GTA 4 unplayable please help

[OltsPoiss]

Here is the deal: i have 6850m GPU, yes, its laptop. Also have sandy bridge 2410m ( up to 2.9 GHz dual-core processor ) and 8GB ram but GTA is freaking laggy!! I can play Crysis, Crysis 2..etc games high or very high..Even Battlefield 3 is good at medium + anti alasing etc.. i tryed 1600x900 as recommended settings:

 

Video Mode: 1600 x 900 (60 Hz)

Texture Quality: High

Render Quality: High

View Distance: 32

Detail Distance: 70

 

( CPU usage 51%, system memory usage 32 % and video memory usage 69% ) its from GTA benchmark

 

and also 800x480 ( both low and others 0 ) or something what was the lowest reso..SAME DEAL. So, what is the problem? Benchmark says: 1600x900 settings average FPS 41 , with 800x480 ~60 .. aa, and what i almost forgot..if i just look around then everything is VERY SMOOTH, if i just run ONLY FORWARDS or drive ONLY forwards then everything is OK..as soon as i press A or D to drive left or right then game freezes about 1-2 sec and then its running as normally. Thats with SPACE too..example: when i start a game and niko is coming out of his apartment then its showing hot dog guy outside..if i press SPACE at that time then its freezing again..so it cant be GPU, well, i dont want to belive that. Also i dont have that feeling like im driving or running in the sky. Funny thing is that my mom have desktop that have HD 4650, there i can play low but there isnt that problem. Also i have GDDR5 version, she have ddr2 version.. Sorry about my english, its not very good. Lot of thanks for that one who can help me.

 

UPDATE: i havent installed any patch beacuse when im trying to get it from RGSC then it shuts down, i tried to reinstall it about 20 times but same deal..ORIGINAL GTA 4, dont think that im using piracy version. Its my first legacy game ever but now i think im going to download games from internet.. I've tried to download and install updates ( patches ) from internet too but then i get some freaky errors..

[lydianduck]

Patching the game is an absolute must. If you have the retail version go with the fourth patch. unpatched gta iv is a huge nono; I have a 6850 as well and the game plays fine.

 

 

also, the lag when pressing A or D is because the windows event log service, disable that thing and try it again.

 

ALSO, the disappearing textures thingy can be solved by using the correct memrestrict command, as you can see, this game is a complete mess.

 

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=445554

Edited November 6, 2011 by Brainsick

[mkey82]

You have to specify each error that you get EXACTLY. Describing an error as "freaky" is both stupid and retarded.

 

There is a problem on certain systems with sandy bridge as the game likes to use the integrated GPU instead of the dedicated one. Make sure to install the latest GPU driver available from the laptop manufacturer.

[radioman]

Since you have a laptop, which means the hardware is lower power than there desktop counter-parts, the easy solution is to Lower ALL the in-game settings to LOW and the sliders to no more than 25. Plus Patch 4, which will also give a boost-did for me on my laptop(a 10-20fps boost to be exact)-Plus using Mem. restrict commandline gave me around a +5 to a +7 boost..Just a heads up.

 

 

[OltsPoiss]

Brainsick, i search for windows event log service from google and it says thats not good idea to disable it, theres no point at all..but..How can i disable it? From task manager?

 

mkey82, i dont remember the error but it was like "fatalerror" or something ( yes, i cant watch it beacuse its uninstalled already ). Also i add this i bought the game from my friend, original box etc. I dont know about that integrated and dedicated options on my lappy beacuse different between my and dad lappy ( hd 6490m ) is that when he takes the adapter of then comes message ( well, it means that the display have been changed to intergrated one ) but i dont have that. Do u have any idea of this? maybe it switch automatically without any blink. Hope u understand. and YES, i have all the latest updates....

 

radioman: i know the different between desktop and laptop GPU. And the power consume will make that different my home PC what have HD 4650 DDR2, 512MB etc and much slower than my 6850m and plays gta 4 better but at everything else its worse???? The weird thing is i can play MOST of the latest games high, very high ( some killers medium but NO LOW, also MAX resolution, 1600x900 ), but GTA is different world. Also one youtube user have uploaded video about gta 4, he have same lappy and said that he have dd3 version but fps 25-40 and no lag spikes. So what's the problem. Benchmark is OK, average fps 41 but game is unstable. Maybe the problem is caused by patches like brainsick said but i cant install non of them..

 

 

EDIT: mkey82, im trying now those patches from ur description..my internet connection is here slow so it takes some time..

Edited November 6, 2011 by OltsPoiss

[mkey82]

Windows event log service has certain dependencies which it didn't have on XP. That makes it a bit harder to disable on 7.

[lydianduck]

The only disadvantage of disabling the windows event log is that you wont be able to use the disk defragmenter, but you can turn it back on whenever you need to run it. I have it disabled right now and absolutely nothing happened, don't sweat.