performance issue

[eskimo]

Hey GTA people.

Got this issue with GTA IV, patched 1.0.4.0 running on:

Windows XP x64 SP2

Gigabyte ep45-ds3

Core 2 Duo e7400 OC'd to 3.15GHz

2x1GB Patriot Viper 1200Mhz DDR2

Radeon 4890 1GB OC'd to 950MHz / 1050MHz

160 GB WD SATA 7200

Genuine system / game

Got plenty of free space on HDD, set page file to 4096MB, got newly installed system, defragmented and all that, other games work very well (Crysis, FSX etc)

I start the game, it works well - got approx 30fps min with highest settings. After 10-15 mins the "nightmare" begins - game freezes for like half a second and the hdd spins like crazy.

Then it unfreezes, goes well for few seconds and freezes again. Over time the freezes become more and more frequent and as a result game becomes unplayable after 20-25 mins.

Would you guys know the best solution for that? (Hope you will not say "buy more ram" )

Oh, forgot to mention that i tried reducing the graphics settings to minimum with resolution 800x600 - not helping.

THANKS

Edited August 8, 2009 by eskimo

[Damjan]

Try putting XP SP3 - XP SP3 is the requirement for IV.

Edited August 8, 2009 by Sтεαм.

[eskimo]

Try putting XP SP3 - XP SP3 is the requirement for IV.

I don't think there is SP3 for XP x64 but I might be wrong. Gonna do some research now...

[JustADummy]

There's no such thing as SP3 for Windows XP x64. If the game needed XP SP3 to run, it'd tell you:

RMN40 - Windows XP: Need to have Service Pack 3 or higher to proceed.

If he didn't had Windows XP 64 with SP2, it'd tell you:

RMN30 - Windows XP 64 / Server 2003: Need to have Service Pack 2 or higher to proceed.

About your problem, try updating your graphics card drivers. That problem is also known as stuttering and a fix for it (Provided by Rockstar at GTAF) is create a commandline.txt file on your GTAIV root folder and adding the following vaules depending of your GFX Card:

-memrestrict 629145600

(for high texture)

-memrestrict 314572800

(for medium) * This is the one im using and so far so good

-memrestrict 209715200

(for low)

Proof: Sauce

[Damjan]

Oh, didn't read that 64 part, next time put an x infront of it.

[eskimo]

There's no such thing as SP3 for Windows XP x64. If the game needed XP SP3 to run, it'd tell you:

RMN40 - Windows XP: Need to have Service Pack 3 or higher to proceed.

If he didn't had Windows XP 64 with SP2, it'd tell you:

RMN30 - Windows XP 64 / Server 2003: Need to have Service Pack 2 or higher to proceed.

About your problem, try updating your graphics card drivers. That problem is also known as stuttering and a fix for it (Provided by Rockstar at GTAF) is create a commandline.txt file on your GTAIV root folder and adding the following vaules depending of your GFX Card:

-memrestrict 629145600

(for high texture)

-memrestrict 314572800

(for medium) * This is the one im using and so far so good

-memrestrict 209715200

(for low)

Proof: Sauce

with -memrestrict 314572800 lasted about 20 mins without stuttering so optimistically I changed it to 414572800 - looked better but it went stuttering after 45 minutes.

-memrestrict 629145600 is not helping at all.

I will try -memrestrict 314572800 again and see how long will it last but it looks brutal with that command line...

Also - I have newest Catalyst, tried 9.2 and 9.3 as well - no luck.

Thanks for the tips so far

[eskimo]

I have been testing it for a while and statter still occurs, I am selling the game on ebay and gonna go back to playing on my 360, too bad I can't mod it, I would really love to see some of those vehicles posted here