Comparison: Assassins Creed and GTA IV

So I was thinking about getting GTA IV onto my laptop.. Well, I did find videos about someone getting it to work with a 9300M GS, although it seems like he has a DDR3 model. I'm currently playing Assassins Creed and I'm quite surprised that I could play it with the highest level of detail and graphic quality in 1088x612 resolution, although I am using the DX9 mode of the game.. Can anyone compare for me the performance of the two games? I was kinda thinking that perhaps if I could play Assassins Creed (although perhaps ~20fps or less) then I could also run GTA IV. Anyone can clear this up?

 

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Assasins Creed does not recommend a Quad Core for play like GTA IV does and is less demanding.

GTA IV is very CPU dependent as well as GPU intensive at the same time but with Assasins Creed, you could get away with a really good GPU and a lesser CPU.

In short, I wouldn't bother expecting anything playable in IV at those specs you mentioned.

As an example, I have an NP8662, 3GB DDR3 RAM, XP SP3, a 2.0 Ghz Quad Q9000 CPU and a 1GB Vram GTX 260M and I could only ever play GTA IV at 1680 X 1050 resolutions at about 30 fps, lowering resolutions never made much difference.

Of course, I now get about 42 fps after changing drivers but this does not work for everyone.

 

Unfortunately you're not likely to get much for performance. GTA IV is a HUGE resource hog. GTA performance is ok on my current laptop, but it still runs worse than almost all other games.

 

You won't really be able to play GTA 4, you could run it, but you would get very low FPS, due to your week processor.

 

+1
And you can't play Multiplayer, becouse you will be kicked from server. If you get low FPS, the server "automaticly" kick you from the game.

Anyway, suggest you to not buy the game.

 

How many people can play on one map of Free play for GTA, I know for xbox it's limited to about 18, wondering if PC supports more?

 

32 players, not only at free mode...
I'm a heavy GTA IV player so feel free to ask

 

If I was to get it, It would be playable, but compared to the xbox version, would it look better on my laptop?

 

Maybe, It depends on which settings you play. If you play at medium/low it will be around the same. But If you play at high settings PC version looks a way much better. I have compared it becouse some of my friend playing it at Xbox 360.
How much memory does NVidia 9600m GT have ? 256 or 512 mb ???

 

The XBOX 360 equivalents are:

Resolution: 1280x720 @ 25-30fps
Texture Quality: Medium
Reflection Resolution: Medium
Water Quality: Medium
Shadow Quality: High
Render Quality: Low
View Distance: 21
Detail Distance: 10
Vehicle Density: 33
Shadow Density: 0
Definition: Off
Vsync: Off

If you can play equal to or better than these settings, it will look better on your laptop.

 

512mb DDR2, Bus Width of 128bit.

 

You will be playing around Xbox settings I guess.

 

Well, I was half-expecting performance something like the one shown in the video Soviet Sunrise posted, since we both have similar specs, and I do think the T5750 and the T5800 perform nearly alike, so if I could get off like ~15fps then maybe I could stand it.. Aside from the GPU/CPU, there are no more other factors I have to consider? For example, having more RAM wouldn't increase the performance perhaps?

 

To start with, the 9300m GT is a weak card, so don't expect miracles. Now with reference to GTA IV: it is heavily CPU dependent due to the amount of AI's (artificial intelligences... A.K.A. the people walking and driving) that you cannot expect great framerates, even if you add more RAM. There have been reports in several threads (this forum) from people reporting that only the fastest core duo's processors (or ATI equivalent) are able to keep up with reasonable framerates.

 

And I only have a 9300M GS. Heheh. Anyway, since I might be getting a next-gen console sometime in the future perhaps I'd be fine for a while playing the game in a measly fps rate, and I'm gonna give the game a try.

 

Sorry for the mistake on the GPU... Well, many people have bashed GTA IV for being a poor port, I haven't played it, but from the comments I have heard you should either have a quad core processor (which is the real bottleneck than the GPU) or play it on a 360 or PS3.

 

Misconception. With a good Core2 Duo and a strong GPU the game performs better than the consoles. Check my sig. I get consistently acceptable framerates at higher settings than the consoles.

 

Yes, you're right, a strong processor is needed, be it core duo or quad core. A 2.0 GHz core duo is not enough.

 

Kisetsu17, i will put it very simply.
I currently run the game on the following specs
T9400 (2.53 OCed to 2.85)Ghz
9600 MGT (Oced)
4 GB RAM (Not sure if it is Oced)
Vista Home Premium 64 Bit

On the above, i can barely run the game at minimum levels, no joy ofcourse coz most effects are cut off, don't waste your money dude, its not a game meant for the PC, unless youn have an M17X or something, which not too many can afford.

 

That's right, my 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo doesn't handle GTA4 very well.

It's the only game I've played that is SO reliant on CPU power, apart from Supreme Commander.

In the end, I just went back to the Xbox 360 and played it there.

 

What rates did you get on your 2.0?

 

Around 20fps average on low.

Normally it goes at around 25fps (similar to console) but when it comes to combat, it suddenly drops to 18fps.

I can't get into combat when the frame rates are that bad.

GTA4 really does REQUIRE a powerful CPU.

 

I play it on my lappy. I have T9600 at 2.80GHZ. I like to max things out but I can't do i there. Here is my benchmark;
Statistics
Average FPS: 31.65
Duration: 37.44 sec
CPU Usage: 98%
System memory usage: 56%
Video memory usage: 92%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1440 x 900 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Texture Filter Quality: Highest
View Distance: 20
Detail Distance: 100

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium
Service Pack 2, v.286
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX
Video Driver version: 185.85 DOX
Audio Adapter: Hoparlörler (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9600 @ 2.80GHz

I got 31 FPS here, don't know why
It depends very on which area you play at. Sometimes my FPS drop to 9 and sometimes it is at 40-50 FPS (Airport ) My GPU is chilling when I play this game Also this is without overclock. I get lower FPS with overclock

 

i can play it on low 800x600 on the laptop in my sig cos the new update allows shadows to be switched off which i what most low end cards struggle with. I can play with an average of around 30fps even at night and in the rain. i have played most of the campaign and multiplayer too and it doesnt seem to struggle much. i had this game on the 360 before and it played at a similar speed to this but i got it on pc cos i prefer the controls.

 

Yes you do. GTA IV's benchmark tool is a planned run through Star Junction. There are no cars, no peds, no cops, no explosions, or anything intense. It's just a bunch of guys shooting each other on Faggios. The real benchmark is playing the game and recording the fps in certain locations under certain conditions.

I also mentioned it here. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4721496&postcount=19

That is the joy of the third patch. Users with legacy hardware can play the game with the major shaders and lighting turned off.

For the rest of you, this may help. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4709554&postcount=8showpost.php?p=4709554&postcount=8

 

Yes but I usualy get lower....

 

Therefore making the benchmark tool useless for gauging system performance.

 

No I mean lower at benchmarking.

 

Right. That's what I'm saying. Your true performance exceeds the benchmark.

 

That's right, the benchmark tool was completely useless.

Just play the game and use FRAPS, it's free.

 

Contrary to what you guys suggested (I like to regret things I decide on lol) I bought the game, and after applying the three official patches, I managed to play the game albeit around 15-20fps (yeah, just barely, but i could play nonetheless ) with 848x480 and everything on low except texture filter and reflections, and with shadows turned off.. Also, weird, but I thought the "Defenition" option slows the game down when turned on, but for me it sped up the game considerably.

Well, the game really is CPU-intensive, I'm having like 100% usage all the time, so I don't like playing the game for more than an hour continuously, so, yeah. Although I might be getting it (or borrowing it from one of my neighbors here) when I get a PS3 or something (hopefully lol) to play it again.

 

Hi kisetsu17. Glad you got the game up and running. The third patch is cumulative and includes both the first and second patch, so you won't need to install over each patch when you install the game. Definition off enables a static motion blur filter which makes the game look smoother at a lower fps when the fps is actually lower due to the post-processing effects. I too like to play with definition off with the Ultimate Graphic Tweak by bartekxyz.

As long as you keep the CPU below 80*C, you can play GTA IV all you want.

 

Oh. Didn't know the 3rd is cumulative. anyway, the tweak you're talking about--does it look smoother with the definition off? I have it on since turning it off gives me benchmarks of like ~14fps, while on yields at most 20fps.

 

bartekxyz's tweak is similar to the default motion blur in definition off. There are several variations of the tweak that can be downloaded in the link. I use "Tweak 1." http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=386262

As I have mentioned already, enabling motion blur will lower your fps, but it will give the gameplay a much smoother feel because each frame is blurred with the next, essentially making it feel like you are playing at a higher fps. I also covered this here. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4841975&postcount=963

 

I have always FRAPS open .

 

Assassin's Creed is much less CPU-Bound than GTA IV, and is more GPU-Bound, GTA IV has a lot of calculations going on at all times, physics, artificial intelligence, world, entities... while Assassin's Creed, you can get away with a not-too-shabby processor and still enjoy the game as it should be.

 

According to your post the tweak impacts the game more than the defaults..so would you still recommend it for me who has a 2.0Ghz C2D? I'm not sure you shared what your processor is..

Anyway thanks!

 

The difference between the default and the tweak is very small; it is not noticable, but existent. Yes, I would still recommend it to you.

 

Hmm, I installed it even before you posted, and hey, it actually feels smoother than default! +rep man, thanks!

Anyway do you think the environment mod is also worth it? Major enhancements I think reside on the shadows and stuff--things which are turned off for me.

 

The Environment Mod is more of a massive texture reskin rather a shadow/lighting mod. It's worth a try if you want the realism of driving in NYC. I usually play with only the Ultimate Graphic Tweak; too many mods will screw with my multiplayer.

 

Haha, I love of GTA on PC's are known for all the mods they have. But I don't think many people would have thought that 90% of the mods for GTA 4 right now are just to make it run better.

 

The graphics is looking nice with that video card. You are getting a lot than any one expects!

 

Hilarious, performance mods...

 

Who was this message too

 

Yeah, who's it for? Mine? Haha joking.

Anyway, I'm shocked that the game performs rather good in my rig--first I though the bottleneck would be in my GPU but even if my processor is the real bottleneck it's not much to really get pissed off (or perhaps I just got used to integrated graphics gaming lol).

Although I'd really be happy if I could like swap in a better graphics card in this thing, until now I haven't found any leads as to whether or not my card is MXM, haha.

Anyway, applied the environment mod--I really don't go online with my laptop games, perhaps I'd do that in my console--it looks nice, but I'm not sure if it slowed down my game whenever I get to the Middle Park--lotsa trees.

 

Pretty sure that Acer wouldn't use MXM

 

GTA4 would make your computer look like a pentium 1. It uses a constant 100% on most Dual core's under 3 Ghz. The video card doesnt matter much (would prefer you had a 9600 dedicated) as the graphics card cant display anything until all of the physics calculations and AI decisions have been executed. The 1.8 Ghz C2D minimum is horsecrap unless 1 FPS with the settings to minimum is the description of minimum. While the game is playable on my T9600 its still a pain and even overclocked the game easily drops below 24 fps when driving or in rain. I get upwards of 60 fps at times but its still pretty horrid.

Believe me GTA4 for PC was a waste of money until my cpu swap and its still much less enjoyable then the PS3 version.

 

Aspire 5 and 6 series use MXM

 

Same here, I also play with a T9600 but at 2.80 Ghz.
After upgrading to SSD; I see that T9600 is my bottleneck....

GTA IV CPU USSAGE UNDER GAMEPLAY: