GTA IV Performance Problems on the PC
On December 2, Rockstar Games released the much anticipated PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV to both retail and digital distribution outlets. Since then, there have been numerous reports of poor performance on current systems and even some cases of textures failing to load.
Forum users at Steam have reported that users of systems which meet or exceed the recommended requirements are treated to results that are lower in quality than the PS3 or Xbox 360 versions. Most of these complaints have been isolated to forum posts and online discussions; however, IGN was able to interview Rockstar Games for an official response to these technical issues.
According to Rockstar, digitally distributed versions of the game purchased through Valve’s Steam service were not downloading properly to user’s systems. Refunds are being issued as per instructions on Voodoo Extreme’s website; however, it’s noted that this is on an exception basis and is not normal practice.
Rockstar’s own support website has been updated to reflect the latest drivers available for download for users of both Nvidia and ATI graphics cards and is encouraging users to update for the best performance. Rockstar maintains that these technical issues are due to “out of date drivers or we don’t support that type of card or you’re under-specced or whatever, it’s always a combination of one of those things.”
Rockstar Games insists that the problems experienced by users are extremely low; in the 1 percent region for complaints received through their customer support line. The developers have gone on record to state that the game has been designed to be “future-proof” and that current hardware will run the game; however, as hardware improves, so will the game’s performance.
In the mean time, Rockstar is urging players to update their drivers, update their Games for Windows Live software, and to update their operating system patches. Nvidia drivers for their current cards are already available but ATI drivers will be delayed until December 10. Grand Theft Auto IV was released for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on April 29, 2008 and sold over 3.6 million units on its first day for release.
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"Rockstar Games insists that the problems experienced by users are extremely low"
Yeah right, try reading the comments on the Ebuyer.com product page. Not bought it myself, and I wont be. All they seem to have done is a quick-and-dirty port, and bolted on some horrible DRM.
The game is fine - at least it runs fine for me - i just HATE having to jump through so many hoops just to play the damn thing - WHY do have to sign in TWICE to play the game offline and save the game? not cool guys - if i have to put in effort to pass the border check to play a game then im not spending $100NZ on it like i did with GTA IV
Rockstar are a bunch of crooks and their statements are garbage. 1% of users? 1? BS... Oh they future proofed the game... right so want to explain why my finely tuned system running the latest nvidia betas with a quad core CPU and a GTX 280 struggles to run 20 FPS in GTA4 on low settings?
Half the time I go outside and the FPS drops to 1.
Yeah nice work rockstar, not like my videocard is worth double the price of a 360 or PS3, but can it handle GTA4? Hell no, it's "future proof".
Rockstar's QA deparment is full of monkeys with their brains removed. Oh I mean... employees.
dunno guys....i bought this game because i'm a huge fan of the gta series, i've noticed some drops in fps while playing outside, but i could still enjoy it. with the new drivers, the drop in fps rate isn't so frequent. my rig: 4 gb ram, 2 X 8800 gts 612 mb OC from BFG, amd 6400+ X2 and it runs vista ultimate sp1. it runs better with the new drivers
i have a huge problem with the screen...everything i have tryied failed...every time i play the game it starts well and the screen goes like i'm drunk and i mean really drunk...it round and round and never stops spining
i found on the net that this problem is because anti-piracy program from the Rockstar for illegal copies...i used a crack so i can play without a disk but seems it won't happen
hey i have windows xp SP3
2.5gb ram
256mb graphics(ATI RADEON EXPRESS 200 SERIES)
Intel Pentium(R) 4 2.83GHz
20Gb free space
Will GTA 4 work on my PC?
it can work but my problem of gta iv: when i start a new game its dosent shous the video but i can hear what they are saing. when the game starts i have to drive roman to his place but the screen was dark. any answers sorry for my bad english