Where is my GTAIV bottleneck?

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

...and what should I invest in to fix it? Here's what I have:

GeForce 8500 GT (512 mb)
3 gb DDR2
Pentium 4 at 3.2 GHz

Flight sim 10 works pretty well for me, but even at the lowest detail and highest global performance settings, GTAIV barely gets above about 5-6 fps.

I know a lot of people have had issues with GTAIV and the drivers not being up to date, but i just updated to the latest from nvidia and it didn't help at all...

any suggestions would be much appreciated.

ShadowFold · Dec 10, 2008

Everything except your ram will get destroyed by GTA4. If you want to play it well you better be ready to spend 400$+.
Also fill out your specs in the User CP. That will help us a lot.

spearman914 · Dec 10, 2008

Well your pc is under requirement by a lot to play GTAIV. Get something better like a E6750+ or a 8800 gt or higher.

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

Thanks for the quick replies guys--so is it the card or the processor that is the main problem?

Also, I was considering just doubling up the 8500 with SLI, though I really don't know much about it or if it helps. Any thoughts on that?

ShadowFold · Dec 10, 2008

Do not do 8500GT SLi. Both your CPU and GPU are MASSIVE bottlenecks for this game. You are gonna have to spend 200$ at least on the GPU, something like a HD 4870 1gb or GTX 260. And to get a new cpu you will have to get a new motherboard most likely since you have a P4. I would go with a Biostar 790GX and a Phenom 9950 and get a Phenom II when those come out.

erocker · Dec 10, 2008

SLI'ing two 8500's wont do any good. The processor is slow and will bottleneck any good mid to high end video card. 8500's are lower end cards and don't have the power to run that game.

DonInKansas · Dec 10, 2008

Both are the problem. I guess if you had to choose, it'd be the CPU but your graphics card isn't poweful enough for today's games either. Don't waste your money on another 8500GT--Put that cash towards something more beefy.

Minimum System Requirements

* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz
* Memory: 1.5GB, 16GB Free Hard Drive Space
* Video Card: 256MB NVIDIA 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900

Recommended System Requirements

* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz
* Memory: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista)
* 18 GB Free Hard Drive Space
* Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

Dang, processor and motherboard too? If I were just to get a quality graphics card, it wouldn't help? I don't need it to look really nice, just to be relatively smooth...

spearman914 · Dec 10, 2008

Planning to buy a new gpu/cpu then? Tell me ur budget, I'll try to find the requirements u need. And if buying a new mobo too, then switching intel is not a bad choice.

erocker · Dec 10, 2008

You should be able to run the game at low, mabye low-medium if you got yourself a 9800GT or a 4850. The CPU will still very much bottleneck the cards though. Will your PSU be able to run such a card?

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

spearman914 said:
Planning to buy a new gpu/cpu then? Tell me ur budget, I'll try to find the requirements u need.

Call it $450

spearman914 · Dec 10, 2008

dawei said:
Call it $450

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052&Tpk=e7200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

And that saves u some money, what's ur ram running at, maybe u can buy 4 gb kits if u want.

psu too?? DAMIT

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

spearman914 said:
And that saves u some money, what's ur ram running at, maybe u can buy 4 gb kits if u want. psu too?? DAMIT

Wow, thanks for the links

...I'd rather not upgrade the ram if I don't have to since I just bought a 2 gb stick; would that ram work in the new motherboard? (It's PC2-5300, 667mhz DDR2)

By the way what's 'psu' ?

ShadowFold · Dec 10, 2008

You might need a new psu.. Please fill out your specs in the user CP. I have a e7200 and a 4850 and GTA4 ran like crap on any settings so I highly recommend you get something higher than that.

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

ShadowFold said:
You might need a new psu.. Please fill out your specs in the user CP. I have a e7200 and a 4850 and GTA4 ran like crap on any settings so I highly recommend you get something higher than that.

Oh, I guess psu is power supply...sorry I'm actually not sure how I find out what im using :eek:

spearman914 · Dec 10, 2008

dawei said:
Wow, thanks for the links ...I'd rather not upgrade the ram if I don't have to since I just bought a 2 gb stick; would that ram work in the new motherboard? (It's PC2-5300, 667mhz DDR2)

By the way what's 'psu' ?

The P5Q's recommended is 1200 MHz, 667 MHz is way off. Sorry man, i'll try to search for good 667 MHz boards that oc well if that even exists.

dawei said:
Oh, I guess psu is power supply...sorry I'm actually not sure how I find out what im using

Open ur case. Then look at the labels. Posting a pic might be helpful.

ShadowFold · Dec 10, 2008

Whoa whoa.. 667mhz is fine. Just because the board says it supports 1200mhz doesn't mean it won run 667mhz... Thats completely false.

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

spearman914 said:
Open ur case. Then look at the labels. Posting a pic might be helpful.

Uy, that was at an odd angle...it says it's a HIPRO, at 305 W.

By the way, if I get a new motherboard will I need to buy CPU cooling seperately? If so, are they pretty generic, or if not how can I know if it will work?

ShadowFold · Dec 10, 2008

You will need a new psu as well.. I would go with this one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

ShadowFold said:
You will need a new psu as well.. I would go with this one:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

Ay, okay. Hey I was looking around on newegg, it seems a 1gb graphics card isn't too much more. Would it be worth it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125237

ShadowFold · Dec 10, 2008

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102802

Thats better for the money. But GTA4 sees it as a crappy card even tho it will destroy every other game. If you are just gonna play GTA4 I would go with a 4870.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

ShadowFold said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102802

Thats better for the money. But GTA4 sees it as a crappy card even tho it will destroy every other game. If you are just gonna play GTA4 I would go with a 4870.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801

But would the first one you post it at least be able to run it decently? I don't need max detail, just to make it run...

ShadowFold · Dec 10, 2008

Yes a 4850 would be good but get the one I listed, it has a fan and its cheaper.

DonInKansas · Dec 10, 2008

But will a 4870 fit in his 450 budget? doubtful.

Looks most liekly liek you'll be starting from scratch.

dawei · Dec 10, 2008

Okay, looks like I'm at about $480 with the Core 2 duo, Radeon HD 4850 1GB, Antec BP550 Plus 550W, and ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775.

Will I need to buy a new cooling system for the CPU, or will the one I have now still work?

Also how easy do you think it would be to install this stuff?

Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Motherboard	ASUS P5Q Pro
Cooling	Arctic Cooling
Memory	G.SKILL 4GB DDR2 @ 1066 mHz
Video Card(s)	SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 1GB
Storage	Corsair 64 GB SSD; Western Digital 160 GB HDD
Case	CMStorm
Power Supply	Antec BP550 Plus 550W
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

System Name	The ShadowFold Draconis (Ordering soon)
Processor	AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8ghz
Motherboard	ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870
Cooling	Stock
Memory	Kingston ValueRAM 4GB DDR3-1333
Video Card(s)	XFX ATi Radeon HD 5850 1gb
Storage	Western Digital 640gb
Display(s)	Acer 21.5" 5ms Full HD 1920x1080P
Case	Antec Nine-Hundred
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + Creative "Fatal1ty" Headset
Power Supply	Antec Earthwatts 650w
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Benchmark Scores	-❶-❸-❸-❼-

System Name	Mine \| Dad + Mom
Processor	E8500 E0 Wolfdale @ 4.6GHz 1.5V \| E2180 M0 Allendale @ 3.0GHz 1.3V
Motherboard	Asus Maximus Formula (X48) w/ Rampage BIOS \| Asus P5Q Pro (P45)
Cooling	Xigmatek Rifle HDT-S1283 w/ SFF21F Fan \| Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Memory	G.Skill Pi Black 2x2GB 1.02GHz CL5 \| OCZ Reaper 2x2GB 1.05GHz CL5
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 4870X2 2GB 820/1020MHz \| Sapphire 4850 1GB 700/1100MHz
Storage	WD VR 150GB 10K RPM + WD 500GB 7.2K RPM \| WD 200GB 7.2K RPM
Display(s)	Acer P243WAID 24" 1920x1200 LCD \| Acer V193W 19" 1440x900 LCD
Case	Cooler Master HAF 932 Full-Tower \| Antec Twelve Hundred Mid-Tower
Audio Device(s)	Fatal1ty Xtreme Gamer w/ Z-5500 5.1 \| On-Board Audio w/ S-220 2.1
Power Supply	PC Power and Cooling 750W Non-Modular \| Corsair HX-520W Modular
Software	Windows Vista Home Premium X64 \| Windows Vista Home Premium X64
Benchmark Scores	Not Wasting Time!

Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Motherboard	ASUS P5Q Pro
Cooling	Arctic Cooling
Memory	G.SKILL 4GB DDR2 @ 1066 mHz
Video Card(s)	SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 1GB
Storage	Corsair 64 GB SSD; Western Digital 160 GB HDD
Case	CMStorm
Power Supply	Antec BP550 Plus 550W
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

System Name	The ShadowFold Draconis (Ordering soon)
Processor	AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8ghz
Motherboard	ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870
Cooling	Stock
Memory	Kingston ValueRAM 4GB DDR3-1333
Video Card(s)	XFX ATi Radeon HD 5850 1gb
Storage	Western Digital 640gb
Display(s)	Acer 21.5" 5ms Full HD 1920x1080P
Case	Antec Nine-Hundred
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + Creative "Fatal1ty" Headset
Power Supply	Antec Earthwatts 650w
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Benchmark Scores	-❶-❸-❸-❼-

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD m.2
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11

Processor	Core i5 3570K
Motherboard	AsRock z77 Pro4
Cooling	Zalman CNPS10X Extreme
Memory	2x4GB GSkill Sniper
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX970 Gaming
Storage	240GB OCZ ARC 100, Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Display(s)	LG 23" 1920x1080
Case	Antec P100
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Antec Edge 750W
Software	Windows 8.1 Pro 64

Where is my GTAIV bottleneck?

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