Advice for an upgrade to play GTA IV

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by SL-spirit, Feb 19, 2009.

  1. SL-spirit

    SL-spirit Master Guru

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    Hi, I'm mainly interested in playing GTA IV and Fear 2 on my computer, but my current setup doesn't match the required performance to play the game. So I'm willing to spend from $200-$300 for an upgrade. Here's my current system specs:

    Asrock P4i65G motherboard (Old socket 478 motherboard)
    Geforce 7600GS 512mb video card
    2 x 1GB DDR ram
    Thermaltake 430W PSU (Came with the thermaltake soprano case) – Willing to keep the case
    2 x 80GB HDD

    BTW, I live in Australia so I'll be buying all the stuff from http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

    So I came up with the following upgrades:

    2GB 800MHz Kingston Ram – $29

    MSI P43 Neo-F – $89

    512MB Gigabyte 9400GT – $65

    Would this allow me to play the games without experiencing game lag etc??? I would also be overcloking the new GPU, CPU to get the max gaming performance.... Thanks...
     
  2. LedHed

    LedHed Banned

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    First of all GTA IV and FEAR 2 are on two different levels for hardware requirements.

    GTA IV needs either a stock quad or a heavily overclocked dual (3.8-4.2ghz), this is due to the massive CPU bottleneck in GTA IV. When I upgraded from my A64 X2@2.7ghz to my E8500@4.1ghz my GTA IV FPS literally tripled, but going from Crossfire 4850 to GTX 295 showed almost no gains. This is because GTA IV is a CPU hog, the more cores and the higher the clockspeed the better. I would recommend either an E8400 and OC it to 4.0ghz or look at the C2Q which have dropped in price a lot.


    FEAR 2 on the other hand will run just fine on 3 year old hardware, this is because FEAR 2 scales very well. An 8600GT will play FEAR 2 at low/med settings with acceptable frames when paired up with a cheap C2D. Hell on my setup which is a mixture of high/med range products I average 200fps in FEAR 2 with all settings maxed @1920x1200 4xAA 16xAF. FEAR 2 is much more optimized than GTA IV, which eats a lot of modern hardware alive.

    Minimum video card I would recommend is the 8800GT/HD4850, both of which can be found for under $100. I currently have two 4850's for sale for $90 a piece, so that gives you an idea of the price range. The 8800/9800GT is also a great card, but make sure you get the 512mb version.

    Hope this helped.
     
  3. SL-spirit

    SL-spirit Master Guru

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    Thanks for the quick reply, it gave me a clear idea of what I have to buy but my low budget is what draws me back from buying the parts. So how about if I buy the E5200 - $115 and overclock it near or above 3GHz, buy a 512Mb 9800GT Inno3D - $176, MSI P43 Neo-F mobo - $115, 2GB 800Mhz kingston ram - $34 and maybe and maybe an alrite PSU power all these. Since you mentioned that GTA IV is a CPU hog and does not require much GPU power, so can I go for the 1GB 9500GT which can be bought for $95??? I'm trying to spend the minimum $$$ for this upgrade... Thanks again for your advice...

    More: Does more RAM increase the performance??? :)
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2009
  4. DSK

    DSK Banned

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    GTA4 is just not gona run didn't even run that well on my GTX260 its really a waste of cash.
     

  5. SL-spirit

    SL-spirit Master Guru

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    I'm not sure about this, but it could be your E1400CPU that might be the reason for crappy performance...
     
  6. It just runs so badly in general. No matter what hardware you use.
    Awful xbox port. If you want it to play properly, get it on a 360.
     
  7. DSK

    DSK Banned

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    Well at the time i had a E1200 @ 3.2ghz but yeh the cpu bottleneck would be why, most people have bad perfomance anyways.
     
  8. eclap

    eclap Banned

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    Look, this one is really simple... Get a cheap dualcore and oc it, get a 8800gt or similar card (9500gt will suck big time in pretty much anything). If you get a C2D @ around 3ghz, 2gb ram and 8800gt (9800gt etc) then you'll be able to play anything on high/highest settings. With 2gb of ram I'd stick to Windows XP as well, Vista is more memory hungry and for smooth stutter free gaming you'll need 4gb in some games. Oh, and don't expect GTA4 to run well on this rig. To be fair, to run GTA 4 well, you NEED a quad or a modern dualcore with loads of cache and high clocks. A budget one will just not do it. Apart from GTA4 you'll be able to play pretty much everything out there with nice settings.
     
  9. SL-spirit

    SL-spirit Master Guru

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    Does this mean that the game will experience lag and stuff like that? Btw, I'm thinking of playing the game at 1280 x 1024 resolution or somewhere closer to that. With that rig what's the highest resolution that I can play the game at? Thanks for the advices guyz... :)
     
  10. theman7233

    theman7233 Member Guru

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  11. illdrag0n

    illdrag0n Guest

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    id advise putting a couple hundred more away and getting:

    E7400 2.8ghz $194
    ASUS P5KPL-1600 $108
    512M 9800GT Inno3D $176
    2G-800 A-data $34

    total: $512

    the extra $200 will get a better machine then the puddle you originally suggested
     
  12. eclap

    eclap Banned

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    No matter what you do in GTA4, you'll have to play it with sliders quite drastically in the bottom half, I'd say a view distance around 10-15, traffic and details at around 30 with no shadows, even then you'll see lag and stuttering from time to time. Ok, the game will be playable, but it won't run as well as you'd expect.
     
  13. SL-spirit

    SL-spirit Master Guru

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    Can all these be powered with a Thermaltake 430W PSU which came with my Soprano case? + would the motherboard also fit into the Soprano case as I'm willing to keep both the PSU and the case.
     
  14. Uncle Dude

    Uncle Dude Ancient Guru

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    FWIW:

    I was running an 9800GTX+OC with an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (2.2 ghz) and getting around 20fps on the GTA IV benchmark at very modest settings, and worse in-game. Really, it was unplayable.

    [​IMG]

    Then I bought a GTX285 and gained only 10fps on the same settings. :bang:

    Finally I bit the bullet and went for the cpu/mobo upgrade. Now I get around 50fps with all settings cranked. The game looks beautiful and plays smoothly.

    Sorry to say, I don't think this game can be made to play well "on the cheap". Check the forums-you'll read countless tales of frustration.

    Good luck.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2009
  15. tamzid

    tamzid Master Guru

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    forget about upgrading your pc buy a ps3 and a xbox
     

  16. LedHed

    LedHed Banned

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    you can find a 9800/8800GT (EXACT SAME CARDS) for under $100, during holiday sales they hit as low as $86.99 for 9800GT. Which ever model you find cheapest rather it be 8800 or 9800 get it. The only difference between the 8 Series and 9 Series is Hybrid Power support and Tri-SLI, the performance is identical and a highly clocked 8800GT will out perform a stock 9800GTX+. I've seen my old 8800GT hit 850/2106/2000 with a volt-mod. Do not spend $180 as posted above, that is a retarded price for 2 year old GPU technology.
     
  17. SL-spirit

    SL-spirit Master Guru

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    This is the price in Australia for the 9800GT...

    Now I'm thinking of building a whole new rig worth around $1K to play games...
     
  18. kaazz

    kaazz Master Guru

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    GTA4 works fine on Q6600 & 8800GT. I advice you to rather spend money on CPU, and if you have money left, then on 9600GT, if it's possible.
     
  19. SixthAvenue

    SixthAvenue Member

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    Alright. About GTA4.this is what i read online.

    Gta IV is a new game, and the coding of the game are very bad. and due to the bad codings, even with the most powerful computer, there will still be some laggings and UN-smoothness. After some recent patch, maybe it improves. but dont worry. just turn off water and some other important things you dont need.

    theres this TUT that shows you how to edit some gta 4 files and dll so that it wont lag. i used it before. with that tweak. even my younger sister's old Core2duo with 8600gs can run it well on medium settings..

    heres some proff that its due to the bad codings.,

    Try putting the settings EVERYTHING to lowest. and check the performence. try EVERYTHING to highest and check the performence. its still the same!
     
  20. mitzi76

    mitzi76 Guest

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    if you're upgrading mainly to play gta4 i wouldnt bother. and yep only way to play this game really is on xbox or ps3. and even then it wasnt that good. over-hyped.

    i'd save your cash and go for a complete re-build. a corei7 with min 260. that would play gta4.

    but if you are really a big fan get a ps3..it looks like you have had your current setup awhile so i'd start saving...:)

    the diff between corei7 and your current will be like night and day.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2009

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