ENABLE GTA to use system ram for VRAM

[psx2p]

this comes from the ultimate guide that's stuck to the forums, i noticed that if you double you multiplier the game will use ll the on board ram on your GPU as well as system ram,

 

don't use this if your already maxing out your system ram and your Vram.

(i have 4 gigs system RAM and 512mb VRAM gta does not use all my system ram, so i use the left over system ram for Vram)

 

the code for the command is: -availablevidmem (multiplier)

 

if you were to put: -availablevidmem 2.0

that would double you VRAM

 

for example lets say i have a 512mb card, i want to make gta think i have 1024Mb i would use the code: -availablevidmem 2.0

 

the multiplier 2.0 will double the ram, 3.0 will triple it and so on and so forth.

 

doing this also thrashes your HD's like crazy, as you have taken away system ram so it doubles up on caching

 

my friend has done this and he is able to play high textures at 1440 x 900

 

this beats using the no restrictions command because this actually allows more VRAM,

 

ONE last quick tip: i found that setting the GTA4 process in task manager to high priority seems to make the game run a bit smoother, not any FPS gain but more constant.

O and also overclocking. that makes a difference, my CPU is OC'd to 3.4Ghz and i gain average of 5-7FPS

i figure any advice is helpfull.

 

HERE ar my PC SPECS:

 

SYSTEM SPECS

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+ @ 3.1Ghz / OverClocked to 3.4Ghz

Motherboard: Foxconn M6 OC eddition

RAM: 4 gigs transcend @ 800mhz

GPU: ASUS HD 3650, 512MB

OC'd GPU speeds: Core @ 830Mhz, MEM @ 920Mhz (max 950) effective.

OS: vista ultimate 64 bit

 

 

EDIT:heres the Poll to this thread

 

 

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=386954

 

THANKS: i would like to thank thales100 for all the support being provided to other users, im not on alot to answer questions, so thank you.

Edited December 25, 2008 by psx2p

[Stigern]

Is it possible to let it use RAM for VRAM?

[psx2p]

Is it possible to let it use RAM for VRAM?

it is indeed, i can tell you for a fact that it works on vista.

XP or windows 7 pre beta (for all the pirates and developers) im not sure.

perhaps someone with either of those can try it and post.

[Cildaten]

Nice f**king post.

As my fps doesnt bother me much, I tried what you mentioned anyways and I gained an extra 7FPS adding the command line availablevidmem 2.0 and setting priority to high.

Props to you.

 

[robbiekhan]

Hi there,

 

I tried this and whilst it does indeed work it still will cause crashes randomly in the manner of:

 

 

My GFX card has 896MB of RAM and using the flag noted in the OP GTA4 saw my system ram as 1745MB and with View DIstance set to 50 was using 1137MB of that. I drove around for a minute before getting the above error!

 

Think I'll stick to dropped view distance until the bugs are fixed properly in the next patch

 

I have 8GB RAM btw.

[ThatsCool]

Its working on Xp SP3 32 Bit too!

Thank you very much now i have 2-3 more fps!!

[Vicetopia]

If enabling this makes your hard drive start reading like crazy, then it's not actually using your memory is it?!

 

Unless you're running out of mem, which happens anyway with or without this tweak.

[psx2p]

Hi there,

 

I tried this and whilst it does indeed work it still will cause crashes randomly in the manner of:

 

 

My GFX card has 896MB of RAM and using the flag noted in the OP GTA4 saw my system ram as 1745MB and with View DIstance set to 50 was using 1137MB of that. I drove around for a minute before getting the above error!

 

Think I'll stick to dropped view distance until the bugs are fixed properly in the next patch

 

I have 8GB RAM btw.

hmm i haven't seen that error, if i do ill try and work with it and see what i can do,

 

in my Processes GTA4 runs in 32 bit mode for some reason, i was wondering if your does to,

 

the process says: GTAIV.exe *32

 

wondering if this is just me.

 

[Psycold]

this is nothing new, I am one of a few people who have been messing with this setting above 1 rather than below, for a week or so, I have mine set at 1.45

[thales100]

Definetely works, thanks a lot. Now im able to maxed all settings at 1680 x 1050, using a GTX 280 and a 1.5 multiplier.

 

[Vicetopia]

1680x1050 is a 16:10 AR.

Don't leave it on Auto.

[camdean]

I tried this but I still get the RESC10 crashes and 'out of video memory' crashes.

[SFkilla]

This is a very simple and very good tweak for users who have minimum 4GB of memory and a GPU with 512M

My system is:

AMD X2 +6000

4GB DDR800

ATI HD2900XT 512

WIN VISTA 64bit

I play on 1400x1050

 

I applied the commandline -availablevidmem 2.0, which gave me 1002MB available in the graphic settings of the game.

I then changed my settings from MEDIUM / HIGH ---> HIGH / HIGH

I left all my other settings the same.

 

Results:

The game looks incredible graphically (really a difference compared to medium, you need to try to see it)

I gained a smoother framerate with around 5fps increase overall. i still can't believe it.

 

So finally thank you very much for this simple tweak.

I think rockstar should give this option for those who have minimum 4GB of ram onboard.

 

 

[robbiekhan]

Yeah it runs in 32bit mode because it's a 32bit executable The only game I know of that is 64bit is FarCry 64bit edition!

 

The out of vid mem error is strange since i have 8GB RAM with over 4GB free as you can see in the screenshot, only 4GB is being used! so I think the shortcut flag is an experimental feature not properly implementing using system ram.

 

My HDD usage didn't go up at all either.

[thales100]

Results:

The game looks incredible graphically (really a difference compared to medium, you need to try to see it)

I gained a smoother framerate with around 5fps increase overall. i still can't believe it.

 

So finally thank you very much for this simple tweak.

I think rockstar should give this option for those who have minimum 4GB of ram onboard.

Ditto.

[flyer2359]

got about a 1fps gain lol

[Nugget9]

This is a very simple and very good tweak for users who have minimum 4GB of memory and a GPU with 512M

My system is:

AMD X2 +6000

4GB DDR800

ATI HD2900XT 512

WIN VISTA 64bit

I play on 1400x1050

 

I applied the commandline -availablevidmem 2.0, which gave me 1002MB available in the graphic settings of the game.

I then changed my settings from MEDIUM / HIGH ---> HIGH / HIGH

I left all my other settings the same.

 

Results:

The game looks incredible graphically (really a difference compared to medium, you need to try to see it)

I gained a smoother framerate with around 5fps increase overall. i still can't believe it.

 

So finally thank you very much for this simple tweak.

I think rockstar should give this option for those who have minimum 4GB of ram onboard.

Will this be able to work with 3GB of RAM?

It is DDR2/667.

[psx2p]

Yeah it runs in 32bit mode because it's a 32bit executable The only game I know of that is 64bit is FarCry 64bit edition!

 

The out of vid mem error is strange since i have 8GB RAM with over 4GB free as you can see in the screenshot, only 4GB is being used! so I think the shortcut flag is an experimental feature not properly implementing using system ram.

 

My HDD usage didn't go up at all either.

its crazy how they advertise "enhanced for 64bit" when it... o nvm lol but yea i would cram more ram in my PC if i could my board only supports 4 gigs, bummer i know..

 

(in theory a 64bit buss should run twice as good as a 32 bit buss)

but thats not the case. id liek to see a fully functional 64 bit exe for GTA in the near future

[thales100]

At 1680 x 1050 i lost like 10 FPS at outside areas after increasing vision distance from 40 to 100, but still it runs smooth at 32 FPS minimum to 60+ FPS inside buildings.

[psx2p]

Will this be able to work with 3GB of RAM?

It is DDR2/667.

this will work on any amoutn of RAM, but it will cut back the available system ram thats why its suggested to use on systems with higher ram,

 

my freind has 3 gigs and he uses it so yes it will work

[Ducati848]

Is this something that's enabled in the console? Where do I place the command line?

[thales100]

Download this file (rename it to commandline), edit the multiplier you want, and place it inside the folder C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto IV .

 

 

http://www.ghostaholic.com/datas/users/1948-commandline.txt

[cigarettes]

it works, graphics is much better now, is there a way to increase the fps

[thales100]

it works, graphics is much better now, is there a way to increase the fps

Youll have to tweak the settings to find the best GFX at a good FPS.

[Mr Heckler]

 

Huge thumbs up for this one....

 

My before benchmark using 512MB Vram

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 37.44

Duration: 37.31 sec

CPU Usage: 81%

System memory usage: 70%

Video memory usage: 98%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1280 x 1024 (75 Hz)

Texture Quality: Medium

Render Quality: Very High

View Distance: 62

Detail Distance: 100

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT

Video Driver version: 180.84

Audio Adapter: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)

AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core Processor

 

File ID: benchmark.cli

 

 

My after benchmark after doubling the

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 37.68

Duration: 37.15 sec

CPU Usage: 79%

System memory usage: 79%

Video memory usage: 50%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1280 x 1024 (75 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Very High

View Distance: 50

Detail Distance: 100

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT

Video Driver version: 180.84

Audio Adapter: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)

AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core Processor

 

File ID: Benchmark.cli

 

 

 

If I keep the textures at medium I can increase the view distance to 100 which makes the game look better than increasing to high textures. On high textures I have to lower the VD to 50 and that uses up 9MB more than the Vram that is being recognised.

 

By keeping textures on medium and increasing view distance to max along with everything else... I'm only using around 700mb of Vram...

 

And as everyone knows... makes no difference to FPS at all.

 

 

I would recommend that 4gb of ram is a must before trying this... Any less isn't worth it.

[catzilla]

32 bit processes can only use UP TO 4 GB of RAM, including video RAM.

[robbiekhan]

AHA yes, this might explain it then (the out of video memory errors) since the game is already using 2+GB of RAM at high res it makes sense that since it's in 32bit it's reaching the limit when using the availablevidmem flag.

[DreamOperator]

I was doing something similar. Came from doing MonkeyMhz's "Ultimate GTAIV Performance fix". I set -availablevidmem to 1.5, then loaded the game, then set to 800x600, High, High, 35, 40, 100, 10 702/741. Then exited and added -width 1920 -height 1080 -percentvidmem .94.

 

I was in heaven. One mission played great, after that, I only get 3-5min. before it starts stuttering.

 

Anybody pull off 1920x1080 High textures on 512mb vram w/o issue using this or MonkeyMhz's tweak (or combo, or whatever!)?

 

Q6600 3.0ghz

8800gts 512mb

4GB DDR2

42" 1080p plasma

 

(edit: When I got the stuttering, I alt+tab'd and looked at TM. the main .exe was using approx 1.5gb of ram)

Edited December 22, 2008 by DreamOperator

[kionna]

Huge thumbs up for this one....

 

My before benchmark using 512MB Vram

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 37.44

Duration: 37.31 sec

CPU Usage: 81%

System memory usage: 70%

Video memory usage: 98%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1280 x 1024 (75 Hz)

Texture Quality: Medium

Render Quality: Very High

View Distance: 62

Detail Distance: 100

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT

Video Driver version: 180.84

Audio Adapter: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)

AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core Processor

 

File ID: benchmark.cli

 

 

My after benchmark after doubling the

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 37.68

Duration: 37.15 sec

CPU Usage: 79%

System memory usage: 79%

Video memory usage: 50%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1280 x 1024 (75 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Very High

View Distance: 50

Detail Distance: 100

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Home Premium

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT

Video Driver version: 180.84

Audio Adapter: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)

AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core Processor

 

File ID: Benchmark.cli

 

 

 

If I keep the textures at medium I can increase the view distance to 100 which makes the game look better than increasing to high textures. On high textures I have to lower the VD to 50 and that uses up 9MB more than the Vram that is being recognised.

 

By keeping textures on medium and increasing view distance to max along with everything else... I'm only using around 700mb of Vram...

 

And as everyone knows... makes no difference to FPS at all.

 

 

I would recommend that 4gb of ram is a must before trying this... Any less isn't worth it.

you're forcing high texture..

 

look at your benchmarks.. the first one you're using 100% vram.. the 2nd you're using 50% which means the game only uses 512mb

 

you can not use system ram as vram.. if the op is talking about storing video texture in ram.. well the game already does that!! that's what ram is for! it stores things before going to vram

 

if you're talking about your video card using ram as vram.. well that is not possible without driver implementation.. not something game controlled.

 

this trick is the same as using -norestritions .. it allows you to have higher settings but does not give you more vram.. because guess what? you dont have it!

 

running high texture on 512mb will give you pop ups every where.. that is not normal.. i'm sure lots of ppl have come to accept the fact that textures pop up in this game.. NO! if you keep your vram in the green and use the -nomemrestrict launch option.. you should have ZERO texture popups.. everything you can immediately see in any direction should fit and stream perfectly into your vram...

 

please stop posting these bs "fixes" that actually make the game experience worse for people

[rubiomhs]

doesn't work.

 

it just makes the game think you have more video ram, it doesn't make use of your system ram.