8800GTX club

[13th_Disciple]

Hello, if you have an 8800GTX like i which comes with 768 on board i bet some of you were thinking... ok perhaps i need a better card for GTA-IV when you saw the frame-rate dip to 15 FPS, although good at times, you find it's one of the few games that just eats your system...

 

well... I'd love to hear other 8800GTX owners tweaks & solutions in this 8800GTX thread

I run Vista 32 @1680x1050 - Overclocked NX-8800GTX (630/1800) AMD x2 6000+ 4 gig system ram

 

If you have one of these cards you can run HIGH textures... looks better obviously, but it can handle it, ok if you want some extra FPS then go for the medium, but your really missing out - Now to assure you can use textures on high you need to shave off some extra resource hogs...

 

Firstly.... stop the movie record feature (found under 'game' set to off)

One essential thing you can do is set your "Maximum pre-rendered frames" via Nvidia control panel to 1

Get the latest NV drivers...

 

In game set the graphic settings to a low draw distance (anything up to 20) you really don't need it high, traffic to 15..any more is not needed.

Render quality set to "low" if you like...looks the same, a few extra leaves n things on high

 

besides a few extra teaks here & there your going to get about 30-35FPS (depending on CPU etc)

The cut scenes look great, game play outside it sluggish, but playable...enjoyable!

 

I'm sure once locked down with various adjustments etc, there will be a patch which should help even more

But it's fun, it works... it's cool, i thought initially (like most) oh god no... but you can do it!

 

I'll provide some screen-shots and setup settings in more detail in due course.

 

-13th

 

[dudester123]

In game set the graphic settings to a low draw distance (anything up to 20) you really don't need it high, traffic to 15..any more is not needed.

ARE YOU MAD?

 

I'd rather cut my genitalia off with a rusty butter knife.

 

I have a Pentium D and a 8800GT, I set view distance and traffic density to 30. And there still isn't enough cars, how would it be with 15?

 

 

[infidel77]

I have a 8800GTX and the game seems to be running perfectly so far for me, in full resolution also.

[jelly]

I can't run high-res textures, the game won't let me. (@1680x1050)

 

Still, it runs well and looks decent enough apart from the crappy pixelated flickering shadows but all the GTX 280s in the world couldn't make those shadows look better so I'm happy. Definitely not upgrading, there's nothing out there worth buying.

[13th_Disciple]

I'll be posting a video soon, it's extremely playable... it'll be on youtube HD (1280x720) need to add this code to the video url > &fmt=22 for the super HD version, i just recorded my screen using and HD video camera (Full HD) obviously had to reduce the screen size, but it looks great, textures on medium when i last looked, thought it was on high...anyways bags of ram to spare, get the latest beta drivers, seem very good.

 

I'll post the video later tonight

 

-13th

[ImoonPeople]

I have an 8800 GTX, I also had started a thread about Max Pre renderd frames to 1, nice to see that helped other people. My boss is letting me take a GTX 280 home to test the 2 cards. I started a new thread on the benchmark here http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=379496. I'll be home later to test it out, but right now I have GTA IV playable on a 8800 GTX w/high textures.

[DarekRuman]

Yeah, I'm runnin my GTA4 on 9800GTX+ so its simillar card.

 

My bench :

 

 

StatisticsAverage FPS: 34.93Duration: 37.16 secCPU Usage: 90%System memory usage: 73%Video memory usage: 100%Graphics SettingsVideo Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)Texture Quality: MediumRender Quality: MediumView Distance: 8Detail Distance: 1HardwareMicrosoft Windows XP ProfessionalDodatek Service Pack 3Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+Video Driver version: 180.48Audio Adapter: Realtek HD Audio outputAMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+File ID: benchmark.cli

 

 

Game runs fine - i didnt try go to high texture but i think i kill my FPS by doing this I have 24" lcd and i really need to play in 1920x1200 to get best screen view.

As you can see - i have view distance at 8, and detail distance at 1, car density is 14 and shadows are 0 for best fps.

 

My tweeks are :

 

- overclocked gpu (to 805 / 1996 / 2500 )

- best performance settings at nvidia control panel (give my about 10 fps !)

- xp sp3 32bit (best system for gaming right now)

- no antivirus software

- defraged drive

- cleaned registry (tuneup soft)

 

Game is great - i'm waiting for patch to play in better settings for maximum visual pleasure

[korn0413]

My bench:

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 38.49

Duration: 37.23 sec

CPU Usage: 75%

System memory usage: 58%

Video memory usage: 100%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Highest

View Distance: 62

Detail Distance: 67

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

Video Driver version: 178.24

Audio Adapter: Headset (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Intel® Core™2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz

 

Everythings on high and the meters are cranked up there pretty good, Im very pleased with performance so far, I just made it to the 2nd safehouse, and Ive had no problems/crashes so far.

[L.T.]

The game runs chit running 3x 8800 GTX SLI

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 18.79

Duration: 36.88 sec

CPU Usage: 74%

System memory usage: 40%

Video memory usage: 88%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1024 x 768 (59 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Very High

View Distance: 26

Detail Distance: 100

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

Video Driver version: 180.70

Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- SB X-Fi Surround 5.1)

Intel® Core2 Quad CPU @ 2.66GHz

 

File ID: benchmark.cli

[SlingShotUK]

Here's my bench:

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 27.30

CPU Usage: 96%

System memory usage: 55%

Video memory usage: 80%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1920 x 1080 (59 Hz)

Texture Quality: Medium

Render Quality: Low

View Distance: 20

Detail Distance: 37

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate x86

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

Video Driver version: 180.60

AMD X2 4600+ CPU @ 2.4GHz

 

Display Device

Pioneer 5090 - 50inch Plasma (DVI - HDMI)

[SuperAlekZ]

The game runs chit running 3x 8800 GTX SLI

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 18.79

Duration: 36.88 sec

CPU Usage: 74%

System memory usage: 40%

Video memory usage: 88%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1024 x 768 (59 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Very High

View Distance: 26

Detail Distance: 100

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

Video Driver version: 180.70

Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- SB X-Fi Surround 5.1)

Intel® Core2 Quad CPU @ 2.66GHz

 

File ID: benchmark.cli

Yeah there really is a problem.. can't be something else.

Your rig is better than the one of the guy who posted before you.

The performance doesn't depend on the system.. it's something completely strange.

There was on guy running the gamea with 40 Fps on a really crappy computer..

[dog_day_sunrise]

 

The performance doesn't depend on the system.. it's something completely strange.

Turn SLI off. The game isn't optimised for it and trying to run it in SLI will just cause problems. Wait for the patch and new Nvidia drivers.

[Scoobe]

Ya nice1 13thdisciple, i have been playing alot and really enjoying the game, theres room for improvments, hopefully with a new patch things will go better...

 

amd6400+ dual @ 3.21

8800ultra slight oc

4gb mem

vista64

1440x900

 

fps about 35 average which is ok looks good

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Highest

View Distance: 17 - 20 <<< putting more than that slows pc down, room for improvement but ok np

Detail Distance: 50/60

Traffic is at 40 which seems fairly realistic/plenty

Shadows 0 dont look great but is ok for now

 

if i had a quad core like it recommends i could run the game quiet abit better im sure.

 

The game plays very nice now i am quiet pleased, on those auto detect settings it didnt look good, iv had a couple of goes on multiplayer aswell.... well it seems abit difficult to get a game going but in time multi player should be great, real fun and i only played with another 5 people, alot of potential.

slight problem with that social club, logout and start single player then alt/tab and login... then back to game and use phone ingame .. click multiplayer for multi player

 

Ciao

[L.T.]

 

The performance doesn't depend on the system.. it's something completely strange.

Turn SLI off. The game isn't optimised for it and trying to run it in SLI will just cause problems. Wait for the patch and new Nvidia drivers.

 

 

 

Turning SLI off made no difference it still runs crap.

[M4ts]

Statistics

Average FPS: 44.31

Duration: 37.12 sec

CPU Usage: 75%

System memory usage: 67%

Video memory usage: 83%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: Medium

Render Quality: Medium

View Distance: 30

Detail Distance: 30

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

Video Driver version: 180.84

Audio Adapter: Högtalare (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Intel® Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz

 

File ID: benchmark.cli

 

I also have 50 traffic density.

[wuyanxu]

can i join? i HAD a 8800GTX overclocked to 648/1566/2000.

 

(now i have gtx260 216sp 896MB vRAM....... shame i waited too long, or gtx280 would have been mine)

[Pixelated]

I have a 2 year old BFG Tech 8800GTX. It has been the best investment in hardware I have ever made. And no I never once thought that I should upgrade. After seeing the GTX280 benches I knew that Nvidia had f*cked up and rested on their laurels. They deserve to have the dog sh*t kicked out of them by ATI. Don't even get me started on the initial prices of those cards. The day of $500 video cards is over. I Paid $500 for my card but it has and continues to last. However I would never spend that kind of dough on a single GPU ever again.

 

Anyways I run everything at medium with high textures. That means Draw distance, Vehicle density, and detail distance at 50. Shadow density is set at 8. That's at 1600x1200 and I get a good framerate. If it starts to get choppy I back off the texture filtering and shadows.

 

 

 

The game runs chit  running 3x 8800 GTX  SLI

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 18.79

Duration: 36.88 sec

CPU Usage: 74%

System memory usage: 40%

Video memory usage: 88%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1024 x 768 (59 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Very High

View Distance: 26

Detail Distance: 100

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

Video Driver version: 180.70

Audio Adapter: Speakers (2- SB X-Fi Surround 5.1)

Intel® Core2 Quad CPU           @ 2.66GHz

 

File ID: benchmark.cli

 

Dude you should not be getting such a low frame rate. If you want to fix it and enjoy the game follow these simple instructions.

 

1. DISABLE SLI. Do it anyways weather or not you think it makes a difference. I can bet it does. You will have to use one card for now. Also make sure you are using the latest Nvidia beta driver. This can make a HUGE difference.

 

2. Create a text file called commandline.txt. Then add this line -norestrictions

Then drop it in your main GTA IV installation folder. IMO this game has issues with the graphics limiting feature and causes the game to run too slow. That line removes it.

 

3. Set ALL of you graphics options too their lowest settings for the moment, leaving your resolution at your desired setting. When I say everything I mean all the settings should be at the LOWEST.

 

4. Fire up the game and see how it plays. You should be getting a good framerate now.

 

5. One by one start increasing the settings starting with the texture quality. You will never be able to play this game beyond the settings at half. Not with an 8800GTX, unless you don't mind playing at 20 FPS which I think you do. So having the texture quality at MAX and texture filtering at it's highest plus detail distance at 100 like you do will not make the game look better and will only drag the framerate down even lower. Below are the XBox 360 equivalent settings so you know that your experience with the game is still better than the consoles. Good luck.

 

 

 

The XBox 360 Equivalent PC Settings

 

Video Mode = 1280 x 720

 

Texture Quality = Medium

Render Quality = Low

View Distance = 21

Detail Distance = 10

Vehicle Density = 33

Shadow Density = Not available on the consoles

Edited December 9, 2008 by Pixelated

[Cylon]

Statistics

Average FPS: 31.89

Duration: 37.09 sec

CPU Usage: 96%

System memory usage: 62%

Video memory usage: 84%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: Medium

Render Quality: Medium

View Distance: 22

Detail Distance: 22

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

Video Driver version: 180.84

Audio Adapter: Speakers (Creative SB Audigy 2 (WDM))

Intel® Core2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz

 

File ID: benchmark.cli

 

EDIT: yup, I bought 8800GTX when it was released and I guess that was my best tech purchase ever. Great card.

 

I get different fps everytime I benchmark the game. They vary from 31 to 34. Changing textures to high gives no fps hit, but only slightly more stuttering.

 

Everything at stock speeds +4GB of ram. Of course in game frames drop to 22-25 on the second island.

 

I wonder if I should overclock my CPU to 3.2 + buy better cooling or don't bother and just switch to Quad.

Edited December 9, 2008 by Cylon

[wuyanxu]

 

I have a 2 year old BFG Tech 8800GTX. It has been the best investment in hardware I have ever made. And no I never once thought that I should upgrade. After seeing the GTX280 benches I knew that Nvidia had f*cked up and rested on their laurels. They deserve to have the dog sh*t kicked out of them by ATI. Don't even get me started on the initial prices of those cards. The day of $500 video cards is over. I Paid $500 for my card but it has and continues to last. However I would never spend that kind of dough on a single GPU ever again.

 

agree, 8800GTX has been the best piece of hardware i've ever bought! didn't really want to sell it, but glad i changed right before the Credit Crunch, my BFG gtx260 Maxcore OC2 had gone from £210 to £250 now, god knows how high it's going to go.

 

my current gtx260+ is only a little bit better than 8800GTX, although all round more powerful, but comparing to the generation leap 8800GTX had, gtx200 series don't have any.

Edited December 9, 2008 by wuyanxu

[INFRA001]

I have a G8 GTX, great card, really worth the cash I spent.

Sadly my CPU sucks a big donkey cock (AMD X2 [email protected]) and it's a huge ass bottlekneck in GTA-IV.

GPU hardly goes over idle temps.

 

I don't blame the game, I blame a 3 year old CPU

[SlingShotUK]

I have a G8 GTX, great card, really worth the cash I spent.

Sadly my CPU sucks a big donkey cock (AMD X2 [email protected]) and it's a huge ass bottlekneck in GTA-IV.

GPU hardly goes over idle temps.

 

I don't blame the game, I blame a 3 year old CPU

My performance with my 4600+ was pretty good really I thought.. 26fps benchmarked but this is at 1920x1080.

 

However, I've just upgraded to the Phenom 9950 and the performance if bloody fantastic now.. Really smooth, a joy to play..

Gotta love the 8800GTX with a decent CPU...

[-jr-]

I have a 8800GTX.

The game runs fine for about 10 min. and then gets so laggy after, I have to quit.

[13th_Disciple]

 

I have a 8800GTX.

The game runs fine for about 10 min. and then gets so laggy after, I have to quit.

Drivers! try some new ones, also... try to remove or disable any resource drains... I have found that the 8800GTX performs very well indeed with GTA-IV...most are getting very acceptable frame rates for these cards, which is surprising to say the least considering...

 

One thing I'm doing at the moment (until i get a new CPU) is disabling the vista Aero interface, setting all my windows visuals to 'best performance' and it's great, clip capture to off, press "P" for a faux-AA and it's great! - to those who have an 8800GTX your right in saying its great hardware... but you can always pull out a few bells & stops for more FPS

 

I run @ 1680x1050 and anyone with the 8800GTX should have no significant problems at that resolution... a higher resolution might need a more powerful card, but still a decent CPU go's a long long way for this game to.

 

The new patch should make it even better for us all. (hopefully)

 

-13th

[abottig]

I have a G8 GTX, great card, really worth the cash I spent.

Sadly my CPU sucks a big donkey cock (AMD X2 [email protected]) and it's a huge ass bottlekneck in GTA-IV.

GPU hardly goes over idle temps.

 

I don't blame the game, I blame a 3 year old CPU

wow, finally! someone blames their computer and not rockstar!

 

 

[Tobias Rieper]

My 8800GTX is being replaced atm because I overheated it a two weeks ago, should still be covered by it's guarantee though.

 

In the meantime I have to play this game on a far inferior laptop. The wait for my new card is killing me. I'll keep an eye on this thread though. ^^

[Vicetopia]

I sold my 8800GTX six months ago for $200 and replaced it with an HD4850 for $130.

Stupid people are still paying way over-priced for these cards, folks.

 

Sell them while you still can.

They have a great reputation, so they will still probably be worth $200 in another year from now though!

...

[Pixelated]

 

I sold my 8800GTX six months ago for $200 and replaced it with an HD4850 for $130.

Stupid people are still paying way over-priced for these cards, folks.

 

Sell them while you still can.

They have a great reputation, so they will still probably be worth $200 in another year from now though!

  ...

First off, you sold your 8800GTX for an HD4850? Why? I bet there is almost no visual difference between the two until you get to insane resolutions and even then I doubt the 4850 beats it by much. Secondly I haven't even seen any 8800GTX's for sale anywhere other than some generic online resellers. They're discontinued. I think almost all the high end 8 series cards are technically no longer in production (Nvidia is renaming the G92's to the 9800GT). Thirdly, why would I want to sell this card when it has a lifetime warranty and was the fastest production card for two plus years and still is a high performance card. Two years is an eternity in the PC market, this card is still a beast.

 

8800GTX Specs

90nm

Core clock 575Mhz for the vanilla card

768MB GDDR3 RAM 1350Mhz " "

384 Bit Memory Bus

128 Stream Processors

86.4 GB/s Bandwidth

64 Texture Units

24 Raster Operators

 

HD4850 Specs

55nm

Core Clock 625 for the vanilla card

512MB GDDR3 RAM 1986Mhz " "

256MB Memory Bus

800 Stream Processors

63.6 GB/s Bandwidth

40 Texture Units

16 Raster Operators

 

 

As you can see these cards are very closely matched and the 4850 is great at high resolutions because of all those SP's. However I do thank ATI for forcing Nvidia's hand in the prices department as they were overpricing their cars for years. I was thinking of upgrading from my 8800GTX but after seeing the benches from the HD4850-4870 and the GTX260-280 there was little reason to want an upgrade. The jump from the 7800\7900GTX to the 8800GTX was around double the performance at higher than 1600x1200 resolutions. Same goes for the jump from the HD3850-3870 to HD4850-4870. Huge leap in raw power and memory bandwidth. The difference from the 8800GTX to the GTX280 is around 15%-25% on average. For the original price of $600 is was robbery and I feel sorry for people who sold their 8800GTX's in SLI and bought a slower solution in the GTX280.

 

If you are upgrading from an old sh*tty card then by all means. But to sell this card to buy an HD4850 you just through your money away for nothing really that noticeable.

 

Here's some benches to show you.

 

HD4850 Vs 8800GTX

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_4850/26.html

[zyr]

My bench:

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 38.49

Duration: 37.23 sec

CPU Usage: 75%

System memory usage: 58%

Video memory usage: 100%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Highest

View Distance: 62

Detail Distance: 67

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

Video Driver version: 178.24

Audio Adapter: Headset (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Intel® Core™2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz

 

Everythings on high and the meters are cranked up there pretty good, Im very pleased with performance so far, I just made it to the 2nd safehouse, and Ive had no problems/crashes so far.

i have same settings, except detail distance is also 100 and reso. is 1280x1024.

 

FPS is ~40.

Q6600

 

 

no crashes, runs smooth...

[commanderz]

i had a q6600, xfx 8800 GTX and 2 gb of ram......end up the game with 5-1X min = stittering/memory leak....try every command/and latest nvidia driver/every setting in the game high/low/med......bak bak.....nth work...the game still the same after 5-1X min of playing....the game start getting small lag ---> laggggg ----- llllaaaaaaaagggg!!!!....especially at driving...the FPS go down to 1..zzzz..........just fine when walking around.....i had post almos 20+++ in this forum about the temporary about the memory leak fix......and R* dun give a danm about it....

[mystifier_sopranos]

Hello, I am running SLI on 8800gtx BFG 768, with the latest nvidia from nzone, however if I change any graphical setting the game will return a fatal error at random times, of course im sure the patch will fix this. Anyway here is my bench

Statistics

Average FPS: 56.63

Duration: 37.26 sec

CPU Usage: 77%

System memory usage: 64%

Video memory usage: 89%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: Medium

Render Quality: High

View Distance: 30

Detail Distance: 37

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate 64

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX

Video Driver version: 180.84

Audio Adapter: Speakers (Creative SB X-Fi)

AMD Phenom 9950 Quad-Core Processor @ 3.0Ghz

Edited December 10, 2008 by mystifier_sopranos