GTA IV Performance

I couldn't even get the game to run properly on the newer drivers. The textures wouldn't load (I saw particles and a few decals floating around invisible textures). As a result I went clear back to the old 176.15 drivers that Gateway released for my P-7811FX (GeForce 9800M GTS).

Anybody had better luck with and newer drivers? I had to lower the graphics options a ton to get a steady 30fps. Maybe some newer drivers would load textures properly and give better performance?

 

hmm ichime i've noticed quite a bit of performance gain after your update

 

Yep, hopefully 8.12 would help even more. However, after OCing my CPU from 2.4ghz to 2.7, this is what I got:

Statistics
Average FPS: 31.66
Duration: 37.15 sec
CPU Usage: 93%
System memory usage: 57%
Video memory usage: 100%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: Medium
View Distance: 14
Detail Distance: 50

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870 X2
Video Driver version: 7.14.10.621
Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- Realtek High Definition Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8600 @ 2.40GHz

File ID: Benchmark.cli

---------------------------------------------------------------

Statistics
Average FPS: 31.36
Duration: 37.56 sec
CPU Usage: 93%
System memory usage: 57%
Video memory usage: 77%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1280 x 800 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: Medium
View Distance: 14
Detail Distance: 50

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870 X2
Video Driver version: 7.14.10.621
Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- Realtek High Definition Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8600 @ 2.40GHz

File ID: Benchmark.cli

---------------------------------------------------------------


Statistics
Average FPS: 31.44
Duration: 37.06 sec
CPU Usage: 93%
System memory usage: 58%
Video memory usage: 77%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: Highest
View Distance: 14
Detail Distance: 50

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870 X2
Video Driver version: 7.14.10.621
Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- Realtek High Definition Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8600 @ 2.40GHz

File ID: Benchmark.cli
---------------------------------------------------------------

Statistics
Average FPS: 29.34
Duration: 37.80 sec
CPU Usage: 92%
System memory usage: 61%
Video memory usage: 100%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1280 x 800 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: Medium
View Distance: 14
Detail Distance: 50

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870 X2
Video Driver version: 7.14.10.621
Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- Realtek High Definition Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8600 @ 2.40GHz

File ID: Benchmark.cli

---------------------------------------------------------

That last one was ran when I had Firefox running in the background.

 

And these are results with the 8.12 beta drivers, cpu at stock 2.4ghz:

Statistics
Average FPS: 28.63
Duration: 37.51 sec
CPU Usage: 95%
System memory usage: 55%
Video memory usage: 65%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1280 x 800 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: Medium
View Distance: 14
Detail Distance: 50

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870 X2
Video Driver version: 7.14.10.630
Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- Realtek High Definition Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8600 @ 2.40GHz

File ID: benchmark.cli

-------------------------------------------------------------

Statistics
Average FPS: 28.06
Duration: 37.42 sec
CPU Usage: 92%
System memory usage: 56%
Video memory usage: 100%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: Medium
View Distance: 14
Detail Distance: 50

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870 X2
Video Driver version: 7.14.10.630
Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- Realtek High Definition Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8600 @ 2.40GHz

File ID: Benchmark.cli

 

Well heres some good news according to GTA4.net

http://www.gta4.net/news/4163/patch-coming-in-the-next-few-days/

And here's the cut and paste version.

[Rockstar have just revealed on our forum that a patch for GTA IV PC is due to be made available in the next few days. Here is what they had to say:

Driver News

We’re pleased to announce that in co-operation with Nvidia a new driver has been released that improves performance and fixes a major issue with 7900 series cards. If you haven’t gotten the driver yet download it here: http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_gtaiv_downloads.html

ATI has also agreed to officially release Catalyst 8.12 which will release on Dec 10th from http://game.amd.com. Expect significant performance improvements when using this new driver.
Patch Is On The Way

We are working on making a patch available in the next few days. Since Grand Theft Auto IV is a Games For Windows – Live game the patch must be certified by Microsoft before release. The patch is already at Microsoft and we expect a speedy approval. The patch contains a variety of fixes including:

* A fix to the crash after legal screen that some German customers were reporting.
* Numerous improvements to the video editor: Smarter naming of videos, improved rendering quality, better fx during replays
* Fix to bowling while using certain sensitive mice
* Fix for ATI 1900 shadows
* Overall savings to memory
* Graphic improvements to particle systems and mirrors
* Multiplayer character settings are preserved
* Support for DirectInput controllers. Note: The current hack way of supporting these controllers may not work with the improved functionality. So we recommend you remove the hack before upgrading to the patch.

Issues with power management software have also been fixed (slow speed, double speed issues). Even after the patch comes out setting power management software to maximum performance is recommended. We’ve seen cases where power management software does not detect the game is running and puts the CPU in green mode.

Besides the patch we’ve also improved the way the Social Club handles data this should have greatly reduced or eliminated the Mma10 error. If you are still receiving this error after logging in and out of Social Club we would like to know as much info as you can about it.]

 

no sli anywhere on that list of fixes!!

 

Agreed... Rockstar needs to get to work and make SLi work on GTA IV.

I won't even dare trying the game before there is SLi support.

 

well, atleast rockstar havent forgotten about me xD

anyways, yes we need the SLI fix, also, its great that they are doing fixes to the mirrors, because believe it or not, they are the reason why people are getting sh!tty performance, try going to a place with minimum reflections, and i guarentee that the FPS will pop above 60 easily


Also, i'll be waiting for a Dox release on those drivers. its gonna be awesome!

 

well you seen what i pulled with sli enabled and at very high @1920x1200

so i wonder what happens when we get the right fix for this situation.....

 

Apparently turning the Video Recorder / Replay function off can help gain at least a few FPS. For those trying to get some more FPS, it's worth a try.

 

So what's everyone's guesstimate for this patch. They said a few days.. So I'm thinking possibly Tuesday.

 

^^New years...2010... when this game should've been released...

Lol just kidding, tuesday-thursday.

 

hmmm 180.84,
I don notice a slight boost in fps, theres no missing texture issues either
However if I install the drivers with my tweaks = missing textures.
When I add the tweaks in manually one by one after install = NO missing textures.

Need patch please Rockstar

 

That will work with CPU's that are lower than 2.6ghz, because the Video recording puts strain on the CPU

 

Seems like that Rockstar is trying to mask the huge performance impacts when you set your settings higher than recommended as "Next-Gen" effects... "High Textures and such are for computers that are not available as of right now." and such, I would not be that surprised if they said that the missing textures and particles bug was some kind of achievement and that it meant that you had a limited edition of GTA IV. :/

 

Is 180.84 released for laptops too (read available on lvtg.com)
when i download it from nvidia.com it sais i dont have the right hardware!?

 

its for desktop only, I modded it to support my card.
just wait for pieter from laptopvideo2go to mod it for you

 

Is there somekind of way to increase fps on my notebook? Overclocking, patching, etc ...
My benchmark test in GTA IV

Video: GeForce 9600M GT 512 VRAM + Turbomemory up to 1700 MB
RAM: 4.0 GB

 

you should wait for newer drivers to come out

 

DO you think it coul'd raise my fps rate?

 

The 180.84 new drivers are supposed to increase its performance by ~10FPS. I'm slightly apprehensive of this tbh. The main fixes will come from Rock* when they can be bothered to get a patch out.

 

at the moment im gettin these results... if there is a patch that will further improve performance , thats cool but atm its playable and smooth for me ..

Statistics
Average FPS: 34.89
Duration: 37.29 sec
CPU Usage: 97%
System memory usage: 79%
Video memory usage: 90%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1440 x 900 (59 Hz)
Texture Quality: Medium
Render Quality: High
View Distance: 25
Detail Distance: 37

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX
Video Driver version: 180.70
Audio Adapter: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU X9000 @ 2.80GHz

File ID: benchmark.cli

 

Notice the processor you have whats the percentage of people with a monster like that lol

 

Hey guys and gals, IGN interviews R* about the performance issues, and R* takes a dump on all of us, denying any fault. I'd post quotes, but the whole then is lulz worthy.

A preview:

 

Link to my other post about how to get these drivers on your lappy right now to check them out:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=328302

I don't have GTA4 so can't confirm performance boost, but the driver seems reallly solid.

 

Well these drivers did actually improve my performance on my desktop by around 10 fps. So it did work running Textures at High and Render Quality at Highest

Funny thing is that the benchmark is useless. It does not tell how the game actually runs in game when there is lots of cars at one place or lots of action.

 

now rockstar are acting like a bunch of tards... Hundreds and Hundreds of hous testing? on WHAT HARDWARE?!??!??! the top end hardware right now is getting the same issues that a guy with the Sh1ttiest specs is getting, are they trying to convince us that they have testing on some Computer from 2011?

 

I guess that the only "Grand Theft" left out there is Rockstar stealing customers' and companies' money alike, don't you think?

 

Aeris i like your comments xD

 

Thanks! *bows*

 

Got 5-8 FPS more with the new drivers Whoehoe!

 

sry , which drivers are u refering ? cos im using 180.70...


edit: is it the 180.84 gta 4 drivers ? and if its specifically for gta4 will if effect performance on other games ?

 

other games performance would probably stay the same, and airholland, mind posting a benchmark with your currunt performance?

 

Hey! check this out: ''Rockstar Talks GTA IV Technical Problems''

http://pc.ign.com/articles/936/936304p1.html

 

A patch is definitely in need, and crossfire still doesn't work as well. I removed the slave VGA card and ran the benchmark and I still get around 27-28 fps using the 8.12 beta drivers (1920x1200 with everything medium and at 1280x800, with everything medium).

I kinda understand why the CPU has so much of an effect on performance (if you consider other CPU heavy games like SupCom and WoC, they involve a lot of objects at once), but I'm sure most instructions the game gives to the CPU can be handled more effectively and quickly by the GPUs.

 

so if crossfire or SLI dont work....what the hell? I wonder what GTX 280 runs like on this thing

 

Actually, it runs very well (depending on the CPU). Someone with a Q6600 OC'd to 3.6ghz + GTX 280 got around 47 fps:

Statistics
Average FPS: 47.12
Duration: 36.99 sec
CPU Usage: 74%
System memory usage: 74%
Video memory usage: 98%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1080 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Render Quality: Very High
View Distance: 32
Detail Distance: 70

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
Video Driver version: 180.48
Audio Adapter: Speakers (Creative SB X-Fi)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz

 

nothing over clocked

Statistics
Average FPS: 47.01
Duration: 37.18 sec
CPU Usage: 73%
System memory usage: 87%
Video memory usage: 91%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Render Quality: High
View Distance: 32
Detail Distance: 70

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
Video Driver version: 180.43
Audio Adapter: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz

File ID: benchmark.cli


ichime: how come yours is only 1080p and not 1200p? just curious
edit: nevermind..i just noticed that it wasn't your run..

 

Are these new drivers for all graphics cards including the 8800m GTX?

 

i had to edit mine to work for my laptop. i haven't even put it on my desktop yet. im still using 180.43.

 

Not mine you'll have to ask the guy who ran it:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1371219

But speaking of which, I'll have to run this game on my HTPC.

 

Hey I'm still getting the missing textures, I've reinstalled drivers the long way using 180.43 and 180.70 but still nothing shows. I've also tried using rivatuner to reset driver settings but the option isn't there.

 

you'll need to try 180.84 posted earlier in this tread.

 

Can't install 180.84 because it says there is no hardware compatible. It would be fing great if NVidia made something that would just work out of the box.

 

well....it's for the desktop cards so it would need to be modified to host your card...

 

it seems that none of m9750 users got the game yet? lol

i wanna know what are the issues with the 7 series cards..

 

Well that's what I'm saying. Why would they make something JUST for desktop cards .

 

Wow that GTX 280 is quite good same with yours john we couldnt get a mobile GTX 280 soon enough

 

don't know. all i can do is "adapt to the situation" and try to make it work. and hope they get on the right track.... sooner... than later.

Statistics
Average FPS: 50.71
Duration: 37.57 sec
CPU Usage: 73%
System memory usage: 73%
Video memory usage: 91%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Render Quality: High
View Distance: 32
Detail Distance: 70

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX
Video Driver version: 180.84
Audio Adapter: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU X9650 @ 3.00GHz

File ID: benchmark.cli

everything set to high except view distance.
Statistics
Average FPS: 41.41
Duration: 37.77 sec
CPU Usage: 74%
System memory usage: 77%
Video memory usage: 92%


Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Render Quality: Very High
View Distance: 35
Detail Distance: 100

Hardware
Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate
Service Pack 1
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX
Video Driver version: 180.84
Audio Adapter: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU X9650 @ 3.00GHz

File ID: benchmark.cli
__________________

 

it seems that the new 180.84 reduced the strain on the CPU ***Luck me*** lol