Brand new PC, and GTA IV strains my CPU.. in 2014?!

[kraftwerkd]

Hey guys, so I finally joined the ranks of the almighty and built myself a gaming PC. Being the excited GTA fan that I am, the first thing I did after downloading all the updates and drivers I needed was purchase GTA IV off Steam. Got excited when it was finished, and started playing.

 

So, first off, I got around the typical resolution restriction of 800x600, but now I'm having another weird problem that I haven't been able to find much on, besides buying new hardware.

 

Now, the game runs absolutely fantastic, when it runs. But about twenty minutes later, the game shuts down to desktop and I get a warning my CPU is too hot. Here are my settings:

 

Video mode: 1920x1080 (60Hz)

Aspect ratio: 16:9

Texture Quality: High

Water Quality: High

Reflection Resolution: High

Shadow Quality: Medium

Night Shadows: Medium

Texture Filter: AA8X

View Distance: 40

Detail Distance: 40

Vehicle Density: 50

Definition: On

VSync: On

Clip Capture: Off

 

When I look at the Graphics screen, it tells me 702/4037 MB of resource usage, but it's in red. Here are my specs, at least the important parts:

 

AMD FX-8320 CPU (stock cooler)

ASUS M5A97 Motherboard

16GB RAM

XFX R9 290 4GB GPU

240GB SSD

ThermalTake 650W Gold PSU

Windows 7 SP1

 

So, what's causing this game to be such a resource hog on a basically brand new system? Is there any way that some resources can offloaded from the CPU to the GPU, besides using -nomemrestrict, -norestrictions, -noprecache, etc? Or is the game just incorrectly using my hardware? AFAIK I've got the latest patch, as it was downloaded from Steam last night (Nov 11/2014), and my video drivers are all patched properly, so I don't know what could be the problem.

 

Shouldn't 702/4037 be in green, not red?

[lol232]

Quite a dumb suggestion, but I'll actually suggesting you to get a better cooler.

Maybe a Hyper 212 EVO or any liquid cooling.

 

Do other video games make your CPU run hot?

 

Try using this:

-memrestrict 681574400

[kraftwerkd]

The only other game I've tested on is Tomb Raider (soon Alan Wake as well), but I get no problems running that game on Ultra everything at 50fps.

 

I figured a new cooler would be my only way around this, I was just hoping there would be some alternative where I wouldn't have to spend more money.. this rig was already pricey enough.

 

I'll see swapping out -nomemrestric with -memrestrict [value] helps.

Edited November 13, 2014 by kraftwerkd

[radioman]

Have you tried lowering the in-game settings?-Mainly resolution to around 1024X768 or less, Texture, Water, and reflection and the sliders from around 40/50 to something like 20 and see if the problem persists? You can also try "rolling back" to Patch 4...

[lol232]

The only other game I've tested on is Tom Raider (soon Alan Wake as well), but I get no problems running that game on Ultra everything at 50fps.

 

I figured a new cooler would be my only way around this, I was just hoping there would be some alternative where I wouldn't have to spend more money.. this rig was already pricey enough.

 

I'll see swapping out -nomemrestric with -memrestrict [value] helps.

You could get a Hyper 212 Evo, it's fairly cheap and pretty effective.

[kraftwerkd]

Have you tried lowering the in-game settings?-Mainly resolution to around 1024X768 or less, Texture, Water, and reflection and the sliders from around 40/50 to something like 20 and see if the problem persists? You can also try "rolling back" to Patch 4...

Ugh, as childish as this is going to sound, I refuse to turn down the settings any further. It's already bordering on console quality (okay, that's an exaggeration, but still), which is what I've been trying to get away from since 2012. IMO that almost defeats the purpose of getting this game on PC. I won't say you weren't trying, haha

 

That patch idea I'll definitely look into though, thanks.

 

lol232, that is starting to sound more and more like something I'll have to do. Another $30..

 

Edit: The thing that bothers me the most is that when the game is running, it doesn't just run, it flat-out sprints the first two miles and then maintains the rest of the marathon at a fast run. I get 60-65fps at all times, no pop-in, and mean performance all around. Then out of nowhere, in a seemingly dead spot of gameplay, *POOF*! We're back to the desktop. It's like it's trying to taunt me. I believe I now can almost grasp the pain most of you have gone through these past six years.

Edited November 13, 2014 by kraftwerkd

[Frozenflake]

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO no is much efficient for a AMD FX. I recommend the XIGMATEK Night Hawk Frostbourne Edition that is easier to install and has the best configuration of support.
Furthermore the efficient design of propeller blades results in a better airflow.

 

Turn off Vsync to get some extra fps.

 

To understand more about commandline, read this:

http://gtaforums.com/topic/736018-wip-unique-complete-commandline-parameters/

[kraftwerkd]

Awesome, thanks. I don't know if it's placebo or just the settings I've got right now, but I get no more crashing, even after three hours of constant play. Maybe I won't need to shell out any more money after all.

[wuttke78]

 

 

 

So, first off, I got around the typical resolution restriction of 800x600....

 

 

Hey guys.

After searching the forum this thread seemed most suitable for my question.

 

I just got an new graphics card GeForce GTX 970 (for upcoming AC Unity and GTA V).

Since I don't have any games yet to test the strength of the graphics card I thought I could play GTA IV TBoGT with icenhancer 3.0 MOD.

I used to play it with low ice3.0 settings with my former graphics card and tried out high settings.

I went into the settings menu and the settings automatically switched to 800x600 and everything else to the lowest.

I cannot undo this or change the settings to 1920x1080, the settings are stuck. I even uninstalled GTA IV and reinstalled it. No change :-(

 

Does anyone have a hint how I can change the graphics settings?

 

Thanks in advance

Edited November 15, 2014 by wuttke78