Grand Theft Auto 4 on the PC

[mazeroth]

I know it's still 2 months away and I'm trying to help my brother out here so...what do you guys feel will be necessary to run GTA 4 at 1920x1200 resolution with everything on high but without AA? He's wanting to grab a new video card now but I'm telling him to hold out until the game is launched to see what it's going to require.

Also, for those that have seen it on the 360/PS3 (I haven't) how good does it really look? Are there PC games that look as good?

I can't wait!



Moved to PC Gaming.

Video Mod BFG10K.

 

[DaveSimmons]

People say it looks meh on consoles -- it's only 720p on 360 and 640p on PS3, with low-res textures compared to what a high-end PC can use.

I'd wild-guess a 4870 or GTX 260 should be enough, but if it's badly optimized then a 4870 x2 may be needed.

A 4850 or 9800 GTX+ will probably only be good enough for 16x10 not 19x12.

 

[error8]

Well that game scored 10 in quite a lot of reviews. It has to have some amazing graphics. I'd say anything over GTX 260 and ATI 4870 are enough for the game at that resolution. I think, that maybe even a 4850 can do pretty well with it at 1920X1200, but.... who knows.

 

[happy medium]

My best guess would be a duel core cpu, 512mb 9600gso/3870 (AMD) video card, 2gigs ram.

 

[udneekgnim]

Originally posted by: error8
Well that game scored 10 in quite a lot of reviews. It has to have some amazing graphics. I'd say anything over GTX 260 and ATI 4870 are enough for the game at that resolution. I think, that maybe even a 4850 can do pretty well with it at 1920X1200, but.... who knows.

I think the reviewers were raving more about the atmosphere created by Rockstar than the technical capability of the GTA4 graphics engine.

 

[bdubyah]

its not that great on just pure graphics. but how it all comes together is why they praised it. like, the scale of it. sure, GOW and others look better, but their scale isn't nearly as big either.

 

[biteman]

Unless the games are really badly optimized then a low end PC can pretty easily handle almost anything on the consoles.

 

[CottonRabbit]

There are plenty of PC that look better than console GTA4. In fact, they're upgrading the graphics for the PC version. A 4850 will probably be plenty at that resolution. The recent big name console ports like Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect have all been well optimized on PC.

 

[thilanliyan]

It's not much of a looker (I have it on PS3...not too bad but not as good as something like Mass Effect on PC) but it's a damn fun game...very much worth the $60 I paid for it on launch day. The glowing reviews it got were not based on it's graphics. It should look really nice on PC though.

 

[mazeroth]

Cool, thanks for the replies. Yeah, San Andreas on the XBox and PS2 look horrible compared to what it looks like on the PC. I know the technology for the PC was much faster when it did launch but I can only hope it will take as big of a step that San Andrea did.

 

[skyofavalon]

If it wasnt a blurry mess with bad framerates, GTA 4 would be one of the best looking games out on any platform, hands down. Even as it is there still arent too many games out there with better graphics,even on PC.

 

[Maximilian]

I have it for the 360 and i think it looks fine. Im using an old CRTish television a well, its flatscreen but its not a plasma or LCD and it has no HD either. I imagine it will look better when i finally get an HDTV.

I would hardly call it a blurry mess on the 360 despite my low end tv.... although i imagine it will look better on the PC as technology has advanced some since the consoles release. Just wait for its release and see how it performs, i cant see rockstar releasing a poorly optimized game, they havent done that in the past to my knowledge as all the previous GTA games have ran great on my rig, except GTA III which didnt do well with 128mb of ram and a geforce 2 mx... but thats understandable heh. GTA IV is built on a brand new engine rockstar made themselves so just wait for release and see how it does but like i said i cant see it performing all that badly but thats based on rockstar being a reputable company and nothing more.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: biteman
Unless the games are really badly optimized then a low end PC can pretty easily handle almost anything on the consoles.

Not a good analogy for the GTA series. GTA 3, VC, and SA all looked much better on the PC compared to the console versions. GTA3 was actually a bit demanding when it was released however. VC was much better optimized for PC, it looked better and ran smoother than GTA3.

They did add some graphical features and higher quality textures for SA for its release on PC, and it was quite demanding upon its release.

It is really too early to tell what setup will play GTA4 well on the PC. It all depends on what they add and how well they optimize the engine for PC.

That said, the quality of the graphics was never what made the GTA series great. It has been and always will be about the superb gameplay.

mazeroth, if graphics are important for this game, then it is always best to wait until the game is out before buying a new video card. Trying to predict what to buy 2 months before the game is out will almost always result in disappointment.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: udneekgnim

Originally posted by: error8
Well that game scored 10 in quite a lot of reviews. It has to have some amazing graphics. I'd say anything over GTX 260 and ATI 4870 are enough for the game at that resolution. I think, that maybe even a 4850 can do pretty well with it at 1920X1200, but.... who knows.

I think the reviewers were raving more about the atmosphere created by Rockstar than the technical capability of the GTA4 graphics engine.

ya. GTA games are traditionally "poorer" then their current peers when it comes to graphics. The games are known more for their play than the eye candy.

I also thought those reviews were far too generous. Controls on PS3 were as bad as they've always been for GTA games, and there wasn't really anything that new. Sure, it's fun as hell, and will eat up valuable production time...but not earth-shatteringly good.

 

[LumbergTech]

i think an 8800gt will run it good on medium settings but a 4870 will be required to max it out

 

[bullbert]

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
i think an 8800gt will run it good on medium settings but a 4870 will be required to max it out

Why not step things up, and plug that 4870 into a 790GX motherboard?

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Originally posted by: mazeroth
I know it's still 2 months away and I'm trying to help my brother out here so...what do you guys feel will be necessary to run GTA 4 at 1920x1200 resolution with everything on high but without AA? He's wanting to grab a new video card now but I'm telling him to hold out until the game is launched to see what it's going to require.
[/i][/b]

Here's a Link to the recommended System Requirements for GTA IV.

Just in case you're at work:

Processor: Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or better)
RAM: 2GB
Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader
Drive: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive

 

[Dream Operator]

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX

Originally posted by: mazeroth

Just in case you're at work:

Processor: Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or better)
RAM: 2GB
Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader
Drive: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive

At work here, so thanks for adding the specs!

 

[nerp]

Can't wait for this freakin' game. I haven't even SEEN it on the consoles yet. I had a chance to play it at a friend's house but I decided I wanted to let myself experience it like a virgin when I finally download it off steam and play myself later this year.

 

[Oyeve]

Its not how it looks but how fun it is. I dig GTA4 and yes it looks great compared to the others, but I still play GTA:San Andreas 4x more STILL than GTA4. I play it on the PC, PS2 and even bought it for Xbox (play it on my 360). IMO, its a much better game. I really think a perfect 10 was inaccurate.

 

[nerp]

Delayed to December, from what I heard. Dang. I guess on the bright side we'll have a more stable game at release.

 

[ConBas]

IGN reports the following requirements:

Minimum System Requirements

* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz

* Memory: 1.5GB, 16GB Free Hard Drive Space

* Video Card: 256MB NVIDIA 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900

Recommended System Requirements

* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz

* Memory: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista)

* 18 GB Free Hard Drive Space

* Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

I for one am not pleased since I have an AMD Athlon X2 64 2.2Ghz (4200+) and therefore do not meet the minimum requirements :shocked:. My motherboard has the old 939 socket so finding a better CPU for it will be next to impossible and that means that at the least I'll need a mobo and RAM upgrade as well...

Here's hoping someone at IGN made a typo...

 

[CrazyLazy]

18 gigs? Jesus christ.

 

[bamacre]

Read through a preview today...
http://pc.ign.com/articles/925/925105p1.html

The replay editor sounds awesome.

 

[Sam25]

Originally posted by: ConBas
IGN reports the following requirements:

Minimum System Requirements

* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz

* Memory: 1.5GB, 16GB Free Hard Drive Space

* Video Card: 256MB NVIDIA 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900

Recommended System Requirements

* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz

* Memory: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista)

* 18 GB Free Hard Drive Space

* Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

I for one am not pleased since I have an AMD Athlon X2 64 2.2Ghz (4200+) and therefore do not meet the minimum requirements :shocked:. My motherboard has the old 939 socket so finding a better CPU for it will be next to impossible and that means that at the least I'll need a mobo and RAM upgrade as well...

Here's hoping someone at IGN made a typo...

Yeah, those are the system requirements. I found the same listed here:

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55655

Looks like I can only play the game on one of my rigs.