GTA IV, Patch 1.0.0.4 vs Patch 1.0.8.0 - my personal investigations - UPDATED

[TWIST_OF_HATE]

! ATTENTION !

_____________

This topic was updated on 21.03.2020

The reason for update is this - my original opinion about best GTA IV version has changed

Thing is, it's been almost 2 years after I created the original topic, and during those 2 years I somewhat continued to digging into different GTA IV versions, and this lead to discovering another interesting aspects and features of IV patches

So, for anyone interested - I'm leaving the original topic almost untouched, but you can read the updated conclusion in the end of this article

Thank you

_____________

So, I'm not creating this topic for deliver something really new, because most of you guys most probably already know general differences between so called "best patch for performance" and "best patch for graphics".

In first case, I refer to patch 4 ( 1.0.4.0 ).

But please note that I'm using patch 5 ( 1.0.0.4). It is international version of patch 4, with few small fixes/additions.

In second case, I refer to patch 8, the last available version at the moment (not anymore after 19.03.2020 steam update), which is very similar to patch 6 or 7.

So, the point is to show you, or should I say remind you about key differences between these GTA IV versions. Three main criteria:

1. Shadows quality.

2. Performance.

3. Pros and cons exclusive to patch 5 and patch 8.

Here we go.

 

Shadows quality.

I will show it via screenshots of every shadows quality settings.

I used same save-game for both versions, which means that time and weather was the same in both cases.

 

 

Patch 5, shadows quality LOW:

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 5, shadows quality MEDIUM:

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 5, shadows quality HIGH:

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 5, shadows quality VERY HIGH:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 8, shadows quality LOW:

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 8, shadows quality MEDIUM:

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 8, shadows quality HIGH:

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 8, shadows quality VERY HIGH:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, let's go to performance.

I used same save-game file again in both versions.

I get in same car, and drive same route for ~5 minutes in heavy areas of Liberty City.

Frames Per Second was captured by FRAPS benchmarking tool during this.

 

I used identical in-game settings for both versions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only difference was shadows quality level: VERY HIGH on 1.0.0.4 and HIGH on 1.0.8.0.

You may ask - why ?

Because VERY HIGH shadows quality in 1.0.8.0 version cut FPS in half !

You can actually see this on screens that I posted above.

So, this should be the indulgence for 1.0.8.0 version in performance test.

 

Here is the results:

 

GTA IV, version 1.0.0.4 ( Patch 5 )

Frames Per Second:

- Min: 34

- Average: 55

- Max: 82

 

GTA IV, version 1.0.8.0 ( Patch 8 )

Frames Per Second

- Min: 33

- Average: 49

- Max: 79

 

And final thoughts - pros and cons exclusive to patch 5 and patch 8.

I will quickly compare main features of both versions, which I tested and know for sure.

 

1.Shadows quality

Old style shadows IMHO better fits to IV atmosphere, and they look more like real life shadows generally

Worth to mention also - 1.0.8.0 version suffer from "exclusive" shadows bugs, like "horizontal line trees shadows bug", "black line shadows bug" ...

1.0.0.4 version also has some shadows bugs, like no dynamic shadows from cars from 8 PM to 6 AM, but they can be called minor in comparison with patch 1.0.8.0.

Personally, I prefer patch 5 shadows.

 

2. Overall rendering quality

Better in patch 5 IMHO.

Patch 8 has problems with draw distance and lod transition.

Trees rendering is better on patch 5 (no "horizontal line trees shadows bug").

 

3. Performance

You already saw the benchmarking results.

Patch 5 can give you ~5 extra average fps, and that means much in game like IV.

And funny thing ~40 fps with patch 5 feels better, than ~50 fps with patch 8, nay be related to frame time.

Just my personal feelings.

 

4. Other stuff

Of course, newer patch 1.0.8.0 has some minor advantages and fixes, I'm too lazy to name all of them, you better check official changelogs for patches.

_________________

21.03.2020 UPDATE

Some time ago I felt a desire to test some stuff in IV again, and just return to playing this game in general

This time, I decided to do a really accurate testing, so I installed all GTA IV versions at the moment, from unpatched version to patch 8

I was really curious about first IV versions, like unpatched version and patch 1-2, but in general, nothing really interesting and useful was found during testing those versions

 

However, turns out that versions up to patch 2 actually has a 30 fps frame limiter enabled during cutscenes, and as a result, there is no bug with twitched and zoomed in cutscenes is presented on those versions

ThirteenAG actually bring back this feature to patch 8 version in his Fusion Fix project (and not only this), so if you are using patch 8 version, then you definitely should check out this modification

 

BUT WHAT REALLY GOT MY ATTENTION IS PATCH 4 (1.0.4.0)

I somehow did not noticed it earlier, but turns out that patch 4 version is actually don't have a few pretty noticiable bugs/glithes, which is presented in patch 5 version !

I don't want to spend too much time for a detailed explanation, so I will make it very simple - I will show you pictures of bugs, which is presented on patch 5, but not presented on patch 4

So, here we go (sorry for links, not actual images, but I have no idea how to paste an image while editing a post now)

https://imgur.com/LJyG7Fp

https://imgur.com/xMewA5J

https://imgur.com/LQ907dJ

https://imgur.com/EH5HYkk

https://imgur.com/sNkXv70

 

Funny thing, R* did not mentioned any of changes, which lead to these bugs in official patch 5 changelog, but in reality they broked some graphics stuff here and there

Again, all mentioned problems are not presented on patch 4

 

Probably the only bad side of patch 4 in comparison with patch 5 is a broken characters shadows on bike, this is picture of fixed shadows on patch 5:

https://imgur.com/tXKnqlV

 

But this thing is pretty minor, in comparison to patch 5 problems

Considering all stuff posted above, I can now say without any doubts - GTA IV patch 1.0.4.0 is a most stable and bug-free version of them all

 

For anyone looking for great performance configuration for IV - just use patch 4, turn off night shadows, keep sliders below 50, and turn on vsync with 60 hz

With all this stuff, I have 60 fps almost everywhere even on my crappy PC

 

P.S. Currently, there is a project in development, called RevIVe, and this project is a bright future of GTA IV - main IV issues, like performance and z-fighting will be addressed there

For anyone interested - here is a invitation link to their discord server:

https://discord.gg/PvzxXzE

_________________

 

 

 

THE CONCLUSION

 

I recommend playing GTA IV with Patch 4 (1.0.4.0).

Better performance, and version with less bugs/glitches.

I hate mods, but I can advice some clean "vanilla" fixes, like Recoil Fix, AMD water fix.

I also used MLAA in IV to reduce jaggies, it is AMD driver-level post-processing AA method, similar to FXAA.

You can find more info about all this stuff on this page:

https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_IV

 

Also, you can check this interesting comparison video:

 

 

There is some more stuff I can tell, but I'm really too lazy ))

Even this article tired me ...

 

Thank you for your attention.

If you have any questions or comments - feel free to post them.

P.S. Here is my PC specs:

Intel Xeon X5460 @3.8 Ghz

AMD Radeon 7770 2 Gb

6 Gb DDR2 1066 Mhz RAM

Windows 10 x64

1280*1024 display resolution

Edited May 15, 2020 by TWIST_OF_HATE
IMPORTANT UPDATE

[TWIST_OF_HATE]

Sorry, pics are broken for some reason.

Where can I upload them ?

[ChpokXxX]

Sorry, pics are broken for some reason.

Where can I upload them ?

 

 

upload to some other image site ...

[TWIST_OF_HATE]

Finally learn how to add images from imgur )

Pics fixed now.

Edited May 9, 2018 by TWIST_OF_HATE

[skau]

I see no reason to not use patch 1.0.4.0: The performance is better, the game is much more moddable, it has less graphical bugs even on modern hardware and no songs were cut from it.

 

Okay, the shadows may look awful in that patch, but who cares? It's not like you can't mod the game to make them look better.

[TWIST_OF_HATE]

I see no reason to not use patch 1.0.4.0: The performance is better, the game is much more moddable, it has less graphical bugs even on modern hardware and no songs were cut from it.

 

Okay, the shadows may look awful in that patch, but who cares? It's not like you can't mod the game to make them look better.

I agree.

[Netuno_]

 

I see no reason to not use patch 1.0.4.0: The performance is better, the game is much more moddable, it has less graphical bugs even on modern hardware and no songs were cut from it.

 

Okay, the shadows may look awful in that patch, but who cares? It's not like you can't mod the game to make them look better.

I agree.

 

This.

 

Rockstar could just Ctrl+C Ctrl+V patch 4 and them add better shadows and other fixes. Anyway, too lazy to install the game again and re-patch it.

Edited May 9, 2018 by G8 B8 M8

[Guest]

I liked your comparsion, I guess you spent a lot of time doing all these benchmarks and screenshoots! But sadly I can't fully agree on your conclusion, so I'll go a bit against the trend

 

A part if you want to mod your game, I don't see any reason to go back to 1.0.0.4 (or 1.0.4.0). On the latest patch with my i5 4440 (that soon will be replaced by an i5 8600K) + GTX 970 I can run GTA IV at an almost constant 60 FPS turning down a little bit the view/details distance to 20-30%. All the other settings are maxed out (a part Night Shadows) with no commandlines, resolution: 1920x1080. In these years I tried many times different game versions and I never saw a big performance gap between 1.0.0.4 and 1.0.8.0, just 2-3 FPS. And we have also to consider that GTA IV Online is only available on the latest patch, of course this "issue" could be risolved with some mods and custom servers.

 

In these years I understood that GTA IV performances are pretty random, if you search on YouTube you'll be able to see videos in which the game runs perfectly maxed out and others that shows a poorly optimized game. The OS installed could play a big part in GTA IV's performances, especially if we consider that this game was made on Windows XP/Vista/7 and only 2 years ago we had a patch that introduced the compatibility for Windows 8/8.1/10.

[skau]

 

The OS installed could play a big part in GTA IV's performances, especially if we consider that this game was made on Windows XP/Vista/7 and only 2 years ago we had a patch that introduced the compatibility for Windows 8/8.1/10.

Agreed. IIRC GTA IV ran faster on Win XP but the framerate was more stable on Win 7, I also think Win 8.1 runs it a little faster compared to 7. Never tried Win 8 or 10.

[Guest]

I upgraded to Windows 10 on 29th July 2015, exactly its day one! The older versions of the game were not so good on Windows 10, if you wanted to play it decently you had to write a commandline because of a low amuont of resources recognized... Thanks to 1.0.8.0 patch now it's possible to play GTA IV quite decently even on newer systems.

[TWIST_OF_HATE]

I liked your comparsion, I guess you spent a lot of time doing all these benchmarks and screenshoots!

You right actually, it took some time, but I had a desire to do this, because I wanted to finally know for sure which game version run's better on my PC.

Thank you for your appreciasion, this allows me to be satisfy with my investigations even more

In these years I understood that GTA IV performances are pretty random

Absolutely.

It can run's bad even on high-end configurations.

For now, I generally satisfied with current IV performance in my case.

I upgraded my PC just for this game years ago )

[MrEWhite]

Only reason I don't use 1.0.4.0 is because I play the multiplayer every once in a while.

[VollgasPilot]

Great comparison!

 

So sad that Rockstar never fixed all of the existing bugs / issues...

[P2FX]

1.0.8.0 runs smoother my my PC for some reason. I also like the improved shadow. Some bugs with 1.0.8.0 like AMD water and Rotterdam tower light can be fixed using some shader mods..

[PurpleRain]

Can anyone help me with downgrading to patch 1.0.4.0 from 1.0.8.0? I really don't know where to start.

[TWIST_OF_HATE]

I'm not recommend downgrading.

Better do new install of 1.0.4.0 game.

[LocoAtentadoBR]

I did the downgrade from patch 1.0.8.0 to 1.0.4.0, and its much better IMO, it runs better than with patch 1.0.8.0. Thx for the comparsion, if it wasnt you i would never knew that and wouldnt be possible to play GTA IV

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, LocoAtentadoBR said:

I did the downgrade from patch 1.0.8.0 to 1.0.4.0, and its much better IMO, it runs better than with patch 1.0.8.0. Thx for the comparsion, if it wasnt you i would never knew that and wouldnt be possible to play GTA IV

Just for curiosity: are you running Windows 7 (or lower) or Windows 8/8.1/10?

In my case with Windows 10 I achieve better performance with the latest patch, plus shadows are more detailed and I don't have to use commandline.txt for being able to change display settings.

[LocoAtentadoBR]

16 hours ago, Wolver_321 said:

Just for curiosity: are you running Windows 7 (or lower) or Windows 8/8.1/10?

In my case with Windows 10 I achieve better performance with the latest patch, plus shadows are more detailed and I don't have to use commandline.txt for being able to change display settings.

Iam using win 10, and i dont know why i cant run GTA IV properly with the latest patch, i can run GTA V on Medium/High(almost everything on high, but some options on medium) and i get 40-50 FPS, and on GTA IV in Patch 8 dont know Why, i get less than 30. And on the Patch 4 on Medium/High i get 50-60

[lol232]

The shadow quality on patch 8 is much better, that's why the performance is worse. Just lower the shadow quality on the patch 8.

[Nico]

I've always used patch 7, the only real issue I had is the final mission bug, but as far as I know it can be fixed by capping the FPS.

 

Patch 7 allows more slots for added cars which is important to me. Still haven't tried patch 8.

[RyanBurnsRed]

Patch 4 certainly has worse shadows than 8, but 8 looks like it has less detail than 7 as seen below 

 

Upside to using latest version is no more need for RGSC and the game will better detect vram on modern cards without using commandlines

 

On 2/13/2019 at 6:56 PM, Nico said:

I've always used patch 7, the only real issue I had is the final mission bug, but as far as I know it can be fixed by capping the FPS.

 

Patch 7 allows more slots for added cars which is important to me. Still haven't tried patch 8.

I've got the feeling that this game was always meant to be run at 30 fps since even at 60 fps the game acts a little funny with the cutscenes

[TWIST_OF_HATE]

1 hour ago, RyanBurnsRed said:

I've got the feeling that this game was always meant to be run at 30 fps since even at 60 fps the game acts a little funny with the cutscenes 

It's 30 fps on consoles, so actually yes, 30 fps is basic for IV.

[GiveMeLiberty78]

A very interesting and helpful thread, thank you everybody. For anyone interested, here is how I get the most out of GTA 4 on my PC:

https://givemeliberty.home.blog/prepare/

 

Crucially, I run patch v1.0.4.0 on top of a clean install from the original 2x DVDs. I consistently achieve between 40-60fps, but my fps drops to around 30fps for a few seconds when I drive towards Algonquin whilst in Hove Beach, particularly in heavy rain. For a poorly-ported PC game, I am very happy with GTA 4's performance on my Windows 8.1 64-bit PC.

[mcaufey]

Guys, should I install updates one by one or just install the latest (1.0.8) ?

[GiveMeLiberty78]

6 hours ago, mcaufey said:

Guys, should I install updates one by one or just install the latest (1.0.8) ?

To my knowledge, you should firstly install a clean, legitimate version of GTAIV; then you should install the patch you want. This is what I did; I installed the clean DVD version then installed patch v1.0.4.0. I understand that you do not need to install patches incrementally.

Hope this helps, been about a year since I found myself in Liberty City - time to get back soon...

[deton24]

I found an information that 1.0.4.0 performs better than 1.0.0.4.

The latter has only 3 new fixes for SP: binding two keys for the same function, disabling mouse steering in helicopter, and setting sensitivity for bump view.

I wouldn't use 1.0.0.4.

I even met with an opinion that 1.0.3.0 performs better than 1.0.4.0.

Edited December 14, 2019 by deton24

[Americana]

Damn, lack of an in-built AA settings is a disgrace.

 

---

[TWIST_OF_HATE]

For anyone interested - this topic was updated on 21.03.2020

Patch 5 is not as superior as I thought it is

Read the updated part for details )

Edited March 27, 2020 by TWIST_OF_HATE

[Nico]

I have a question regarding patch 7, which is the patch I used 99% of the time, never gave me trouble and have no intention of changing it.

 

Can I play the final mission properly with patch 7? I'm asking because of the infamous bug that prevents you from climbing the helicopter. I've always heard capping the framerate to 60 FPS fixes it, but only just recently learned out how to do this with commandline. It's been so long since I last finished the game I just don't remember if I did it with patch 7. All I know is that most of my playtime was with patch 7, with the story finished and mods enabled.