Clean Vista and new Quad

[nvr2fst]

I just set GTA4 to high to see what it would do with the new processor and I still average in the 30s with rain. I could not get the processor usage to go over 70 percent. 

Welcome to the quad club.

Just have to coax him into the 4GHz club now.

Been debating OCing. I never got into it for some reason. If I cant run something I will usualy buy what is necessary. Maybe OC just enough to "Tune" the system if that makes any sense.

[Ardbug]

Hey Nvr does your p5q mobo support 1066 mhz ram ?? if not, do you know of a good MB that does ?(775)

[nvr2fst]

 

Hey Nvr does your p5q mobo support 1066 mhz ram ?? if not, do you know of a good MB that does  ?(775)

Yes it does. The manual has a QVL of all the supported brands and sizes. Very reliable board. I had a p5ne-sli (Piece of garbage} returned 2 of them.

Edited January 10, 2009 by nvr2fst

[thales100]

I still average in the 30s with rain.

Like this, all rain and you 30+ ...

 

[nvr2fst]

I still average in the 30s with rain.

Like this, all rain and you 30+ ...

 

Yeah been playing all morning. You know I have GtA Forums, PC Probe 2, Vista Gadgets. FRAPS, Multimon, all running on the second monitor,didnt close any services...and I stay in the low 30s.

[Ardbug]

Hey Nvr does your p5q mobo support 1066 mhz ram ?? if not, do you know of a good MB that does  ?(775)

Yes it does. The manual has a QVL of all the supported brands and sizes. Very reliable board. I had a p5ne-sli (Piece of garbage} returned 2 of them.

Thanks man appreciated!

And I know what you mean when you say the p5n sli MBs are junk, thats the exact MB Im desperatly trying to get away from, but I needed a really good alternative, the p5q is excellent for my needs

[nvr2fst]

Hey Nvr does your p5q mobo support 1066 mhz ram ?? if not, do you know of a good MB that does  ?(775)

Yes it does. The manual has a QVL of all the supported brands and sizes. Very reliable board. I had a p5ne-sli (Piece of garbage} returned 2 of them.

Thanks man appreciated!

And I know what you mean when you say the p5n sli MBs are junk, thats the exact MB Im desperatly trying to get away from, but I needed a really good alternative, the p5q is excellent for my needs

For some reason I had to mention that about the P5ne. Is that the board you have now? What a coincidence. That thing got on my nerves.

[nvr2fst]

Posted: Jan 11 2009, 15:48

 

 

Crackhead

 

Group: Members

Joined: Jan 2, 2009

 

 

Member Log

 

 

Some of you may have read that I upgraded to a 9550 2.8 Quad. You may have also read how fantastic the game was running. I say it was running almost flawless.

 

Well it wasnt happy working right. My FPSs on average have gone down. They are unstable. They fluctuate up and down but in general they are down to an average of 22. They were at 32.34. I dont get it. They have even dropped to a 17 breifly. They have gone up to 54.

 

 

When I upgraded the CPU I reinstalled Vista and all drivers. No programs that I had originaly....nothing but the Vista updates, SP1 and so forth. For 2 days the game was running great. I played for hours.

 

 

I just dont get it. What would cause this? I am using no more than 70 percent of the CPU. The CPU runs top temp at 51c running the game. I am using no where near the full Ram on my system or Graphics card.

 

 

It ran beautiful before. I changed nothing but ran it all on high 50 50 50 just to see how it would run once. It did pretty good but medium was more consistant so I went back down to it and that was it. Never ran as good again.

 

 

I reinstalled the game again to see what would happen. The same.

 

 

Can this game do something to the hard drive or the files? Fragment? I dont know.

 

 

 

This last attempt to reinstall the game, when asked to save my save files I said yes. Well it didnt save the game saves. Good thing I kept a copy. It did save my user music and I wonder what else.

 

 

I can reinstall again and have it let everything go and just put my music and my backup saves back on. I mean tell it to delete EVERYTHING because obviously it did that when I redid Vista and the game was excellent.

 

 

 

It is still definately playable but I want the magic back!

 

 

 

 

 

--------------------

 

I think I know everything..........at least that is what everybody tells me.

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MasterK Posted: Jan 11 2009, 15:56

 

 

The main protagonist.

 

Group: Members

Joined: Oct 3, 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tried to delete the settings file manually? Pretty sure the game doesn't delete it when you uninstall it.

 

 

--------------------

 

The truth about Grand Theft Auto IV for PC.

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Hydro_PT Posted: Jan 11 2009, 16:03

 

 

Player Hater

 

Group: Members

Joined: Jan 6, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

GTA IV hides some files in some parts of the Application Data folder, which, by default, it's hidden.

 

Try unninstalling and then deleting everything about the game. Use some kind of registry cleaning tool, like CCleaner. It should work, I think.

 

PS: This is in Windows XP, I dunno if in Vista it's the same thing, but it should be.

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nvr2fst Posted: Jan 11 2009, 16:04

 

 

Crackhead

 

Group: Members

Joined: Jan 2, 2009

 

 

Member Log

 

 

QUOTE (MasterK @ Jan 11 2009, 15:56)

Tried to delete the settings file manually? Pretty sure the game doesn't delete it when you uninstall it.

 

No I didnt. Do you think that the settings file can corrupt itself. The reason I ask is because changing the settings does almost nothing. I was thinking something like that. I have read other people saying this and now that I think about it I remember before my upgrade, when I changed the settings higher it would be an obvious change. But when I would go down again on the settings there was hardly any difference.

 

 

I really think that needs to be looked into more deeply. I will try to reinstall later and delete everything and when the game is back up I will not change the settings at all for a long while and run the piss out of it. If it stays nice I will bump it up and back down to see if this happens again.

 

 

I am really starting to think there is something with the settings files.

 

 

--------------------

 

I think I know everything..........at least that is what everybody tells me.

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CharmingCharlie Posted: Jan 11 2009, 16:06

 

 

Proud PC Gamer

 

Group: The Connection

Joined: May 23, 2006

 

 

 

 

 

Did you catch any hubcaps yet!

 

 

This is not your own personal blog you know, couldn't you have posted this in the topic you ALREADY have here :-

 

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=391334

 

 

 

 

--------------------

 

 

Games PC :- Q6600 @ 2.4ghz, 3gbs DDR2 @ 800mhz, 8800gts 320mb

Media.. PC :- E6600 @ 2.4ghz, 2gbs DDR2 @ 800mhz, 8600gt 512mb

 

 

 

[nvr2fst]

Now where was I.......oh yeah..... another thing I am considering is not running the benchmark either. I will do that later also and see if that does anything.

 

 

 

 

 

As for above post compilation I was forced to move it here. Probably not the right way but it works.

Edited January 11, 2009 by nvr2fst

[nvr2fst]

OK the game is reinstalled after I removed EVERYTHING. I did not put my saves in the folder yet. I am playing from the begining. When I drive Roman to the first game safehouse the FPS were hanging around 24. So I went to the safehouse and saved the game. I did not exit the game. I went right back outside and drove around for about an hour now and the FPS are averaging 34 again and going up to 46 like right after I reinstalled Vista and my CPU. It is running great.

 

 

Next step now I will load the game and play around for a while again. I will not change anything. See if starting the game again does anything. If it stays nice I will put my 60 percent save games in and try it.

 

 

 

If that stays good I will move on to running the benchmark and then play for a while and restart the game.

 

 

Next step if all is good I will go and change the graphics settings up---Run the game. Restart turn them back down and see if they change and where I stand with my FPS.

 

 

 

[nvr2fst]

Just played for a while again. The FPS are up to an average of 35 and have run 43 for some areas. Getting breif 50s.

 

 

Now moving on to putting my 60 percent save games in. That will be all I do. No Graphics settings or benchmark yet.

[nvr2fst]

Conclusion. I installed my saved games and played it. It is a 60 Percent save so all Islands are open. I was saved at another safehouse on another island than the games first safehouse.

so when I stepped outside I was in the upper 20s FPS. At first I thought I had the culprit......my save games. Well in a way it is. No new secret that different areas will reduce FPS. But by this much.....apparently so.

 

 

Anyways I drove around different areas and different islands and my FPS would stay in the 40s for a while, then other areas the 30s and finaly in the 20s. If I was to give an educated guess I could give myself an average of maybe 30 as a whole yet it is dissapointing that I will feel I would have to avoid different burroughs while playing.

 

 

 

This in itself is proof (as if it was needed) that the game needs some serious refining. It is all over the board.

 

 

People have been posting their FPS and it should be taken quite loosely because where were they when they were getting them, how long, so on. One guy will say he gets 40. Ok that is great but I can go to a certain area and post a 50. Another guy will say he gets a 20.......and so on. Unless there is a specified route, time of day, and weather these numbers dont mean much.

 

 

I am only guessing here but many that talk of a their system slowing down after time need to find the "sweet SPOT" in the game and go to that area when their system slows down and see if it comes back up. It may eliminate some thinking it is their system slowing down and others that it may actually be slowing down.

 

 

 

This game is all over the place at any given moment. Way to many variables because of the size of the map. Why do different areas hog up more power than others (at least why so much difference).

Did they have different teams developing different areas on the map. I would guess so because it is so big.

 

Did they follow guidelines on how they do it to keep it as close to even as possible. Were there guidelines? If so how strict were they? Ever played a game that new technology was introduced in the middle of a game. I believe I remember a few. Could that be causing this?

 

 

No matter what it is,

it definately needs a tune up.

 

Unfortunately I did not come out with anything groundbreaking (didnt think I would). But maybe some will pay more attention to these many variables when they try to rank their gameplay experience and compare a defined route and all.

[thales100]

This in itself is proof (as if it was needed) that the game needs some serious refining. It is all over the board.

 

 

Bad news you have some FPS issues.

[nvr2fst]

This in itself is proof (as if it was needed) that the game needs some serious refining. It is all over the board.

 

 

Bad news you have some FPS issues.

Dont get me wrong it is playing well but what I tried to do is narrow the FPS issue I saw. Most areas are good. But I would get to a bad area and see the FPS drop a big difference and not think to go to a different area because I was thinking it was my PC. I would go and change the graphics or leave the game altogether. Now I know better.

 

It is normal for them to drop in just about every game. But with this one we dont have a lot of headroom to play with. If I can get in the 50s, I should not expect a drop to the low 20s. Thats a huge variable.

 

 

That would be a posterchild of a game that needs optimising, right?

[thales100]

 

That would be a posterchild of a game that needs optimising, right?

Maybe, in fact i think its normal to have the FPS up and down during game play, it happens here too, so to tweak GFX setting in a way you have a playable minimum FPS (lets say near 30) is the key for GTA 4 fun without occasional irritations.

[nvr2fst]

That would be a posterchild of a game that needs optimising, right?

Maybe, in fact i think its normal to have the FPS up and down during game play, it happens here too, so to tweak GFX setting in a way you have a playable minimum FPS (lets say near 30) is the key for GTA 4 fun without occasional irritations.

I understand entirely. But my point is, a well developed game wont have that big of a range. Take COD 4. I never checked my FPS but I didnt need to. It looked the same all the way through. And damn good I might add! Sure they should fluctuate but usualy if a lot is going on like explosions and such. Not on just cruising around.

[thales100]

 

I understand entirely. But my point is, a well developed game wont have that big of a range.  Take COD 4. I never checked my FPS but I didnt need to. It looked the same all the way through. And damn good I might add!  Sure they should fluctuate but usualy if a lot is going on like explosions and such. Not on just cruising around.

I dont know if we can compare GTA 4, an open world game, with COD 4, thats close to a corridor.

If we take STALKER Clear Sky i.e., open world too, the FPS will range from 25 to 55 in my rig, all max settings.

Of course we could say these two games should be "optimized", they are full of bugs, etc...

But what the hell, i want to play these two games, and they are great.

So its all back to the upgrade - optimize - tweak GFX settings... and play !

[nvr2fst]

I understand entirely. But my point is, a well developed game wont have that big of a range.  Take COD 4. I never checked my FPS but I didnt need to. It looked the same all the way through. And damn good I might add!  Sure they should fluctuate but usualy if a lot is going on like explosions and such. Not on just cruising around.

I dont know if we can compare GTA 4, an open world game, with COD 4, thats close to a corridor.

If we take STALKER Clear Sky i.e., open world too, the FPS will range from 25 to 55 in my rig, all max settings.

Of course we could say these two games should be "optimized", they are full of bugs, etc...

But what the hell, i want to play these two games, and they are great.

So its all back to the upgrade - optimize - tweak GFX settings... and play !

I guess your right with the open world. I cant see upgrading any more for this one. It is using but a part of all of my components. We all know it isnt using GFX card where it should. It doesnt use all of the memory it should and it certainly isnt using the CPU the way it should. I have topped the CPU at only 70 some percent. Where would I go next?

 

Faster hard drive? It is a 7200 speed. Dont need a screeming 10,000 do I? 4 GIGS system memory. Faster memory? DDR 2 667 is what I have. The MGHZ is what you look for right? And it being Quality. My MOBO is nice. It will take 1066 memory. Wouldnt need that unless Overclocking right? What would you think? Would memory speed help?

[looloolooigotsomeapples]

YES YES YES YES YES YES !!!!!!

 

 

I knew this game looked good! I said it before I upgraded to the Quad even with the framerate issues!! I feel so bad for the people that cant see the real game! It looks awesome. I have NO framerate issues at all now. No other issues either!

 

 

They aint lying when they recommend a Quad! It is absolutely night and day different now! I was kinda worried that it wouldnt make much difference but I am estatic!

 

 

 

If it worked or not I would use the Quad for everything else so it wouldnt have been a waste. My wife isnt even mad for me spending the money after she saw me run like a little kid to the living room, interrupted her movie and had her come look! She was amazed too!

 

 

 

 

She asked what exactly it was that I replaced (explained PC hardware to her many times but she just doesnt remember each part) I told her the Processor and showed her the old one and said it looks like this. "$300 dollars for that little thing"? I said but babe you could spend over a thousand on one of these little things. "So your telling me that that little thing is making your game run THAT much better"? I says.....YUP! She said she was expecting something the size of my 8800GTX.

 

 

 

 

 

Hell I dont even have the fastest memory.

 

Upgrade people

Anybody want a core2 duo 2.4?

Hehe, how much?

[thales100]

I guess your right with the open world. I cant see upgrading any more for this one. It is using but a part of all of my components. We all know it isnt using GFX card where it should. It doesnt use all of the memory it should and it certainly isnt using the CPU the way it should. I have topped the CPU at only 70 some percent. Where would I go next?

Faster hard drive? It is a 7200 speed. Dont need a screeming 10,000 do I? 4 GIGS system memory. Faster memory? DDR 2 667 is what I have. The MGHZ is what you look for right? And it being Quality. My MOBO is nice. It will take 1066 memory. Wouldnt need that unless Overclocking right? What would you think? Would memory speed help?

70 % is probably the average usage, so it doesnt mean it hasnt reached higher % during all benchmark and in actual game play. Check this pic from my G15, CPU at 74 % but in the bench resume it shows 69%.

 

 

7200 is ok, Vista uses Superfetch, if you have a fast 4 gb RAM its ok. Im using DDR 3 1333 Mhz memory, its fast, but i cant say exactly how much it helps my FPS.

GTA 4 is the CPU game, if you oc your Q9550 you could get better performance, but there are risks if you dont know what to do - you may check some guides and try it if you want.

[nvr2fst]

I guess your right with the open world. I cant see upgrading any more for this one. It is using but a part of all of my components. We all know it isnt using GFX card where it should. It doesnt use all of the memory it should and it certainly isnt using the CPU the way it should. I have topped the CPU at only 70 some percent. Where would I go next?

Faster hard drive? It is a 7200 speed. Dont need a screeming 10,000 do I?  4 GIGS system memory. Faster memory? DDR 2 667 is what I have. The MGHZ is what you look for right? And it being Quality. My MOBO is nice. It will take 1066 memory. Wouldnt need that unless Overclocking right? What would you think? Would memory speed help?

70 % is probably the average usage, so it doesnt mean it hasnt reached higher % during all benchmark and in actual game play. Check this pic from my G15, CPU at 74 % but in the bench resume it shows 69%.

 

 

7200 is ok, Vista uses Superfetch, if you have a fast 4 gb RAM its ok. Im using DDR 3 1333 Mhz memory, its fast, but i cant say exactly how much it helps my FPS.

GTA 4 is the CPU game, if you oc your Q9550 you could get better performance, but there are risks if you dont know what to do - you may check some guides and try it if you want.

I have a quad monitor (gadget) running on the second monitor and it shows in the low 70s while I am playing. Never gone higher than 75 percent. I cant understand Overclocking it if it isnt using it all now.

[nvr2fst]

YES YES YES YES YES YES !!!!!!

 

 

    I knew this game looked good! I said it before I upgraded to the Quad even with the framerate issues!!  I feel so bad for the people that cant see the real game! It looks awesome. I have NO framerate issues at all now. No other issues either!

 

 

  They aint lying when they recommend a Quad! It is absolutely night and day different now!  I was kinda worried that it wouldnt make much difference but I am estatic!      

 

 

 

  If it worked or not I would use the Quad for everything else so it wouldnt have been a waste. My wife isnt even mad for me spending the money after she saw me run like a little kid to the living room, interrupted her movie and had her come look!  She was amazed too!

 

 

 

 

  She asked what exactly it was that I replaced (explained PC hardware to her many times but she just doesnt remember each part) I told her the Processor and showed her the old one and said it looks like this. "$300 dollars for that little thing"? I said but babe you could spend over a thousand on one of these little things. "So your telling me that that little thing is making your game run THAT much better"?        I says.....YUP!  She said she was expecting something the size of my 8800GTX.

 

 

 

 

 

    Hell I dont even have the fastest memory.

 

    Upgrade people

  Anybody want a core2 duo 2.4?

Hehe, how much?

Amazon is selling for $195 (E6600)

 

???????

[Dungeoncrawler]

I purchased an q9300 at 2.50 GHz and have to agree, the performance really depends on where you are at. To be honest, my e8400 oc'ed at 3.6 GHz did as good a job running this game as the quad core. Basically as already indicated this game needs some work. Sure we'll see some upcoming news about maybe an additional patch real soon. However, I would not expect any 'miracle' cures for this game. In the end, time and new technology may be the only answer.

 

Dc

[thales100]

I have a quad monitor (gadget) running on the second monitor and it shows in the low 70s while I am playing. Never gone higher than 75 percent. I cant understand Overclocking it if it isnt using it all now.

Mmm no, you can get extra FPS, check these two benchmarks with my Qx9650 :

 

3 Ghz - no oc

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 48.68

Duration: 37.24 sec

CPU Usage: 70%

System memory usage: 70%

Video memory usage: 58%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Highest

View Distance: 100

Detail Distance: 100

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280

Video Driver version: 185.20

Audio Adapter: Alto-falantes (2- Razer Barracuda AC-1 Gaming Audio Card)

Intel® Core2 Extreme CPU X9650 @ 3.00GHz

 

File ID: Benchmark.cli

 

 

4 Ghz

 

Statistics

Average FPS: 56.37

Duration: 37.18 sec

CPU Usage: 69%

System memory usage: 73%

Video memory usage: 58%

 

Graphics Settings

Video Mode: 1680 x 1050 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: Highest

View Distance: 100

Detail Distance: 100

 

Hardware

Microsoft® Windows Vista" Ultimate

Service Pack 1

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280

Video Driver version: 185.20

Audio Adapter: Alto-falantes (2- Razer Barracuda AC-1 Gaming Audio Card)

Intel® Core2 Extreme CPU X9650 @ 3.00GHz

 

File ID: Benchmark.cli

 

 

[ejay2007]

hi guys since you been tackling quadcores here, just wanna ask something about my psu im currently having 500watts my current rig are as fallows c2d 2.2, 9600gt, 4gb ram, 320 hdd, xp sp3, im planning to upgrade my processor to c2q q9400, is my psu okay with this quad?

[thales100]

is my psu okay with this quad?

Yes 500w should be ok.

[ejay2007]

thanks thales, btw nice rig

[thales100]

Thanks dude, good luck.

[pinky]

I guess your right with the open world. I cant see upgrading any more for this one. It is using but a part of all of my components. We all know it isnt using GFX card where it should. It doesnt use all of the memory it should and it certainly isnt using the CPU the way it should. I have topped the CPU at only 70 some percent. Where would I go next?

Faster hard drive? It is a 7200 speed. Dont need a screeming 10,000 do I?  4 GIGS system memory. Faster memory? DDR 2 667 is what I have. The MGHZ is what you look for right? And it being Quality. My MOBO is nice. It will take 1066 memory. Wouldnt need that unless Overclocking right? What would you think? Would memory speed help?

70 % is probably the average usage, so it doesnt mean it hasnt reached higher % during all benchmark and in actual game play. Check this pic from my G15, CPU at 74 % but in the bench resume it shows 69%.

 

 

7200 is ok, Vista uses Superfetch, if you have a fast 4 gb RAM its ok. Im using DDR 3 1333 Mhz memory, its fast, but i cant say exactly how much it helps my FPS.

GTA 4 is the CPU game, if you oc your Q9550 you could get better performance, but there are risks if you dont know what to do - you may check some guides and try it if you want.

I have a quad monitor (gadget) running on the second monitor and it shows in the low 70s while I am playing. Never gone higher than 75 percent. I cant understand Overclocking it if it isnt using it all now.

Because 70% of 4GHz is still faster than 70% of 3 GHz.

 

@thales100: Ever consider liquid cooling, you are getting awfully close to max temp there.

 

[thales100]

@thales100: Ever consider liquid cooling, you are getting awfully close to max temp there.

Its not temp, its usage in %.