settings. I had fun on my quad-core, GTX 275 system, but people with lesser systems may think otherwise.chandu83

Completely misleading!

Sorry, if the question is what would it take to run the game on highest settings, then you are right.

I played the game on a dual core with 8500GS 512MB, and at strictly medium-low settings and 1280x1024, the game worked just fine.

Look, the game is a resource hog. No doubt. I also get the feeling that its not very well optimized for the PC, but that's just my gut feeling, I did not do any research on this.

However, the game will work on slightly dated machines. You have to compromise on visuals though. And even on that PC that I played, it looked as good as the xbox 360 version.

So yes, if you want it at highest settings, then you will need a monster. If you do not mind playing it on medium-low at 1280x1024, anything over 8500GS will do fine.

If you are building a new machine, you won't have any problems running the game, especially if you get it from Steam which has all the patches anyway, I would imagine.

I did not have any problems and I am using a 260GTX.

[QUOTE="sakshamH"]

[QUOTE="SPBoss"]

I haven't bothered with flying car mods, but I do have a flying bike mod that can be turned on and off,

And that image with the cars/people in the air is actually telekenisis, you can throw cars and people around like anything :D

Heres my gamespot forum link to all the mods I have done (LINK)

SPBoss