Video card for gta 4?

[antmiu2]

hi, im on budget but i still want a good video card to play gta4 at least on medium graphics.. im going to get a intel E5200, 2gb ram and a 17" wide screen... which do you recommend me and what requirements does it have? any nvidia possible? thanks.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Um TBH a quad core would do you much better than most GPUs. I have seen ppl with a nice dual core and a 4870 get worse FPS than me because I have a quad core.

But really anything with at least 512MB of VRAM is a good GPU for it since it loves VRAM.

 

[V3NOM]

a 4670 and a Q6600 if you're on a budget.

if you're not on a budget, either wait for phenom II or get a Q9450/9550.

 

[pr2thej]

Budget gaming isnt really going to get you a good GTA IV experience.
The game uses 3 threads, so Tri core minimum, and as the Phenom x3 are pretty rubbish +1 the V3NOM, with a 4850 if you can stretch to it instead. Q6600 can be overclocked easy to 3~ GHz

What is your actual budget, and what do you already have?

 

[lameness]

GTA 4 is incredibly cpu intensive, it uses about 60-80% of my q6600 @ 3.6ghz.

I have 4870 512mb and get decent framerates with things set pretty high. Reckon i could get high textures if i had 1gb version.

If u have the money then get a card with more than 512mb vram, on a side note it also wants to use up more than my 4gb ram on vista 64.

 

[Jake_Barnes]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU-Components to section Graphic & Displays by Jake_Barnes

 

[serpent1202]

Tom's hardware has a post about best video cards for the money each month. My advice is read that post, find out where your budget is, and buy a card accordingly.

From the looks of your other components, I would guess your budget would be around $150 for a video card, that might sound high to you, but you don't want to game on a sub $150 video card.

With that in mind, i'd get a HD4850.

But, you have to keep in mind what everyone here is saying regarding the CPU. With a 17inch monitor, your not gaming at high resolutions, so the CPU is going to be a big bottleneck. I would suggest saving for another 2 weeks to a month, and splurge a little more on that CPU and try for a E8400 and OC it to 3.6 with ease, or 4.0 with some tweaking.

 

[antmiu2]

my max budget is 390$ for whole cpu, no more notice i have a 17" widescreen!... so ati hd 4670?? i heard intel is better with nvidia.. does it matter? should i just kiss gta4 gdbye? or minimum graphics?

 

[antmiu2]

would a nvidia with 1gb and 128bit suck? (since there cheap ).. any other video card suggestions?

 

[antmiu2]

i was kinda hoping for a 512mb with 256 bit

 

[Guest]

Hey Guys do you think the:

ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro PCI with 256mb of VRAM 128bit play gta 4?

Pentium 4 Duo Core 3.0ghz Processor
3.5gbs of ram
250gb hard drive
Windows XP SP3

Will this specs play it tell me please?

 

[Tphantom]

Hey everyone!! What would a good video card be, for GTA IV?

AMD Phenom 9600 2.3 GHz Processor
4 GB of RAM
83 GB of free HD space....soon to expand
and Windows Vista x64

I had just bought an EVGA Nvidia 8500 GT video card with 512MB and 128 bits, but the game is still choppy. I've heard 8800 and up will work, but I don't want to buy another card that I won't use...so I'm looking for any suggestions/advice, before I buy another one. My budget isn't very hgh, maybe around $150....and I haven't learned to OC yet. Thanx!!

 

[MMclachlan]

I have GTA 4 and when I got it I was running a E6320 @ 3.2Ghz with 2Gb RAM and 2x 8800GT OC in SLI (SLI isn't yet supported so for the purposes of this consider it as 1 8800GT). It ran ok, (1280x1024) but not all that great, quite choppy, so I bought a Q9550 which I clocked to 3.4Ghz and another 2Gb RAM due to everyone saying oh 'it needs a quad'. I now get 25-60fps (down to 25 when its raining, dark and driving quick) and it is pretty playable with med textures, 35 view distance, 100 detail, 50 traffic density and 16 shadows. However, my brother had a E6750 @ 3.4Ghz 2Gb RAM and a 1Gb HD4870. He got it the same time as me and he could run it same details as me with high textures (due to 1Gb Vram) but he was pretty choppy too. I got him another 2Gb RAM when I got my bits and his gameplay is pretty much as smooth as mine, and I have a quad! So I think if you already have 2Gb RAM a dual core which you can clock up to 3.4Ghz+ then don't go running out to buy a quad just yet, put another 2Gb RAM in and see how you fare.

So on the topic of a good gfx card, 512Mb Vram minimum, and something like a 8800GT (aka 9800GT) or HD4830 or better to be able to put the render quality and shadows up.
You really do need to be pairing it with a minimum of a 3Ghz Core 2, ideally a bit higher, and also 4Gb RAM will make a difference (in my experience) to how smooth it is.

Textures, Medium = 512Mb Vram, High = 1Gb Vram.
Render quality = graphics filtering which needs a decent card, only turn this up on more powerful GPUs, 8800GT / 4830 and up say.
View distance = Mainly Vram, you get higher with lower texture settings. With 512Mb and medium textures you will get up to about 40/100. Will also impact CPU and GPU.
Detail distance = not a huge performance hit either way.
Vehicle Density = Big CPU hit. Leave on auto value unless you have a tri/quad core CPU
Shadows = Video Card, turn up if you have the GPU power.