GTA 4. Specification Requirements for those who complain.

An article by Bilal    5 Comments

I have played this game, and it is simply mind blowing. I do not understand why so many people have such negative comments about it. As a matter of fact, i am writing this  because i think it is unfair that the game get such bad reviews just because people don’t have good PC or get the real idea of the game itself. Here i would like to tackle some issues people have pointed out. I hope it helps people who want to buy this game in the future, and not get scared by previous comments.
Hardware
For those with hardware/lag issues, i would like to remind this is a whopping 11 GB game, twice the size of GTA: SA. It is actually a pretty high end game and unless you have decent graphics, you will have trouble playing this game. Even in hardware, there are many things to consider.

Processor: Everyone with a core 2 duo Processor cannot play this game. Just because you installed the new line of Intel processor chips, you will now be able to play any game possible. There are different models in C2D. For this game i recommend any with processor above 2.4 Ghz and at least 3mb Cache size. I have seen many base good PC with Core 2 Duo processor of 2.0 GHz or 2.2 Ghz. In my case, it is not enough for this game at all. Core 2 Quads are generally safe because even though they might have low processing power, they will have more number of processor. However it can still be a bit laggy if you have the base model of Core 2 Quad line as well. Just because its named Core 2 Quad, doesn’t mean it can now run all the things in the world. I would advise check on each specs of each model beforehand.

Graphic: GTA 4 does not actually require high graphic processing. It is an actually a mid-level Graphic game. However the most common reason for lag is the size and immense of graphic data that has to be processed at one time. I actually have a 4650 Ati, (for Nvidia user it is equivalent to 8600/9600 series. The reason i am able to play it perfectly is because my card has 1 GB of memory. It is able to process the huge amounts of data without any compromise. I do not run the game at full high but at medium high, and it is more than enough for me.
As again with processor, please check which graphic card you have. Just because it’s the new series, like Nvidia 9 series, does not mean it can run anything. 9100 to 9400 will NOT run this game. 9500 or 8500 Nvidia and above will. I know 8500GT will play this game because it has 512 memory and plus i have installed and played this game on my desktop (which currently has this card).

RAM: As for RAM, it depends on your Windows operating system. Generally Vista requires more because Vista uses bit more RAM itself to run proper not leaving enough for the Game. In my opinion, 2 GB Ram is enough on a Vista Capable machine.

I have tested and played this game much extent on the following Hardware configurations

Desktop (First PC on which installed and played most of the game)
Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHZ 4mb cache size
2 GB DDR2 RAM
Nvidia 8500 GT 512MB
* On this configuration, i was able to play the game at medium level with ease and not a single lag.

I currently now play this game at time on a this PC (which is a laptop, am in uni now)
Core 2 duo 2.5 Ghz 3mb Cache
4 GB DDR2 RAM
Ati Radeon 4650 1 GB Graphic Card

Final Comments: For people who want to buy this game, please just make sure you have enough hardware specs to handle this game proper. If you think it’s too high, you can be better off on a console then instead of using your PC for work and game as well.

The Game

As for those people who are disappointed with the GTA franchise of not making the game so good. I would like to remind them that this game is known as GTA, which stands for Grand Theft Auto. The basic meaning of this game is to give you freedom in a city to do anything, and as the game implies, steal cars, drive around. If you do not like the idea/game or now are bored of it, you can then just switch to some other game such as Call of duty 4: Modern Warfare 2.
This game/franchise is being carried on with the same basic idea, because that’s what the people want. They have greatly improved on the graphics in this game and much more gameplay. The hours of fun you had back in GTA3: Vice City and San Andreas, you are guaranteed to have it here as well with much more abilities and Graphics. It’s just the matter of how the gamers want to play it, and if he is not already tired of the gameplay.

I am a graphic designer and i know how these graphics work and on which hardware. My part time job is to help out people build their custom PCs and i hear about such people complaining almost every day. All they want are cool names such as Core 2 duo and Nvidia 9 series with 3 GB RAM. It sounds as if the PC would handle anything in their way. They forget how much they paid for that hardware, and got only the base models. (I do tell them what it is capable of and what not.)

Conclusion

In the end i would just like to say, it is a good game. If you like such games, then appreciate it. If you do not like such games, then you do not have to talk negatively about it. Just because you don’t like a certain flavour, you would start talking bad about it and recommend other people not to try.

I am ordering this game again here (i moved to uni in a different country) because i do not have my old Game Disk with me and i just ended up reinstalling new windows 7 64 bit. I also assure you that it will work in 64 bit version of any OS. I had vista 64 bit on both desktop/laptop and the game worked just fine.

Edit: For those people who think they have to be ONLINE to save this game is NOT TRUE. You do NOT need internet connection at all. Make an offline windows account in the game itself (all it asks is a user name) and those who think it’s such a hassle to do that, can just … i don’t know. I do not really understand what the hassle is with it.

Regards,

Kaiser2011