Digital Foundry Analyze the PC version of GTAV -WARNING: Will upset so

[Evan-KCR]

@Evan-KCR To be honest, deep inside I wished it would be better, too. I didn't even bother thinking about how noticeable it would actually be. Still, the game is amazingly done, technically wise. Rockstar totally made up for the GTA IV misfortune.

I suppose I can understand. But it still looks way better then I ever expected. I was just expecting it to look a little bit better than last gen. But eventually it turned out to be way better.

[r0llinlacs]

 

Pretty disappointing considering the game was like a year and half late on pc.

 

I didn't read the text, I watched the video and made up my own mind. Even when side by side, you have to pay close attention, and look very closely.

Keep in mind PS4 textures are not Very High like they said.

 

On top of that, the PC is capable of softer shadows, higher resolutions shadows, higher shadow options, higher reflection settings, MSAA for reflections, longer draw/detail distance, higher ped/car variety and density etc. There are quite a few things that are better looking - and of course a video isn't going to do any justice with all that compression. Wait until Nvidia releases a detailed comparison of each setting and their performance impact.

 

On top of that, recommended settings for the game can run it at PS4 equivalent/better settings, with 60FPS - as opposed to 30FPS.

 

There are improvements in the PC version, stop acting like you expected the jump to the PC version to be comparable to the jump between GTA SA graphics and GTA IV graphics. Nobody honestly expected that.

 

 

 

If you're playing at 4k, it IS like a jump between GTA SA and GTA V. In all seriousness, and not to diss anybody's machines but, the game looks like crap at 1080p. I realize 4k is expensive right now and hard to run... but it's more than worth the money, especially for this game. Everything that was made better for PC is hardly noticeable at 1080p... at 4k... it's like an entirely different world. Even 1440p looks leaps and bounds better than 1080p and 1440p is where all the extra detail can actually start to be seen, and 4k... well it just shines because all the extra graphics upgrades were made for high resolutions like 4k and 2k. 1080p is now console peasant land... sorry guys... upgrade your monitors and you'll notice the differences between console and PC immediately.

 

Anybody else playing at 4k feel free to chime in on 4k vs 1080p vs console comparison.

Edited April 21, 2015 by r0llinlacs

[G0nx4]

Yea, I am interested in this, will take a look. The consoles aren't sh*tty. Not yet anyway. and they handle this game pretty well, but side by side is a big difference. The main thing going for PC right now is that this game only needed 4 generation old hardware to basically/nearly max out any setting you'd expect to be able to in a game like GTA @1080p. I never use MSAA in other games, but on a 960, I'm running it 4x jag-free and the distance is much much clearer and more populated with further drawing details than the console images.

 

DX12 is going to be a big game changer in future titles. You're going to see the divide better than ever at that point, because the improvements DX12 do to PC are moot on consoles because consoles already have the main optimizations coming with DX12 to windows. Phil Spencer, when asked "Will be it like a new gpu in xbone?" He said no, because the performances increases coming to windows by putting code closer to metal are something that has always been in the consoles.

 

Now, all the sudden, these 660's from 5 years ago are going to be even more capable than they already are - already running GTA V at higher settings than the consoles do.

 

You defend the living f*ck out of consoles, and I really don't know why you do. I'm not being smarty pants with you, I just want to understand why you defend the consoles so fervently.

 

For the hardware that is in them, they are overpriced. They are basically low (now) end PC's and came out as mid range (and remember sony said PS3 was a PC for while there before discontinuing Linux support on it - why would they say that unless they wanted to appear like a better-than-console-because-it's-a-pc to people?)

 

They bully developers with offers they can't refuse, the developers make less per sale with them, you don't get to take your library with you on a new console but I keep my steam library and any other PC game through upgrades - the list is literally too long to even go into, I'm sure you've heard it all before.

 

This is the jitterbug:

 

 

 

It is a cell phone for old people and kids. Comparing it to a normal cell phone or a smartphone, that is a console.

 

Reading now, thanks for the share.

I stopped reading when you said that 660 are from 5 years ago.

[Krysalis]

Thats why Rockstar is one of those gaming companies capable of pushing the limit of all platforms. Im really hapy with that budget PC matching or being a bit better than PS4, except that im getting i3 4160 instead. Now we shall all enjoy the game, no matter what platform, and look forward to more updates and hopefuly story DLC.

[DeathBySybian]

Next story dlc: Assassinations.

[interfreak]

There's a couple of flaws in the article:

 

1) They say that PS4/XB1 have Ultra PostFX as you can only turn DOF on with that option. This is not true, it is also selectable at Very High.

 

2) They say that there is an Ultra setting for Water Quality - there's not.

[philbeau]

The framerate alone would justify playing the game on pc rather than on the consoles.

I think that developer started using different scaling term, to say that console run on high settings.

Instead of low, medium,high they started using let's says high, very high, ultra.

So when console people talk about settings they think it must be good, the developper said it was like high on pc.

But then again you get sometimes 2 or 3 step higher that the high settings on pc, with higher textures, resolutions, framerate,with the possibily of downsampling, etc.

[utack]

Something like a GTX 980 has maybe 5x the raw power of a console GPU.

So what are you expecting them to do, PC games need to run locked 60fps, DirectX adds overhead, so on a high end GPU they can maybe use 2x the performance for visual effects.

You can't do much with that..and such a high end GPU is rarely used by the average PC gamer (believe it or not)

It is perfectly fine they implemented some low hanging fruit like extended draw distance and MSAA, and it runs 60fps on many GPU's.

[blues3531]

So if its so close to the console version why does it run like sh*t (not actually bad but compared to what it should be)on brand new hardware vs consoles 2011 hardware. I should be getting 100+ fps on max settings with a gtx 970 i7 4790k 16gb ram.

 

 

Badly optimized. Lazy use of the high end hardware overhead.

[cp1dell]

There's a couple of flaws in the article:

 

1) They say that PS4/XB1 have Ultra PostFX as you can only turn DOF on with that option. This is not true, it is also selectable at Very High.

 

2) They say that there is an Ultra setting for Water Quality - there's not.

Yeah, I don't think the PS4/XB1 has PostFX at Ultra, it's most likely Very High.

Textures are definitely at High, not Very High - they seem to think that POM is tied to the Texture Quality setting - it is not.

They think Shader Quality is High for the PS4, but POM appears at Very High Shader Quality.

 

Very High and Ultra PostFX don't even differ that much anyways. While I like DF for trying to find the console equivalent settings, Nvidia just released their performance guide for GTA V and it does a much better job at comparing each setting, and the performance impact.

[utack]

 

Nvidia just released their performance guide for GTA V and it does a much better job at comparing each setting, and the performance impact.

 

i7-5960X and Titan X SLI. Thank god they took a completely average rig to explore performance impact. /sarcasm off

[TempAccount]

so a very low-end pc runs gta (without a 30 fps limit) at the same settings as a ps4?

 

 

*yawn*

 

how is this different from any other cross-platform release?

Edited April 22, 2015 by TempAccount

[IcePwrd]

I'm not sure what people expected, it would have been hard to have major increases in detail without makes scenes look too crowded, the PS4/XB1 version looked very good. Aside from draw distance.

Edited April 22, 2015 by IcePwrd

[cp1dell]

 

 

Nvidia just released their performance guide for GTA V and it does a much better job at comparing each setting, and the performance impact.

 

i7-5960X and Titan X SLI. Thank god they took a completely average rig to explore performance impact. /sarcasm off

 

They never do - and that's not the point. Regardless, they have great comparisons between each graphical setting, and how much each setting/level impacts performance. They're great tweak guides for helping people adjust their settings. Never heard of anyone having a problem with them.

[Kaito Katsumi]

 

Conclusion:

Stop bashing consoles like an ass, instead start educating.

Consoles are not bad, just not as good as PC.

Different people have different preferences, but that does not justify bashing.

End of discussion.

Seems very obvious You are a console user who feels sore about op stating the truth

 

No, i owned consoles but somehow my maid stole it. I mainly game on PC.Here's a trampoline since you like jumping into conclusions aimlessly.

[cp1dell]

Man, I'm still reading this thing over trying to figure out what the PS4 equivalent settings are.

 

Once sentence they're saying PostFX is at Very High, and in another paragraph they're saying the PS4 equivalent is Ultra.

 

At one point they say reflections are at High, and then somewhere else they're saying water reflection quality is Ultra. They can't make up their friggen minds.

 

EDIT: I'm going to quote each piece in the article that states what the settings are.:

 

"the basic set-up on PS4 and Xbox One starts with the 'high' preset across most settings. This applies to water, shader effects (as used for rain splatter), tessellation, and also ambient occlusion quality." (Parallax Occlusion Mapping appears when Shader Quality is set to Very High, not high.)

"First up, both consoles match the DirectX 11 ultra setting on PC for post effects"

"Another surprise is in how texture quality compares. It seems PS4 and Xbox One didn't compromise on normal map quality on release last year; they offered the complete package right out of the gate. This matches the PC's very high setting, even factoring in the parallax occlusion maps on brick walls and the pebble-stones lining Michael's garden." (They mention POM here, but Texture Quality does not enable POM at all. It's literally just how sharp the textures are.)

"At low angles, both Sony and Microsoft's platforms produce an exact match for the 4x anisotropic filtering option,"

 

Clicking the comparison screens brings these up:

"PC offers a very high setting that adds in shadows for power lines (right) and planes flying overhead - whereas the console's 'high' setting is restricted to just the masts."

"Bloom, depth of field and light shafts round out the PC's best 'very high' grade of optical effects" (I thought the consoles ran on Ultra? And Post FX doesn't go up to Very High, it goes up to Ultra. "Very High" is not the best setting.)

"Plant density is at ultra settings on PC, while PS4 operates at very high."

"Console water reflection quality is a match for PC's ultra setting" (Are they talking about Water Quality, or Reflection Quality? WQ goes up to Very High, RQ goes up to Ultra - and from looking at other comparisons I doubt the PS4 is running at Ultra reflections)

 

 

Next set of paragraphs just talks about grass quality, shadows, soft shadows, and tessellation (High on consoles, Very High for PC) - restating the above.

"Overall, the softer option takes our preference for these tests - a direct match for the style used on PS4 and Xbox One."

Edited April 22, 2015 by cp1dell

[EvilFiend]

If you don't like it, report me, I'm just here to counter the "MASTER RACE" types in the same way I talk facts whenever I see an idiot console fanboy running their mouth. Master Race people are a toxic that is polluting the real PC Gaming, the kind of people who seem to take pride in bashing consoles and talking down and constantly promoting about how much better PC Gaming is and how brilliant Steam and Gaben are the saviors, etc. Truth is, we're closer than you think brothers.

 

 

so your attempt to stop the "master race" arguement is to start an arguement about it? good thinking OP. GJ

Youre better off just ignoring all the fanbois that talk about that. Most of us have more than 1 platform. Some people even have 3 old/currnet/PC.

 

The best way to avoid sh*t is to not play with it and just walk around it. One day you might understand that

Edited April 22, 2015 by EvilFiend

[Phorkz]

LOL, OP can't afford a decent PC, and is a console peasant.

 

Creates multiple threads trying to convince himself that his console "isn't that bad"

[Ash_735]

LOL, OP can't afford a decent PC, and is a console peasant.

 

Creates multiple threads trying to convince himself that his console "isn't that bad"

Funny thing is, I've been apart of the PC GTA Modding scene for years, I do play games on PC, I'm one of those people who can actually play video games on any platform without being a complete elitist bitchy prick about it and slander the other platforms. *shrugs*

 

I don't get why pointing out Rockstar did great on all version is ridicule worthy from Master Race folks, then again, your type don't need a reason to look down on anyone, one of the most smug user groups around.

 

edit: Also, where are these "multiple threads" I've created, it's like most of you read something one guy says and then parrot it on like morons, this is pretty much THE only thread I've created in this section.

 

 

so your attempt to stop the "master race" arguement is to start an arguement about it? good thinking OP. GJ

Yep, like I said, bring it to the gates, we as gamers are the same, PC Gamers, Console Gamers, there has never been a point in gaming history when we've all been so alike, it's hilarious that the closer we get, the more angry we get for some reason. And no, before the Master Race folk run at me with their Nvidia GPU's screaming "but the teraflops and raw power", I'm not just talking about hardware, I'm talking overall ideals, methods, structure, this generation of consoles and PC is more alike than most of you want to admit, a far cry from the ages of Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES & PC when a single game would be completely different on each platform and require a f*ck load of tricks to get running properly, etc. Edited April 23, 2015 by Ash_735

[TempAccount]

@ash

 

you seem to really like to argue. you must have some good modding skills to have not been permabanned yet. why don't you stick to your mod forum that you speak so highly of rather than instigating sh*t here?

 

btw, being an asshole won't win you the support of anyone.

[Ash_735]

@ash

 

you seem to really like to argue.

There is also that, I've been told to watch The Newsroom because apparently I'm like the main character in that.

 

 

 

why don't you stick to your mod forum that you speak so highly of rather than instigating sh*t here?

Because the mod forum IS here, see those tabs over there? I can browse most sections of the forum quickly, and there's just times when I see such bullsh*t here and stupidity that just has to be pulled up, imo of course.

 

 

 

btw, being an asshole won't win you the support of anyone.

Not looking to win any supporters here tbh, I know I'm a dick, and I'm a dick to the assholes here, cause I'll f*ck them, ...no wait, that went south pretty fast.

 

edit: Though by no means do I really mean to offend anyone here, just laugh it off as banter, I always find it hilarious when Master race types call me a console fanboy and that I MUST only own a console or a sh*tty computer JUST because I have a different opinion. My perspective is very wide, I like arguing with all kinds of fanboys, I've been called a SEGA fanboy, Sony fanboy, Microsoft fanboy, yes, even a Steam fanboy, if I see an area with a group of fanboys talking sh*t (which, by the way, Master Race types ARE fanboys), then I do find it funny to poke them. This section is so corrupt and heavily one sided that you don't see the other side of me that stands up for Steam or other things. As I've said before, don't like me, then go ahead and hit that REPORT button, the mods here are waiting for a chance to ban me again so no one offends you precious snowflakes in this section of the forum, wouldn't want you guys to learn stuff now would we? (NOTE: Exception being the few people who actually understand where I'm coming from, you guys give me so much faith in humanity knowing that others can see through this sh*t).

Edited April 23, 2015 by Ash_735

[Kaito Katsumi]

Yes. f*ck all of the asses. The words master race should be banned. I game on PC and don't prefer consoles but i don't be an ass about it. This is the reason why Console vs PC wars are so heated and filled with uneducated, uncivilised trash.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Kaito Katsumi

[lydianduck]

I can't believe the 'master racers' have actually hurt your feelings, you can't be this pathetic.

[swirler]

So Digital Foundry have finally put together their look at the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V and compared it to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version of the game, the results are very surprising

 

 

You seem to be confusing the word surprising with hurpdurp.

 

 

I really feel I coulda written that article without ever playing any version, let alone analyzing side by sides etc.

 

• Extra frames require more processing power than many give adequate credit for
• Consoles squeeze an impressive amount of performance out of their given hardware and use smoke and mirrors to disguise short comings extremely well
• PC user base is so broad in both its users and hardware that you inevitably get some extremes, both in terms of attitudes and/or unrealistic expectations
• Fanboys of any variety are frequently ignorant

Consider this not lesson learned, cause if any of those points are news to you, you're an idiot.

[Crimson Flam3s]

There is a lot of idiots on both sides, but it's usually pc gamers making a big deal out of everything and acting elitist, giving us all a bad name.

 

For example, the classical "herp derp da conzoles hold back pc gaming they should disapper". Lol no dumbass, developers do.if consoles went away were would AAA studios get all their profits? We would be lucky to get decent games due to developers not wanting to risk too much money.

 

Hell as you can see in the threads here, there is a lot of issues. Not everyone can mess around with a computer like some of us. People have different priorities and necessities. A mere ps4 makes gta V look god damn great, problem?

[Kaito Katsumi]

I can't believe the 'master racers' have actually hurt your feelings, you can't be this pathetic.

They don't hurt my feeings, they destroy the reputation of PC gamers as a whole. A joke or two is okay, many of them turn this into some nazi sh*t.

[lydianduck]

I was talking to the OP, clearly he is butthurt, look all the energy he puts into all these posts defending a toy, YES, it's a toy, a piece of plastic, it's ridiculous.

[swirler]

... it's usually pc gamers making a big deal out of everything and acting elitist [...]

A mere ps4 ...

ELITIST!!!

[Ash_735]

I was talking to the OP, clearly he is butthurt, look all the energy he puts into all these posts defending a toy, YES, it's a toy, a piece of plastic, it's ridiculous.

Doesn't hurt my feelings either, the OP is mainly copy and paste with a few bold tags added, unless you're insisting reading is now putting too much energy into something, in which case, you'll fit right in here in this section.

[Crimson Flam3s]

quote name="lydianduck" post="1067358857" timestamp="1429761897"]I was talking to the OP, clearly he is butthurt, look all the energy he puts into all these posts defending a toy, YES, it's a toy, a piece of plastic, it's ridiculous.

 

What is a pc then, a toy you build yourself?

 

 

 

 

... it's usually pc gamers making a big deal out of everything and acting elitist [...]

A mere ps4 ...

 

ELITIST!!!

 

Ps4 elitist if anything