GTA IV on Steam

[steelodon]

Is GTA IV better on Xbox 360 or Steam? Steam has the complete version with both episodes for $10.

 

[zerocool84]

If you have a decent computer that can run it get it on Steam. If not then get it on Xbox.

 

[Throckmorton]

The Windows version is really inefficient. Requires quad cores, etc.

 

[MentalIlness]

What is your computer specs OP ? Kind of hard to answer that question without that information.

 

[Tristicus]

Controller > KB/M for GTA.
Plus it will probably run way smoother.

 

[Cheesetogo]

I think that's more a preference thing. I much prefer to use my keyboard and mouse than my xbox 360 controller when playing the game.

 

[AFurryReptile]

I played with a keyboard and mouse. Would have preferred at a controller though, driving is real touch.

Even on a nice computer, performance is pretty abysmal on a PC. On lower graphics, it looks a lot better than xbox though.

 

[power_hour]

OP - If you have a Quad core, 4GB+ and anything better than a ATI HD4890, it will run decently (30-45fps). There
are some pretty neat third party mods. Yeah the game is a resource hog and very inefficient but it still plays great if you have the horsepower. For $10 for all 3 games, its a steal of a price.

Regarding the whole KB/M vs Xbox controller issue... just get the Xbox 360 PC controller. Its a great investment as many games work like a charm with it.

 

[manimal]

actually the pc allows you to ramp up settings to the point your system crawls. I frankly dont think this is from shoddy programming, its from extreme draw distances and much higher Fidelity that a console will not have for another generation or two.

On my i7 with a 580 now its running the way I want it to on a 30 inch dell.

 

[cadred]

It's kind of BS to say it *requires* a quad core. I'm running a Core 2 duo E8500 @ stock 3.1 with a GTX 460 and I'm getting around an average of ~40. That's with most things on high except shadows and night shadows which are just on normal. Draw distances are left at auto-configured levels.

You can't crank it all the way up without a powerhouse pc, but it's can be made to look better than the xbox and still be playable on most machines, at least if you have a video card with 1gb of ram.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I greatly prefer PC with a 360 controller.


It really does look like crap on the 360. Yes if you try to run it on all-out max setting it's slow on the PC, but if you have the same visual settings as 360 it'll run fine on almost anything.


It was fairly buggy for awhile there, but last time I messed with GTA IV I was impressed

 

[tommo123]

i just bought it and bonus - i can play it on my pc with the 360 controller

 

[Maximilian]

Dosent it need that POS games for windows live thing as well? Or has the steam version cut that out?

 

[Mike Gayner]

It runs slower on Xbox than it does on my old dual core machine. And looks uglier. I have both versions.

Also KB/M >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> controller.

 

[power_hour]

It's kind of BS to say it *requires* a quad core. I'm running a Core 2 duo E8500 @ stock 3.1 with a GTX 460 and I'm getting around an average of ~40. That's with most things on high except shadows and night shadows which are just on normal. Draw distances are left at auto-configured levels.

You can't crank it all the way up without a powerhouse pc, but it's can be made to look better than the xbox and still be playable on most machines, at least if you have a video card with 1gb of ram.

Not sure if this was in reference to my post. Admitedly, I should have not mentioned quad core because it seems to hit a nerve. Anyway, I was just trying to give you one type of rig that seems to do well playing the game from experience and feedback from friends.

Anyhoo, it is a fun PC game with lots of replay value with the mods. IMHO, the game is far better on a decently setup PC. Hopefully, my post didn't muddy the waters.

Cheers,

 

[wirednuts]

if you want an idea of where gta4 becomes playable on pc's...

with an e5200 clocked at 3.5ghz, and a 8800gts g92, the game is playable at 720p but its not totally smooth and of course it looks about as bad as xbox

then i 'upgraded' to an i3 processor clocked to 3.5ghz (this has hyperthreading remember) and a 4870, and now i can play at 1080p with an average of about 35fps, and its pretty damn nice. still cant max it out, but its good enough with this hardware. smokes the xbox now.

 

[manimal]

Rockstar social club + GFWL... if you can handle those two things without emo-rage-quiting then you will have a good game..

 

[Soundmanred]

Rockstar social club + GFWL... if you can handle those two things without emo-rage-quiting then you will have a good game..

Rockstar Social Club is no longer required

 

[Tom]

its actually cheaper to get xbox versions if you consider trade in value. but I compromised and got GTA iv for my pc and episodes for xbox.

GFW makes installation and getting started on a pc almost unfathomable.

 

[RavenSEAL]

GFW made me regret buying Batman:AA and RFG...

I can't play em on my laptop...Which i use from when i'm not home or traveling.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

It is a great game. I run it on core i7 960 @4.3, GTX570, 6gb of ram, and it rocking hard on max settings.

 

[manimal]

GFW made me regret buying Batman:AA and RFG...

I can't play em on my laptop...Which i use from when i'm not home or traveling.

you can make an offline account on gfwl btw and never connect.

 

[Mike Gayner]

I've never encountered a problem with GFWL. Don't understand what all the complaints are about.

 

[God Mode]

I've never encountered a problem with GFWL. Don't understand what all the complaints are about.

Me neither.

 

[tommo123]

the fact that it exists in steam games is enough. it's utterly pointless in batman AA for example and nothing more than a microsoft stamp on the game and a hoop to jump through to get to the game.