Want to play GTA IV @ 1920x1080, what to upgrade from 8800 GTX?

[SpatiallyAware]

I currently have an 8800 GTX and can't play GTA IV on high settings.. Is it worth trying to find a second for SLI or should I get an entire new card?


I believe my proc is an E6800 fwiw..


Thanks

 

[billyb0b]

i would get a new card. a 5000 series ATI card or a gt260 or above

 

[crisium]

For sure you could stand to upgrade your GPU for GTA IV, but it really likes Quad Cores too. You may want to consider going more cores.

Radeon 5850 should be a bit faster than 8800GTX SLI, but I'm unsure how good SLI scaling would be in that game so I can't say for certain.

As for 8800GTX SLI vs Radeon 5850, see this thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2028769

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=28991101&postcount=9

 

[Rezident]

Be warned, GTA IV still runs like a dog on my Q9650 with a 4890 that has 2 gigs of VRAM. I'm sorry but the game just does not perform properly on PC, considering the graphics. There are far more good looking games that perform far better on given hardware.

The game is massively CPU-limited, they must have the CPU doing all kinds of things that could be done by gpu. Also, they limit the options based on VRAM, yet even with 2 gigs of VRAM here, it performs poorly when outdoors in-game. And this is only at 1680 x 1050. Forget about getting 60 FPS, not with this game, it just doesn't work like that.

It's a shame because there's some great content in the game but you really need a quad-core CPU due to the way the game was ported from console. A GPU upgrade would be better for gaming in general but, alas, not for this game.

 

[Fox5]

Your video card is fine, it's your cpu that's the problem.
Get a quad core, preferably an i7.

 

[Rezist]

It's poorly ported I suggest a console

 

[ashishmishra]

It's poorly ported I suggest a console

I am sorry but recommending the console version over the pc version for performance or IQ reasons is just bad advice. I have played GTA IV on both the 360 and pc. The pc version on even low settings has far better IQ and framerate than the 360 version.

 

[ashishmishra]

I currently have an 8800 GTX and can't play GTA IV on high settings.. Is it worth trying to find a second for SLI or should I get an entire new card?


I believe my proc is an E6800 fwiw..


Thanks

GTA loves the i7 architecture. Here is an old link for you OP.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...ead-of-Core-2-Quad-in-CPU-benchmarks/Reviews/

 

[Alienwho]

I don't know about everybody else, but GTA4 ran great on my X3 720 and 4870. Smooth and beautiful at 1920x1080.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Alright, I'll look at upgrading my cpu to quad core but don't want to spend the money on a full i7 upgrade.

Is it not worth < $100 to get a second 8800 GTX? My p/s can handle the load...

 

[Udgnim]

if you want to upgrade for GTA4, get a quad core

don't be surprised if you don't see any improvement in GTA 4 with 2 8800s and an E6800

 

[Schmide]

GTA 4 has some terrible texture caching routines, I'm not sure any card can play it well on high settings, especially a 512mb card.

 

[Obsoleet]

You certainly aren't limited to an i7, nor is it necessarily your best option.
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=869&p=17
Take a good look at that. The 965 Black edition is $199 and very fast at 3ghz, and faster than a 4ghz i7 920 when clocked to 4ghz as well. Unlike some sites, this comparison was fairly setup in regards to RAM and other variables.

I would wait for the AMD890 chipset (native AMD SATA6gb/USB3, you want native Intel or AMD USB3.0 IMO not an outside supplier). Get the 965 Black Edition (unlocked multiplier), run it up to 4ghz and enjoy a cheap, fast rig.

If I were building today, this is what I would do (combined with a Vertex 60GB or Intel G2 160GB SSD if you could afford it).

 

[dledtm]

sad to hear this is bad port for a video game. If this game was optimized with dual core in mind before quad core i think this would've been a sweet game. No one in here yet has a quad core. I still think my e6600 conroe is still gameable and i have no need to upgrade to quad yet.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

sad to hear this is bad port for a video game. If this game was optimized with dual core in mind before quad core i think this would've been a sweet game. No one in here yet has a quad core. I still think my e6600 conroe is still gameable and i have no need to upgrade to quad yet.

Ah FWIW it plays fine for me... I already had it (and beat it) for 360 and imho it's much MUCH better on PC.

Alright - new info.. I actually have an E6850. A good friend has a Q9450 that I'm fairly sure will work in my board for $150.. Thoughts?

 

[ashishmishra]

Alright, I'll look at upgrading my cpu to quad core but don't want to spend the money on a full i7 upgrade.

Is it not worth < $100 to get a second 8800 GTX? My p/s can handle the load...

Honestly like the other posters have noted, going dual 8800GTX will not net you as much gain in GTA IV. Plus they will suck way too much power compared to say a 5770/4890/GTX2xx and may not perform on par with these cards because of SLI scaling issues. If power, heat and noise aren't any concerns then 8800GTX SLI isn't a terrible idea for $100 but bear in mind that it won't do too much for GTA IV.

Since you're already on Skt775, and I am guessing you'd like to keep your existing setup with minimal changes, grab a used/new Q9x50 (x = 4/5/6) and see what that does to your performance before you spend $100 on another 8800GTX IMO.

Although a Phenom 2 is a competitive CPU for the money no doubt in 95%+ games, I still stand by my statement that the i7 architecture (skt1156/1366) is the one to beat in GTA IV

 

[ashishmishra]

Ah FWIW it plays fine for me... I already had it (and beat it) for 360 and imho it's much MUCH better on PC.

Alright - new info.. I actually have an E6850. A good friend has a Q9450 that I'm fairly sure will work in my board for $150.. Thoughts?

If you intend to overclock it then it is not a bad deal at all, what is your mobo OP?

 

[RockinZ28]

Quad core. I have my e6600 at 3.6ghz and gta4 runs like ass with a 5870. I also looked in afterburner and it was only ever making the gpu usage go to about 75&#37; max.

 

[lopri]

HD 5850 = $300
PS3 = $300

For GTA..

 

[ShawnD1]

I am sorry but recommending the console version over the pc version for performance or IQ reasons is just bad advice. I have played GTA IV on both the 360 and pc. The pc version on even low settings has far better IQ and framerate than the 360 version.

The piece of shit erased my save game several times now. Seriously, don't buy the PC version. Get an Xbox or something.

 

[jacktesterson]

Quad core @ highest clock speed possible is what you need for GTA4.

CPU > GPU for GTA4.

It doesn't like dual cores that much.



I originally bought to play on my old gaming PC (sold now), and didn't enjoy the experience. I personally enjoyed it much more on my 360. It looks better on PC though.

In my opinion, GTA4 on a PC is a waste of time.

 

[Obsoleet]

Although a Phenom 2 is a competitive CPU for the money no doubt in 95%+ games, I still stand by my statement that the i7 architecture (skt1156/1366) is the one to beat in GTA IV

I'm not doubting that. But it saves some bucks, and does the job in 95%+ games as you said, and as my link showed, can beat an i7 920 overclocked @4ghz. For $199, and by the sounds of it, this guy doesn't have all the money in the world, so it would be a very worthwhile thing to look into. Would lose the SLI support though moving to a AMD890 chipset as I recommended, but there are other options for SLI (just lose out on quality AMD SATA / USB support). Probably best off building the 965 rig with a 5850 and ridding ones self of the 8800GTX SLI setup.. once upon a time that would've been a slick setup.. but I had a single 8800GTX and it's certainly a beast (in a bad way). The new ATI is where it's at.

 

[skulkingghost]

I have an 17 920 12gb of ram and a gtx260 and it still has issues at 1920x1200 so get a better card then the gtx260

 

[KeypoX]

runs pretty well on my 8400 @ 3.4GHz, with gtx 260 OC edition. @ 1920 x 1200

When i turned the overclock less than 3.4 i had problems. Dunno if that game is optimized for quad but maybe is.

 

[toyota]

well even at 1920 the game is mostly cpu limited for me with a gtx260. the game dropped down in the low 20s at times with my cpu at 3.16 but is much smoother with it at 3.8.

1920x1080 highest settings, view distance 10, detail distance 25
E8500@ 3.16 40.47 fps
E8500@ 3.80 47.10 fps