GTA IV 8600M GT 512MB how it runs for you?

[Zauxit]

I wonder what performance you get with this card

Im very disapointed by my low fps with horrible settings.

20 fps (when its not raining)

1176x664 (my native is 1650x1050)

med textures

high render

view 1

detail 1

vehicles 26

shadows 0

So owners of this card and game, post ur score please and eventually if better, how did u get them

Edited December 8, 2008 by Zauxit

[Guest MonkeyMhz]

You should also give us your CPU specs. Because your low performance may not be caused by ur GPU. GTA IV is a very CPU intensive game since it uses the Euphoria Engine for the NPCs AI/Reactions and dynamic animations. Also GTAIV just came out and many people are having problems. However I don't think you should worry too much, once i install the game tonight when i get home from work if it doesent run good on my laptop ill start making some custom .configs and stuff to get it to run good and look good. And also im sure rockstars gonna have patches soon to fix it up a bit.

Btw, a OC'ed P4, combined even with a GTX280 would yield u poor performance <18 fps, in all low..

[Andrew55]

Wow, that's shocking (p4 and gtx 280) but yeah it is a very cpu intensive program and quite simply needs to have some bugs worked out.

Also are you using the new drivers (180.84 gta drivers)?

[Guest MonkeyMhz]

Also if ur gpu is GDDR2 thats gonna hinder performance, and if you havent OC'd ur 8600GT then thats really gonna hinder performance, 8600GT i think was far underclocked on Nvidias release, well in my opionion at least. Check your temps and see if you can do any safe overclocking cuz i was suprised how far i could push mine with little to no temp increase. My 8600GT seems closer to a 8800GS with its OC which really helps gaming performance.

[Zauxit]

Im not fan of OC, but im gonna try it

My CPU is Intel C2D 2.0GHz - notebook, so as far as I know cant be OCed and have DDR2 2x1GB RAM

Tried 180.84 and DOX's 180.84 test relese - same score

Edited December 8, 2008 by Zauxit

[Morris]

I am disappointed, I am getting my GTA 4 in an hour, I hope it does not run like crap on my new HD3650, it is "slighty" faster then 8600m GT, I have 4600 in 3Dmark06, any of you tested on this card?

[wook]

Is your GPU DDR3? if so then you should be able to get over 5000 3Dmark score. even with a 2.0 ghz processor. Im assuming core2?

Overclock. then you should get another 1-2000 points.

My xps has 2.4 ghz and 8600 GT and i hit 5,500 points, that was 6 months ago, and drivers have become better. should would possible get 5,700 now.

[Galdere]

You should also give us your CPU specs. Because your low performance may not be caused by ur GPU. GTA IV is a very CPU intensive game since it uses the Euphoria Engine for the NPCs AI/Reactions and dynamic animations. Also GTAIV just came out and many people are having problems. However I don't think you should worry too much, once i install the game tonight when i get home from work if it doesent run good on my laptop ill start making some custom .configs and stuff to get it to run good and look good. And also im sure rockstars gonna have patches soon to fix it up a bit.

Btw, a OC'ed P4, combined even with a GTX280 would yield u poor performance <18 fps, in all low..

You've been saying that since the middle of last week. I think you should wait and see how the game works, and how it is configured, before you make any more claims tbh.

[Guest MonkeyMhz]

Yea without OC i was able to get over 5k in 3dmark with my gddr3 8600.

[Guest MonkeyMhz]

You've been saying that since the middle of last week. I think you should wait and see how the game works, and how it is configured, before you make any more claims tbh.

I already have many friends in RL playing the game, i know what they are getting. I know the software and middleware behind GTA IV. I can say confidently that its a hugely CPU dependant game. Im sure patches will come out and help performance. And ill be trying it tonight so we will see how I do.

[Galdere]

I already have many friends in RL playing the game, i know what they are getting. I know the software and middleware behind GTA IV. I can say confidently that its a hugely CPU dependant game. Im sure patches will come out and help performance. And ill be trying it tonight so we will see how I do.

It is, but your OC P4 with a GTX280 invented comparison doesn't make much sense. If you know about how the configuring works you should be aware there are no config files, other than what you can create yourself for command line parameters, which have little impact and are very system dependant. That is why I said you should stop promising something that is not possible. It is not like the previous games in that respect, and you and others reading your posts would be better off not having false expectations. When you have actually tried it out for yourself and realised, then it will be appropriate to comment on what you are able to do.

Edited December 9, 2008 by Galdere

[siN07]

I have GDDR2 and T7250 with 2GHZ and nothing is OCed. I dont get over 20fps ... the game is horrible coded for pc ... even with low details it does not run smoothly and I wont play with low detail. I can play with 1024x768 and all in all @medium. Hope the patch gives a boost of 10fps! Yes Im using the 180.84! But the driver doesnt bring much performance imho.

[Guest MonkeyMhz]

Well, I installed it, yes it is horrible you can look at my post.

Hopefully their patch fixes stuff, R* has finished the patch but were now waiting for Microsoft to Approve it.

Btw. Above i wasn't promising a full out patch, but through command line optimizations and maybe some fiddling around I bet I could pump out some extra FPS.

[Galdere]

Well, I installed it, yes it is horrible you can look at my post.

Hopefully their patch fixes stuff, R* has finished the patch but were now waiting for Microsoft to Approve it.

Btw. Above i wasn't promising a full out patch, but through command line optimizations and maybe some fiddling around I bet I could pump out some extra FPS.

Well you'd made many definitive posts before you had even tried it about what you were going to do.

You've gone from - "If i cant run it High, with maybe some things medium at 65% draw distance without playable FPS. Im gonna be one unhappy monkey."

To - "for some reason when u turn around and buildngs lods its like pixelated dots and then the building just appear, and alot of the textures flicker and disapear. I think this might be the drivers Ill try the GTA IV drivers tonight."

It isn't the driver. It's how you've configured it.

Wondering why you have posted a big long commentary, that is full of long winded descriptions of your mistakes. Read the GTA forums if you want to see what has already been figured out. What laptop are you using? You state a desktop GPU. This site is for laptop drivers and support btw, it's not a blog site.

[Guest MonkeyMhz]

Quote: It isn't the driver. It's how you've configured it.

Btw, even before I custom configured anything just running for the first time, it still had those problems, its not from how i configured it. And I do read the other GTAIV post forms to find out what mistakes have already been made and how to fix them. I read over these other forms before installing the game. I simply just shared my experiance in my other post. If you dont want that then fine, from on now ill stick straight to the techs.

My Specs:

Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.4 Ghz

8600M GT OC'd 256MB GDDR3 1GB Turbo Cache.

4GB DDR2 RAM.

1GB Intel Turbo Card.

200GB Hard Drive @ 5400 RPM.

[Andrew55]

Well you'd made many definitive posts before you had even tried it about what you were going to do.

You've gone from - "If i cant run it High, with maybe some things medium at 65% draw distance without playable FPS. Im gonna be one unhappy monkey."

To - "for some reason when u turn around and buildngs lods its like pixelated dots and then the building just appear, and alot of the textures flicker and disapear. I think this might be the drivers Ill try the GTA IV drivers tonight."

It isn't the driver. It's how you've configured it.

Wondering why you have posted a big long commentary, that is full of long winded descriptions of your mistakes. Read the GTA forums if you want to see what has already been figured out. What laptop are you using? You state a desktop GPU. This site is for laptop drivers and support btw, it's not a blog site.

I can't confirm the validity of these 'definitive posts.' Estimations are always accepted but only when such is stated (that it is an estimation.) Also, we accept all kinds of threads (once they are in the appropriate section) so if anything needs to be said, there is always room in the off-topic section. Any kind of topic is accepted once they are of value to others.

We like up to date commentary especially when it is useful.

[Galdere]

I can't confirm the validity of these 'definitive posts.' Estimations are always accepted but only when such is stated (that it is an estimation.) Also, we accept all kinds of threads (once they are in the appropriate section) so if anything needs to be said, there is always room in the off-topic section. Any kind of topic is accepted once they are of value to others.

We like up to date commentary especially when it is useful.

Andrew have you seen the number of posts with false claims and expectations, even though he claims to have done his research. Many posts are just how long his download is taking, or when he will be finishing work. His experience thread goes from the installing of a service pack, to which directory he chose to install in, to defraging, without even hinting at his spec.

Do you honestly think that is of real value? I'd say the amount of incorrect stuff, mostly before he even had the game, is detrimental to the value of the site tbh.

It's not like he is asking for opinions or offering any useful advice, quite the contrary. It's bad enough reading "what is best driver for this" and "I can't get the driver to install" without the diaries of the inane and rhetorically confused.

You may think I'm being harsh on him, but I like many have bothered to read up on the basics for dealing for the issues with this game, and have contributed here and elsewhere to getting the most out of it. I would appreciate him documenting his experiences if it wasn't made up of "i'll have it soon... incorrect assumptions... i'll have it soon... unrealistic expectations..." and then everything but what he had for breakfast, up to how he got all the settings wrong but doesn't realise it.

Sorry but I don't want to read that his every thought about all that crap, and I think I speak for others in saying so as well.

Edited December 10, 2008 by Galdere

[Galdere]

Quote: It isn't the driver. It's how you've configured it.

Btw, even before I custom configured anything just running for the first time, it still had those problems, its not from how i configured it. And I do read the other GTAIV post forms to find out what mistakes have already been made and how to fix them. I read over these other forms before installing the game. I simply just shared my experiance in my other post. If you dont want that then fine, from on now ill stick straight to the techs.

My Specs:

Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.4 Ghz

8600M GT OC'd 256MB GDDR3 1GB Turbo Cache.

4GB DDR2 RAM.

1GB Intel Turbo Card.

200GB Hard Drive @ 5400 RPM.

Your post doesn't say that. You are setting it beyond the spec you have now stated.

I don't have a problem with you sharing your experience, I just think you should include the relevant things, a perhaps fewer less relevant things, whilst not make incorrect claims without knowing better. People use these forums to research like you say you have, so if they find your posts/blog full of definitives that are incorrect and lots of irrelevant and missing info, it does them no favours, nevermind getting yourself sorted.

Edited December 10, 2008 by Galdere

[Andrew55]

Andrew have you seen the number of posts with false claims and expectations, even though he claims to have done his research. Many posts are just how long his download is taking, or when he will be finishing work. His experience thread goes from the installing of a service pack, to which directory he chose to install in, to defraging, without even hinting at his spec.

Do you honestly think that is of real value? I'd say the amount of incorrect stuff, mostly before he even had the game, is detrimental to the value of the site tbh.

It's not like he is asking for opinions or offering any useful advice, quite the contrary. It's bad enough reading "what is best driver for this" and "I can't get the driver to install" without the diaries of the inane and rhetorically confused.

You may think I'm being harsh on him, but I like many have bothered to read up on the basics for dealing for the issues with this game, and have contributed here and elsewhere to getting the most out of it. I would appreciate him documenting his experiences if it wasn't made up of "i'll have it soon... incorrect assumptions... i'll have it soon... unrealistic expectations..." and then everything but what he had for breakfast, up to how he got all the settings wrong but doesn't realise it.

Sorry but I don't want to read that his every thought about all that crap, and I think I speak for others in saying so as well.

Which is exactly what I said, it's just I was making a generalization. I was not targeting one person in particular. Once something is useful, accurate and of benefit to the lv2go community then it deserves a place here in lv2go. Once these prerequisites are not met, then they should be stated (for example you make the case about 'inaccurate information') with a tone that indicates the formerly stated (as in I'm not sure about this but, so on...). If something is off- topic (does not belong or is taking away from the substance of the topic/ thread) then it obviously should be placed somewhere where such is acceptable (the off-topic section). Now onto the specifics: I have not seen many of monkeymhz's posts. The few I have seen were helpful, though. With my limited knowledge about monkeymhz, I can't make any judgments. You have seen posts of monkeymhz's doing that do not seem to be accurate and are not fitting or in sequential tandem with the thread's nature.

I can definitely not make any judgments, therefore. You having experience with this user's style of writing (shall I say), may proceed to point this out to him which I don't have a problem with. I was just giving (all) users guidelines upon which to create a meaningful and worthwhile posting experience. If, had it been I had noticed someone with a similar affinity I would have given them such guidelines. I am not rebuking your criticism of monkeymhz's posting style, I was just making it known to all that what we expect here is an informative posting experience that in the end will be of benefit to those that visit us.

Regards,

Andrew.

[Galdere]

Which is exactly what I said, it's just I was making a generalization. I was not targeting one person in particular. Once something is useful, accurate and of benefit to the lv2go community then it deserves a place here in lv2go. Once these prerequisites are not met, then they should be stated (for example you make the case about 'inaccurate information') with a tone that indicates the formerly stated (as in I'm not sure about this but, so on...). If something is off- topic (does not belong or is taking away from the substance of the topic/ thread) then it obviously should be placed somewhere where such is acceptable (the off-topic section). Now onto the specifics: I have not seen many of monkeymhz's posts. The few I have seen were helpful, though. With my limited knowledge about monkeymhz, I can't make any judgments. You have seen posts of monkeymhz's doing that do not seem to be accurate and are not fitting or in sequential tandem with the thread's nature.

I can definitely not make any judgments, therefore. You having experience with this user's style of writing (shall I say), may proceed to point this out to him which I don't have a problem with. I was just giving (all) users guidelines upon which to create a meaningful and worthwhile posting experience. If, had it been I had noticed someone with a similar affinity I would have given them such guidelines. I am not rebuking your criticism of monkeymhz's posting style, I was just making it known to all that what we expect here is an informative posting experience that in the end will be of benefit to those that visit us.

Regards,

Andrew.

Sorry mate, getting a bit too annoyed. Cheers :-)

[Andrew55]

no prob, we all do.

[Guest Dhruv]

Gentlemen,

HELP!

I got two things - a rather low-mid level laptop, and a huge desire to play GTA IV on it!!

My specs -

Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4 GHZ, 3MB L2 Cache

3GB RAM

NVidia 8600M GT 256MB

250 GB Sata @ 5400rpm

Should I go ahead and buy the GTA IV DVD or just forget about it till I upgrade my laptop?

--

Ignore the previous post, added memory details for my display adapter

[zipper]

No problem if you can tolerate lower resolution - I've been playing Toca 3 on older Intel GMA - stable 15-20 fps with very low settings but sort of fun yet...

[Guest MonkeyMhz]

Yes, I agree... Usually my posts have that messy style, sorry but I was in a rush that day. Ill try not to do that anymore. Ill keep my posts more organized. Anyways, heres my findings in GTAIV.

My Specs:

Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.4 Ghz

8600M GT OC'd 256MB GDDR3 1GB Turbo Cache.

4GB DDR2 RAM.

1GB Intel Turbo Card.

200GB Hard Drive @ 5400 RPM.

180.84 Drivers (Yes I changed them)

The game seemed to run faster and pretty darn smooth, but for some reason after about 5 mins of gameplay it would crash. I changed my pagefile to a static 4095 - 4095 instead the default range it was before. And that seemed to fix the problem :) . Popups are less frequent, textures load quicker. Game still seems a bit buggy but Im hoping patches will take care of that. After fiddleing around with command lines and the ingame settings I managed to bench this.

Average FPS: 24.84

Duration: 37.36 sec

CPU Usage: 92%

System memory usage: 48%

Video memory usage: 100%

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1280 x 800 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: Medium

Render Quality: High

View Distance: 10

Detail Distance: 15

(Ingame I run the Shadow Density at 0, I turned it to 4 but didnt notice really any drastic performance impact, even at night. Vehicle slider is at 35)

Yes I know the view and detail distance are set fairly low, but its better having less popups and less view distance rather than more popups and more view distance.

Im actually pretty happy with the result, ingame it doesent drop much either, very playable. Maybe with the patch things will improve more.

*For the command line file generation im using a small app I made, so I was able to come up with the best settings. Now im only trying to find a way to increase the resolution without increasing the shadow maps/cube maps. I would so ever like to run in a native res. Still lookin round in the GTAIV files for anything that might give me more options to change.

[Galdere]

Yes, I agree... Usually my posts have that messy style, sorry but I was in a rush that day. Ill try not to do that anymore. Ill keep my posts more organized. Anyways, heres my findings in GTAIV.

My Specs:

Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.4 Ghz

8600M GT OC'd 256MB GDDR3 1GB Turbo Cache.

4GB DDR2 RAM.

1GB Intel Turbo Card.

200GB Hard Drive @ 5400 RPM.

180.84 Drivers (Yes I changed them)

The game seemed to run faster and pretty darn smooth, but for some reason after about 5 mins of gameplay it would crash. I changed my pagefile to a static 4095 - 4095 instead the default range it was before. And that seemed to fix the problem :) . Popups are less frequent, textures load quicker. Game still seems a bit buggy but Im hoping patches will take care of that. After fiddleing around with command lines and the ingame settings I managed to bench this.

Average FPS: 24.84

Duration: 37.36 sec

CPU Usage: 92%

System memory usage: 48%

Video memory usage: 100%

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1280 x 800 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: Medium

Render Quality: High

View Distance: 10

Detail Distance: 15

(Ingame I run the Shadow Density at 0, I turned it to 4 but didnt notice really any drastic performance impact, even at night. Vehicle slider is at 35)

Yes I know the view and detail distance are set fairly low, but its better having less popups and less view distance rather than more popups and more view distance.

Im actually pretty happy with the result, ingame it doesent drop much either, very playable. Maybe with the patch things will improve more.

*For the command line file generation im using a small app I made, so I was able to come up with the best settings. Now im only trying to find a way to increase the resolution without increasing the shadow maps/cube maps. I would so ever like to run in a native res. Still lookin round in the GTAIV files for anything that might give me more options to change.

You needed to turn that view distance down, you don't have enough graphics ram for it more than anything else, it was the main cause of your problems.

The ingame benchmark does not give a true reflection of perfomance unfortunately, especially with min FPS. It takes no account of some CPU intensive settings.

A reasonable result considering though, you've a decent CPU which helps. Don't expect much from this patch. :-)

I don't see how altering your pagefile would have helped, especially as your benchmark shows it is not even using half of your 4gb ram.

It would be interesting to know your full settings, and command line parameters and real ingame fps min/max/average (outdoors only).

RE:"trying to find a way to increase the resolution without increasing the shadow maps/cube maps"

"IGN: Before we get into that, a few questions about general graphics options. Why can't you actually through the graphics menu adjust AA (anti-aliasing), turn off shadows, and why is there a resource usage limitation?

Kevin Hoare: Early on we decided we weren't going to support DirectX 10. We were just going to work on increasing the visual quality with what we had with DirectX 9. If we had DirectX 10 support we could have had the AA in there, but we don't have any. The shadows, at least from the forums and what I'm seeing, I think a lot of people don't understand that the shadow density is only designed for a certain type of light in the game. In the daytime there's a general shadow that covers the entire world. That is hooked up directly to the video mode. It scales automatically with resolution. So the higher the resolution you set the game, the higher your shadow, mirrors, water, reflection, everything automatically scales.

We had all those options available and we found that people were confused by so many options so we wound up merging them into the video mode."

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/936/936304p2.html

You ofc can play in your native resolution, but with the min 256mb graphics memory you'd have problems even at the lowest settings.

Sorry if I got a bit wound up. It irritates me when people comment a lot on things they haven't even tried.