davesta
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Posts posted by davesta
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Ok well I just had a look at some reviews online for the NVIDIA 9200, they don't look to positive...
I might post back here tomorrow asking about some ADI cards or I'll just look up some reviews online.
If you're going for NVIDIA, you will need either an 8 or 9 series card, where the second number is either a 6 or an 8, eg. 8600, 8800, 9600 or 9800. The 8800 and 9800 are the best cards to get. You're also better off getting a card with at least 512mb of RAM. A 9200 is an entry level card, not designed for gaming and you can get far better for the price you quoted.
If you go for ATi, you will want either a 38xx or 48xx card.
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Iam getting the fatal error whenever i start the game as RMN40.........My system config is
intel core2duo 2.2 Ghz
2 gb ram
nvidia 512 mb graphics card
windows xp sp2
i have downloaded the patch released by nvidia also
You need Service pack 3 for Windows XP.
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I had some pretty rough slowdowns, I can't say for sure if its driver, mem or what have you... Thing is, the game does run on my pc enough for me to pretty well play it w/out compaining and its only 2GB mem and cpu slower than yours, how our cars compare I dunno ..
I'm guessing your display signal is digital (DVI)...
What settings do you have the game set to ?
I've certainly lowered mine to make it abit easier on my pc..
What processes are running "in the background" .. Have you tried amd fusion ? I'm guessing you also have been to amd site to get vendor-specific drivers, uninstalling old ones first ..
Like I said before, I've tried it at medium settings and lowest settings on all resolutions and I still get exactly the same framerates.
My monitor is indeed DVI.
I've run the game in windowed mode with task manager next to it and tried shutting down all processes and services except those needed for Windows to run and still no luck. I've tried AMD Fusion and dual core optimizer and installed all of the latest AMD and ATi drivers.
When I say slowdowns, I don't just mean 5-10fps, I'm talking 1fps here. Completely unplayable, every 5-10 seconds. The strange thing is that only certain games are doing it. San Andreas, Vice City and GTA III all work perfectly, so does rFactor and Live for Speed. It's only GTR2 and GTA IV which have the problems. Obviously I haven't tried Test Drive Unlimited because those bastards at Securom only give me a limited amount of activations.
I'm going to try removing one of the 2GB strips of RAM today to see if it's that which is causing the problem. I really hope it isn't, for obvious reasons, but if it isn't then I have no idea what it could be...
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Well Dave, dont give up so quick, heck I've received more "help" from other gamers and from doin my own research than relying on tech support, it took them about a 3 or 4 days to reply & they simply acknowledged what I already knew, & provided an additional unlocky key, but mine was already unlockt, I emailed the key to them ... It dint address the prob so...
All I seen you say in the initial post, as you found the saves, was that your frame rate was low, is that still unresolved ? And then in the other post on up you said you got a SUCROM error but never said what the error was specifically... If you dont want anyone else's help then ok .. otherwise need some specifics .. I know its proly pisst you off immensely but I'm tryin to help out...
I found the savegames, and I reinstalled the game, which got rid of the securom error (it was something to do with having a different version of Visual C++ after I tried reinstalling the ATi drivers). The only problem I now have is with the framerate drop. The game drops to about 1fps every few seconds, which is completely unplayable. However, I have now found after installing more games that excatly the same thing happens with GTR2, so this problem is not specific to GTA IV.
If anyone happens to know what the issue is, though, please let me know. I'm really not willing to reinstall windows again especially if i don't know if it will solve the issue. Is it a hardware problem? Perhaps it is caused by having too much RAM for a 32bit OS? Just a thought, I really don't know what it could be...
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What securom error are you gettin ?
Mine has no such errors anymore, even w/ modding, I HAVE NOT & dunno if I will install that patch, it snds like quite a few ppl are having the patch make no visual or very lil visual difference, some w/ mods said the game was gettin funky, it makes me wonder if its more of or atleast includes more securom crap, as I read up on sucrom, apparently those who institute it can alter its properties, basically offering customized updating..
Like I say, I don care about pirating, copying all that crap, anyone can check my account at the local gamestop & verify I bought it, gheez.. I jus like to be able to do really cool things like we have w/ past GTA games and other games as well .. I even edited peds file, this is what I got las night
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/2845/ladycopwc3.jpg
It was like 1am so I dint stay on up to keep testing.. Ofcourse not having installed that patch, I wasnt able to save so ... but I'm checkin on that..
Yea, on the cpu, I was mixing hex & decimal counting, which hex is 0-9, a-f... Hey I'm finishing up a networking class now so w/ all them dang-gon numbers, my cables get a lil twisted pair, I mean "wires get crosst",
Reinstalled the game, applied the patch, everything was exactly the same as before. Unbelievable.
I have emailed rockstar, hopefully they should get back to me soon before another week goes by without me being able to play the game.
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At the moment I'm in the process of reinstalling my game (for the 4th time thanks to the Securom error again) but when I finish installing that, I shall try the patch and let you know if it has improved the slowdowns.
No I wasnt talking about heat in reference to the game Mate, I just meant in general, if you OC a device generally voltage is increased and in doing so, there is more heat, sometimes OEM cooling devices are sufficient to a degree but ...I was jus sayin, it loox like the 3.1GHz I was looking at had a vaule of 125W, the 2.9GHz had only 89W, so I figured I could just kick up a 2.9 to 3.1 w/ potentially less (TW) than starting off w/ a 3.1GHz that is already 36(TW) higher... That was all ..
I've updated to those beta 3 Nvid drivers Orly told me about and I patcht a couple other things, used amd fusion to make a profile to disable non-essential services, then used Riva (updated) to tune my card & even call an xtra 40MB of sys ram for textures, its no super computer but I upped the settings some and it ran pretty dogon good, nothing disappearing .... I'm more interested now in modding tho ..
I see what you mean.
You probably would be able to overclock a 2.9GHz to the same speed (I thought you were talking about a 1.9GHz cause you said "So w/ a cpu thats only 1.2 GHz less"), but to be honest 0.2GHz probably wouldn't make much of a difference.
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I managed the find the savegames after a lot of searching (thanks for your advice on the hidden folders. Why the hell did they decide to do that in vista?) so that's all good now. I'll try and find a fix for the framerates, but hopefully the patch will fix that. If I do find a fix, I'll let you know WharHammer. And yes my shadows look pretty horrible. At the moment though, that's the least of my issues...
Actually Dave I was lookin at cpu upgrades.. I think your type will fit mine cuz mine they are still x2 BUT I noticed the 3.1 has a higher thermal wattage 125W as opposed to what I was thinkin, the 2.9 that has 89 or less .. Logically I was thinking that TW had to do w/ wattage consumed & heat produced, that the higher the wattage, the more heat .... So w/ a cpu thats only 1.2 GHz less but a TW diff of 36 seemt pretty significant, then w/ the possibilty of being able to OC enough to match or exceed w/ still less heat... I dunno ..I don't think it has anything to do with heat as the framerates drop pretty much instantly when I start playing.
The 6000+ is actually a fantastic processor. I've noticed a huge difference over my old 2.0GHz 3800+ with every game I've played since I got it. I don't know if you'd get the same performance even if you tried to overclock a 1.8GHz.
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Okay, so I just bought myself pretty much a new PC to play this game. Here are the specs:
Windows Vista 32bit SP1
AMD X2 6000+ 3.1GHz
4GB RAM (3GB recognised)
ATi 3850 512mb
Resolution 1600x1200
And let me say that the game now looks beautiful and plays well at full resolution. Huge upgrade from my old 7900GT.
I do however have a few problems. Firstly, since reinstalling Windows, I have no idea where mine and my brother's old savegames are. I saved my old C drive, so everything is there, but I can't figure out where the hell they are.
Secondly, although I'm getting some pretty good framerates, every 10 seconds or so the game slows right down to unplayable levels for a couple of seconds, then speeds up again. I have checked program manager and there doesn't appear to be anything running which could be doing this (it's a clean install anyway) so I have no idea what the problem is.
I have downloaded and installed all the latest drivers etc (including ATi's newest driver).
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Edit: I have also tested the game at 1280x1024, 1024x768 and 800x600 and I still get exactly the same FPS drop.
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Where is this 'patch thread'? I can't find it anywhere on this forum.
Your setup is exactly the same as what my setup will be (if I decide to get that card to upgrade from a 7900GT) so I would like more info on this.
Please let me know what resolution you are running at, what framerates you are getting and if you fix this issue.
Thanks.
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Okay, so I e-mailed SecuROM directly about this problem. After downloading some sort of tool that retrieved data for the problem and taking a screenshot of the error message and attaching them to a second e-mail, they responded with, verbatim:
"Thank you for your e-mail. The error code '2000' means that the GTAIV.exe
can't be launched from the LaunchGTAIV.exe - e.g. the GTAIV.exe was renamed /
deleted / moved,… Undoing this change or re-installing the game could solve
the issue."
I do not really know how to find the .exe yet (I haven't really looked into it, so I have no clue if it is difficult to do that or not), but I uninstalled the game via the Control Panel and am currently redownloading on Steam. I will keep this updated on what worked or didn't work so that anyone else with the problem now or in the future can know what to do
Just reinstall the game. I know it's not an exciting task, but it worked for me.
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I would like to know - is the ATI 3850 512MB a decent graphics card (ie the best I can get for that sort of money)?
Thanks.
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If you want full experience on GTAIV, you need a Core 2 Quad or your game will lag as f*ck. (Getting less than 15fps, for example)
I've been using a 3.1GHz AMD X2 and the game doesn't lag that badly for me. I know of people with poor processors who simply turn up the resolution if the game is lagging and it takes the strain off the processor and instead puts it on the graphics card.
The only thing that's holding my system back I feel is my graphics card, which is why I want to know what card to buy.
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I've noticed that the graphics settings in GTA IV are based on the amount of video memory you have, rather than the speed/power of your card. If this is the case, would a 1GB 9500GT be a good buy or would I be better off going with something older, but designed for gaming?
Also, for a low price, would you recommend an ATI 3850? or an equivalent NVIDIA card?
Can anyone answer my question? I'm looking for a good graphics card for a low price, anyone have any recommendations?
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WOOHOO, Congrats!! I know what you mean, even after all my tweaking (hunting down software that I may be missing as in updates like framework etc) my pc is still experiencing textures that disappear after a lil play time... I still havent forced myself to buy more mem yet ...
I lowered settings to almost nothing, it actually does look a lil more like console version then, but loox abit crappy, but the FRate is up, & atleast stuff doesnt take 8 seconds or more, like walls, fences & stuff to show infront of me while I'm running and all sudden WHAM...
Well, I even dlded those new beta drivers, 180.84 NO CHANGE ... Someone remind me nex time I decide to buy a game like this, to be sure I have $50,000 to spare for a damn "gaming machine", lolol ... W/ things as they are, I may as well be using this near $1000 machine, for well, just addition & subtraction , lol ...
Anyways, I had a new problem occur ... Eventho I understand & sympathize w/ RS cuz it is hard to do what they're tryin to do .. it still pisses ya off, I guess they're gettin a taste of how MS has felt w/ the 30,000 patches they've had to release over all their OS's through the years for security vulnerabilities, incompatabilities etc ...
I got a post on it now but I got wasted in an explosion and I was locked out of vehicles, couldnt get in any, it suckt cuz the first vehicle I come upon was a bank truck ... O well, hmm I dint save atleast, lol ...
Yeah, the pop in is quite bad. I actually managed to get the game running fairly decently at 1024x760, which doesn't really look too bad (despite the fact that I am playing on a 20" monitor). Some major slowdowns when I get chased by police or the weather is foggy though. Can't wait for the new memory to come.
I guess I must be fairly lucky for the 180.84 drivers to have worked for me.
Good luck getting the game to run smoothly on your PC - hopefully R* will have done some optimization when they release the patch.
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Ok, yea, I'd try a couple things, proly first thing I'd do would be to uninstall new drivers & reinstall like you're doin. I'd remove all occurrence of them from the pc, sometimes you cant get rid of em w/ out a special utilities it seems, sometimes the manufacturer, like if you dld from Nvid or Ati, they MAY have something like a "clean uninstall" "complete driver removal tool" to totally clean out all reference to them so you can start fresh, sometimes this tool is recommended for removal of old drivers infact, b4 installing new ones. In my case, I dint have a tool, I used the uninstall in windows, seemt to suffice..
The thing that bugged me was, windows would automatically start trying to install the driver after reboot, usually it prompts you to finish installing it tho. I just exit out of that and manually install the new driver, the reason is, because apparently its trying to install a driver already on your system, either an old one or remnants of a newer one not removed from your system. Other thing they recommend, I remember did for mine, disable antivirus b4 running the new driver installation, they said this allows the driver to register properly .. Obviously I scan the driver file b4 disabling AV.. I also normally dis/cnct from the net, thats jus me being overly cautious...
So, you might try gettin the new one out/reinstall, if same prob, maybe put an older one in to see IF the new drivers were indeed the problem. You have to check the driver version if you're not sure if its a new or old one, you can check the one "installed" in a few ways, one is, simply running DX diagnostics, in your Vista "Start search" box down there, typing "DxDiag.exe", click on display tab, shows driver version. To make the determination, I think you look at the latter portion, like my driver update was 180.48 and in the version it shows 75.......1.8048 ->180.48 ? so I THINK thats how its read, its weird but .. I guess its how it worx.. I'm not sure about that "newer one" on that site link 180.84 I dont guess thats a typo ? It is a beta I believe..
I really hope you can get things workt out Davesta, did you see where Rockstar had an interview w/ IGN about everything ? Its in a thread Chris made ...
Thanks a lot for your help. Before I reinstalled the drivers, I decided to do a clean reinstall of GTA IV, just to make sure it wasn't the game itself that had in some way been corrupted. It was something that I didn't want to do, but thankfully it worked! I can now play GTA IV with no graphics problems (other than those caused by my crappy graphics card).
If anyone else has this problem, it may well require you to reinstall GTA IV after you install the beta drivers. I really hope nobody else has to go through the agony of having a £25 coaster in their DVD drive.
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I looked through all of the links on the search you posted (even the foriegn ones, which I translated), I searched all of the GTA forums I know, but nothing. I've sent an email to Securom, and I'm waiting for a reply.Thanks for your help. I downloaded the new NVIDIA drivers, which apparently solve the issues with the 7900 cards, but now when I open Rockstar Social Club and click Play Game, I get the following error: 'SecuLauncher: failed to start application. [2000]'I'm guessing that this has something to do with Securom, but I can't find anything about this error...
Yw, do you have any like anti-SecuRom apps on your pc ? It seems some software like performance enhancers etc can have a negative affect, if you use dvd copy software, this could be causing a conflict w/ the security feature(s) of the game..
I know I've come across articles relating to SR errors, they related well some to crax, others activation, have you tried emailing their tech support about the securom issue ? There is a link on that page I gave you, about securom errors, basically is about activation, which inturn provides a link to support..
I jus did a quick search, heres a list
http://www.google.com/search?q=SecuLaunche...t+application.+[2000]+GTA+IV&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Dunno if these will help but you can search through them ..
I don't think it's any software on my PC causing it, as I had the game running yesterday.
Well, kinda makes you wonder, if you had it running yesterday, what have you done different since then ? Apparently you installed the graphics drivers, you said that fixt the issues with those, so I'm assuming you're saying that once you uninstalled the old drivers, installed new ones, you could get in the game and you could see that the graphics issues you had were fixt by the new drivers ?
Then you apparently quit playing at some point, tried to load up again and it now gives you the securom error ?
Have you also checked to make sure your disc is clean, & that hopefully nothing else has access to the media drive that your game disc is in ? When it comes to that security stuff, its really fuzzy, jus seems like if you have an error w/ a security measure, then something is attempting to compromise that measure .. I don know, I dint design the game or its security.. I jus hate stuff like this, I want to help, brainstorm but can't figure it out, rrrrr ...
Well, hopefully if you find a fix, you'll post back so someone w/ the same prob can fix it ..
No, I don't know if the graphics problem was fixed. The error occurred after I installed the drivers. I think I'll try reinstalling the drivers and installing the old drivers etc. and I'll let you know if it helped.
Thanks.
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I've noticed that the graphics settings in GTA IV are based on the amount of video memory you have, rather than the speed/power of your card. If this is the case, would a 1GB 9500GT be a good buy or would I be better off going with something older, but designed for gaming?
Also, for a low price, would you recommend an ATI 3850? or an equivalent NVIDIA card?
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I looked through all of the links on the search you posted (even the foriegn ones, which I translated), I searched all of the GTA forums I know, but nothing. I've sent an email to Securom, and I'm waiting for a reply.Thanks for your help. I downloaded the new NVIDIA drivers, which apparently solve the issues with the 7900 cards, but now when I open Rockstar Social Club and click Play Game, I get the following error: 'SecuLauncher: failed to start application. [2000]'I'm guessing that this has something to do with Securom, but I can't find anything about this error...
Yw, do you have any like anti-SecuRom apps on your pc ? It seems some software like performance enhancers etc can have a negative affect, if you use dvd copy software, this could be causing a conflict w/ the security feature(s) of the game..
I know I've come across articles relating to SR errors, they related well some to crax, others activation, have you tried emailing their tech support about the securom issue ? There is a link on that page I gave you, about securom errors, basically is about activation, which inturn provides a link to support..
I jus did a quick search, heres a list
http://www.google.com/search?q=SecuLaunche...t+application.+[2000]+GTA+IV&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Dunno if these will help but you can search through them ..
I don't think it's any software on my PC causing it, as I had the game running yesterday.
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I purchased GTA IV on Steam a few days ago, started the download Dec. 2 when it released, and it finished sometime this morning. I did the whole Rockstar Social Club registration, though I had nothing to link it to. When prompted to activate it online, I made the mistake (I suppose at this point it must be an understatement) of accidentally clicking "Cancel" instead of "Ok"or "Continue" (whatever it was). I figured, "Hey, no biggy. I'm sure it will just ask again next time I try to launch it from Steam.
Wrong.
I launched GTA IV from Steam. It brings up the Rockstar Social Club page.. thing.. And I clicked "Play." It does nothing for a few seconds, as if it is about to start up, and then I get an error message that says "SecuLauncer: failed to start application. [2000]"
I have tried: Logging Out of Rockstar Social Club, disconnecting from the internet while attempting to launch it, and even tried uninstalling SecuRom with what was supposed to be their official uninstaller. Nothing thus far has worked. I looked at the manual activation page that Rockstar set up, but that is useless for me since none of the things it says I can even do.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate them.
I'm also getting the same error message. Does anyone know how to fix this?
Edit: I'm not using steam.
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Thanks for your help. I downloaded the new NVIDIA drivers, which apparently solve the issues with the 7900 cards, but now when I open Rockstar Social Club and click Play Game, I get the following error: 'SecuLauncher: failed to start application. [2000]'
I'm guessing that this has something to do with Securom, but I can't find anything about this error...
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GTA IV for PC arrived for me today, and after going through the most tedious and frustrating installation process I have ever experienced, it was finally time to play the game. Unfortunately it would seem that with my system I am only able to play on the very lowest settings, but this does not explain my problem.
The first time I played the game, it played fine, but the map, all of the menus, and certain objects weren't being rendered. This meant that I could not change any settings, change the radio station, see the in-game tips etc. I decided to ctrl+alt+del out of the game (as I couldn't quit from the menu) and have my dinner. When I got back to my PC and tried to play again, the map and menus showed up. Great, I thought. Except for one thing. Nothing beyond about a centimetre in front of Niko was being rendered and all I could see was blank screen with a few objects in the distance. it was like this wherever I went. After a couple of minutes of wondering what was wrong, I alt-tabbed out of the game to search for similar problems. When I went back to the game, it was the same as before - working fine but with no maps or menus.
Anyone have any idea what is wrong?
Also, it seems that video memory is the most important thing when buying a graphics card. In this case, would it be a good idea to buy a 1GB 9500GT (I had a 512MB 8500GT before, it was crap) just for the memory? Or would I be better off going for an ATI 3850 512MB? Or an 8600?
My current system:
Windows Vista 32 SP1
AMD X2 6000+ 3.1GHz
NVIDIA 7900GT
2GB RAM (another 1GB should be arriving tomorrow)
Thanks.
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That makes sense. So long as I can play at 1600x1200 or at least 1280x1024 or without slowdowns, I don't mind playing on low settings.Thanks very much. So can anybody recommend a processor thats going to give me decent performance and longevity but for a reasonable price? Cheers.From what I have read, it would seem that you are better off going for a high-clock dual core than a low end quad. I have just bought myself an AMD X2 6000+ 3.1GHz processor for £70. That appears to be pretty good value. I'd also recommend getting another GB of RAM, as this isn't very expensive and can make a big difference.
I would also like to know, from people who actually own the game, how well do you expect my system to play the game with the following hardware:
AMD X2 6000+ 3.1GHz
3GB DDR2 RAM
NVIDIA 7900GT
Thanks.
I would say you would be playing on Low to Low Medium with that setup.
Don't think so, not for GTA IV at least. It would seem to take full advantage of all four cores, so getting a quad core is a better decision, plus they will get even better in the future as more applications begin to support them.That's a good point. In terms of older games, a high clocked dual core is probably better, but if GTA IV actually makes use of all 4 cores, then it would be the better option. They are rather expensive, although I would guess they will hold their value and performance longer than dual cores.
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Thanks very much. So can anybody recommend a processor thats going to give me decent performance and longevity but for a reasonable price? Cheers.
From what I have read, it would seem that you are better off going for a high-clock dual core than a low end quad. I have just bought myself an AMD X2 6000+ 3.1GHz processor for £70. That appears to be pretty good value. I'd also recommend getting another GB of RAM, as this isn't very expensive and can make a big difference.
I would also like to know, from people who actually own the game, how well do you expect my system to play the game with the following hardware:
AMD X2 6000+ 3.1GHz
3GB DDR2 RAM
NVIDIA 7900GT
Thanks.
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Eh. Good. I hope my PC really can run GTA IV, because I'm getting it for Christmas...for the PC!!
For Christmas, I think you should probably be asking for a new PC, rather than GTA IV for PC. Just a thought.
A few problems
in GTA IV Discussion + Help
Posted
Thanks for the help and support but... I'm all out of ideas.