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    Will GTA IV perform much better with 4GB ram compare to 2GB?

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by dukka, Oct 8, 2009.

  1. dukka

    dukka Notebook Consultant

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    Above question.
    And will GTA IV perform better on Windows XP over Windows 7? I'm trying it on WIn 7 with 2gb ram and it runs very poorly. Checked on youtube, the same laptop with a little slower CPU than mine run it better.
     
    dukka, Oct 8, 2009
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  2. Amnesiac

    Amnesiac 404

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    It really comes down to what processor you have. 2GB should be ok but not great when it comes to Windows 7. XP would run it fine with 2GB though.

    As I said, what REALLY determines what sort of performance is your processor, and the ones that you have in your notebooks are terrible (No offense). GTA IV eats dual cores for breakfast, and what really makes it run well is if you have a tri core or a quad core with reasonable clock speed (2.66Ghz or higher). Note: the original Phenom's are pretty bad when it comes to GTA IV.

    So to answer your original question in a more compact form, you may see a slight improvement with 4GB, but the difference is negligible. What really matters is your processor.
     
    Amnesiac, Oct 8, 2009
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  3. dukka

    dukka Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for the quick reply Shadow, I've heard that in GTA IV CPU really matters but don't know that it will destroy dual core processor like that (even the Phenom can't stand it).
    I'm trying to contact the guy that post that video to know how can he achieve 30FPS at medium to high with even slightly slower CPU (QL64 compare to my QL65)
    I know that my processor is terrible :D but for 500USD I can't find a better price/performance laptop like that in my place. :)
     
    dukka, Oct 8, 2009
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  4. tuηay

    tuηay o TuNaY o

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    Like Shadow said, Maybe a bit better performance, but not more...
     
    tuηay, Oct 8, 2009
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  5. Mad*Max

    Mad*Max Notebook Consultant

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    Core i7 System i got 100% performance increase
    seriously
     
    Mad*Max, Oct 8, 2009
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  6. tuηay

    tuηay o TuNaY o

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    Worst off-tropic reply I every have seen.
     
    tuηay, Oct 8, 2009
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  7. kisetsu17

    kisetsu17 Took me long enough

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    LOL.

    Back to topic, RAM wouldn't help much in games, actually, only a little amount of games really need more RAM than what they say in the box.

    Oh, regarding GTA IV performances, I found updating the game to 1.0.3.0 makes it run smoother, since the CPU/GPU loads get balanced, and it also adds more quality/performance options in the graphics menu.
     
    kisetsu17, Oct 8, 2009
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  8. tuηay

    tuηay o TuNaY o

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    But 1.0.4.0 update is even better :D
     
    tuηay, Oct 8, 2009
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  9. dukka

    dukka Notebook Consultant

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    well i did updated to 1.0.4.0 after tunaj said, and it did got better, on 1.0 I got 12 - 32 FPS, on 1.0.4 with graphic turn to lowest I got 15 - 33 FPS :p
     
    dukka, Oct 8, 2009
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  10. tuηay

    tuηay o TuNaY o

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    That is nice improvement! lol :D
     
    tuηay, Oct 8, 2009
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  11. LaptopNut

    LaptopNut Notebook Virtuoso

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    With GTA IV and many other games, all of your components need to be balanced. You not only need a decent CPU but you should also have a good GPU and at least the minimum of RAM. Miss out any of those or have one without the other then expect poor performance especially in that game.

    You could have a great CPU but if you have a low end GPU then your resolution will be limited.
     
    LaptopNut, Oct 8, 2009
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  12. dukka

    dukka Notebook Consultant

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    well I think in my case here, CPU is the bottleneck since according to my research (on youtube), the same 4570 with better CPU (the Core 2 Duo) still can play GTA IV at medium setting.
     
    dukka, Oct 8, 2009
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  13. agusman

    agusman when the going gets weird

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    with my settings (sig), I did notice a nice improvement in GTAIV performance when upgrading 2 GB --> 4 GB RAM, but I am not obsessive about performance and I don't check my FPS, so its just my feel about it.
     
    agusman, Oct 8, 2009
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  14. tuηay

    tuηay o TuNaY o

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    There will ofcourse be a improvement, but the only thing is it is limited how much better it will run with more RAM.
     
    tuηay, Oct 8, 2009
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  15. Lethal Lottery

    Lethal Lottery Notebook Betrayer

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    GTA4 will run horrible with those processors, an e8400 or comparable mobile cpu is pretty much the bare minimum you would want to play the game with. Ram would do almost nothing but improve loading times.
     
    Lethal Lottery, Oct 8, 2009
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  16. spradhan01

    spradhan01 Notebook Virtuoso

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    GTA IV is really gpu and cpu hungry. I really hate that game and love it in the same time. :p
     
    spradhan01, Oct 8, 2009
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  17. Luke1708

    Luke1708 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    yeah, gta 4 is a pain whencompared with san andreas...
     
    Luke1708, Oct 9, 2009
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  18. thinkpad knows best

    thinkpad knows best Notebook Deity

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    Only thing RAM will do is improve load times??? is that what you said? not true at all actually, you obviously dont know much about how RAM works..
     
    thinkpad knows best, Oct 9, 2009
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  19. BobXX

    BobXX Newbie

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    He said, "Ram would do almost nothing but improve loading times."

    Really, the only actually noticeable difference of having an additional 2GB of RAM in gaming will indeed be reduced loading times.
     
    BobXX, Oct 9, 2009
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  20. dukka

    dukka Notebook Consultant

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    I agree, my old Geforce 2 MX400 can run San Andreas fluently at lowest setting (I beat the game with it) even the minimum require is Geforce 3 TI.
    But I think the graphic in GTA IV is a very big improvement since the days of GTA III, GTA VC and GTA SA.
     
    dukka, Oct 9, 2009
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  21. tuηay

    tuηay o TuNaY o

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    C'mon people, don't compare GTA IV to GTA San Andreas! :D
     
    tuηay, Oct 9, 2009
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  22. thinkpad knows best

    thinkpad knows best Notebook Deity

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    The release of the GTA titles has been somewhat inconsistent since when GTA 3 was released the graphic and engine tweaks is all that there was with each new title. Marginal tweaks and suddenly a huge area expansion with GTA SA. Then they spent 4 years to do a total overhaul to Liberty City and a brand new engine that needs CPU's powered by diesel engines. The last part isnt true of course but you see the point.
     
    thinkpad knows best, Oct 9, 2009
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  23. tuηay

    tuηay o TuNaY o

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    lol. But we still like GTA eh ?
     
    tuηay, Oct 9, 2009
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  24. thinkpad knows best

    thinkpad knows best Notebook Deity

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    Yes i wasn't tearing them apart about it. Just stating that releases have sometimes required major changes in graphics card.
     
    thinkpad knows best, Oct 9, 2009
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  25. spradhan01

    spradhan01 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Its been a long time that my GTA4 is eating dust. Is the SLI support out?
    So that I can clean and play it again.
     
    spradhan01, Oct 9, 2009
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  26. tuηay

    tuηay o TuNaY o

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    tuηay, Oct 9, 2009
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  27. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    SLi is only available on 180.84.
     
    Soviet Sunrise, Oct 9, 2009
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  28. spradhan01

    spradhan01 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Ya, but I didnot researched on it. I have 186 whql so the SLI will be automatically activated? And what are the performance differences?
     
    spradhan01, Oct 9, 2009
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  29. tuηay

    tuηay o TuNaY o

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    I have only one 9800M GTX so I don't know about the performance.
    So, I think it will work. Also make sure to install v1.0.4.0

    PS: Did anyone other then me notice the new layout for NBR ?


    EDIT:
    Quick search (I'm very tired today...)
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=330137

    Therad from 2008, quite sure there has been a few more driver updates after this.
    (Why should nVidia remove SLI support for GTA IV in new relases ?)
     
    tuηay, Oct 9, 2009
    #29
  30. thinkpad knows best

    thinkpad knows best Notebook Deity

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    SLI is when you have 2 of the same GPU's linked together to work united, there is no performance beneffit when there is 1...as stupid as that may sound.
     
    thinkpad knows best, Oct 9, 2009
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  31. spradhan01

    spradhan01 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Thanks for the info. I really didnt knew about that. :p
    So 186 drivers can turn on SLI on GTA IV right?
    Correct me if Im wrong.
     
    spradhan01, Oct 10, 2009
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  32. thinkpad knows best

    thinkpad knows best Notebook Deity

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    well yes it looks like you have SLI, it should be enabled, i've never played GTA 4 but will be, so i don't know the graphics advanced menu, if you can turn on and off SLI support, there should be that option there. The drivers you installed for it should support it fine.
     
    thinkpad knows best, Oct 10, 2009
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  33. Rahul

    Rahul Notebook Prophet

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    I believe GTA4 supports Crossfire but not SLI.
     
    Rahul, Oct 10, 2009
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  34. spradhan01

    spradhan01 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Oh god! are you serious? I just had this discussion that drivers>=185 supports SLI and now again Im hearing no SLI?
    Whats going on?
     
    spradhan01, Oct 10, 2009
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  35. Soviet Sunrise

    Soviet Sunrise Notebook Prophet

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    Like I said before, GTAIV only supports SLi on 180.84. And even the SLi support on that driver is at a low level.
     
    Soviet Sunrise, Oct 10, 2009
    #35