How to remove lag and gain FPS on GTA IV

[Devin]

I was taking a look on the IV:MP Forums and found this post which has proved to be very useful.


Please don't delete this might be usefull for others!

UPDATE BETA 1.0

IMPORTANT: REMOVE ANY MODS, GRAPHIC MODS, CAR MODS, PED MODS, ECT. IT MAY CAUSE CRASHES! ALSO I RECOMMEND AFTER YOU COMPLETELY DEFRAG YOU HARD DRIVE, DEFRAG IT AGAIN EVERY DAY(should take less than 30 mins) OR 3 TIMES A WEEK.

note: many of you guys are probably going to say that this is a MOD, but this is NOT a mod!, Also this is BETA release its still not perfect we have another one(for next update) thats better than this one, but it still has some problems. And lastly if you don't feel like using the updated BETA, the outdated one still works located at the bottom.

(Since I have access to unlimited computer parts, thanks to my uncle, I gathered the most common graphic cards and processors, for testing)

GRAPHIC CARDS TESTED:
Radeon HD 3000IGP
Radeon HD 4250IGP
Radeon HD 5670
Radeon HD 6850
Radeon HD 6990 (2 GPU's)

8400GS
8500GT
8800GTS
9400GT
9600GSO (768MB)
GT340
GTX580(< OMG THE BEST CARD! RADEON KILLER, sorry uncle i'm keeping this one XD)

PROCESSORS TESTED
INTEL PENTIUM 4
AMD ATHLON X2
AMD PHENOM X3
AMD PHENOM II X4
AMD PHENOM II X6
INTEL CORE 2 DUO
INTEL CORE 2 QUAD
INTEL i5



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I decided to work on the LOWEST graphics cards as you can see I managed to make GTA IV run on an old HP Pavilion Dv2000 with onboard nVidia 6150. The game wasn't playable but the most frames per second I saw was 9, after I added my tweak the game was really playable!, the max frames per second I saw was 17, average 12, and game play was really smooth, but as you can see in the picture it had missing textures, something that I did't fix, well simply because im NOT going to be playing on onboard 6150.(USED THE SLOW TWEAK)


This next picture was tested with the 9600GSO, AMD Athlon X2, and 4GB of ram. We all know that in the beach is were we get the best frames per second, but for many they still can't get enough FPS and some are still lagging in the beach. As you can see here its getting easily over 100FPS, and if you guys are wondering, in the city I got an average of 61FPS and in interiors 80+FPS.(USED THE SLOW TWEAK)


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


FOLLOW THESE 10 STEPS BEFORE INSTALLING THE TWEAK, IF YOU DECIDE TO INSTALL THE TWEAK WITHOUT FOLLOWING THE STEPS THERE IS A CHANCE YOU WILL GET MINOR LAG SPIKES, AND AS I SAID BEFORE THIS MIGHT WORK FOR YOU. FOR SOME YOU WONT GAIN ANY FPS BUT THE GAME WILL BE REALLY SMOOTH AND PLAYABLE AND FOR SOME IT WILL GAIN BOTH FPS AND SMOTHNESS.



NOTE: TO RUN THE GAME WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS, TO START THE GAME START IT FROM THE GTA MAIN FOLDER LOOK FOR "LAUNCHGTAIV".



STEP 0:------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to "START > MY COMPUTER > HDD > PROGRAM FILES > ROCK STAR GAMES > GRAND THEF AUTO IV" and create a new folder called "BACKUP". Copy the "PC" and "Common" folder as well as the "LaunchGTAIV" into the backup folder you just created. This will be the backup files just in case you decide to uninstall this tweak.


STEP 1:------------------------------------------------------------------------
Find out how well your pc can run the game with the specs you currently have, this will aslo let you know wich Fix you need out of the three. Scroll down and look for the GTA IV and see how well you can run it. If your pc is slow according to the chart then you will get the "SLOW" fix, if you
barely pass you will get the "MEDIUM" and so on.

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/



STEP 2:------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Original "gtxd.img" will need to be replaced. The original causes some random lags and it also causes low FPS. This won't affect the way the game looks (graphics), it will just make the game a bit faster. Once you have downloaded the new gtxd file place it in "START > MY COMPUTER > HDD > PROGRAM FILES > ROCK STAR GAMES > GRAND THEF AUTO IV > PC > DATA > CD IMAGES" replace the old
one.

http://rapidshare.com/files/186766678/gtxd.rar



STEP 3:(optional but recomended)-----------------------------------------------
Windows, Windows Vista(32-64bit) and windows 7(32-64bit), make all games perform terrible due to the large amount of ram they use. Vista is the worst one, if you have 4GB or ram using vista, only about 2.3GB will be available for games (does not matter if you have the 64bit, and even though it says there is more
available). If you have Windows 7, games will perform a lot better than vista, but windows 7 has many bugs for gaming. This causes the games to lag or get low FPS in high end games. What I recommend, is downgrading to Widnows XP. Windows XP performs faster than Vista or 7. Game wise, Windows XP makes all high end
games perform better with better FPS and less lag!! NOT A JOKE!


STEP 4:------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to "RUN" an type "msconfig". You will see a small window named "System Configuration Utility", choose the "Sercives" tab(this is all the programs that are running). Scroll down untill you find the "Event Log".Once
you find the "Event Log" disable it by removing the green checkmark. Now click "Apply" then "OK", then close. Restart the Computer, if you get a window once you log in after reboot, just close the box and ignore it.





STEP 5:-----------------------------------------------------------------------
We are going to check the slowest part in the computer, wich is the Hard Drive. When the hard drive is fragmented, it will perform 30-50 percent slower than what they are supposed to perform. Go to "START > MY COMPUTER > ADD OR REMOVE PROGRAMS(in windows XP)". Remove any unused programs, or programs that are not really necessary, like any unused toolbars usually for internet explorer. Once you are done removing all the unecessary programs, download this HDD defragment program, its fast and safe.(Don't use the one thats included with windows, its too slow and it does not defrag correctly. Also defrag just the GTA 4 folder when its done defragmenting the HDD.

http://www.piriform.com/defraggler


STEP 6:-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Another Slow part of a computer is the regestry, having a regestry that has missing files, will cause windows to have a slow response time, wich will cause all types of problems when playing high end games. We are going to defrag the regestry and then we are going to check for problems. This won't take long, and both programs are safe.

http://www.winmend.com/registry-defrag/
http://www.glarysoft.com/products/utilities/registry-repair/


STEP 7:(OPTIONAL)-------------------------------------------------------------
Download CCLeaner, clean your hard drive, and also scan the regestry for issues. You can also use the one windows provided found on "START > ALL PROGRAMS > ACESSORIES > SYSTEM TOOLS > DISK CLEAN UP"

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner


STEP 8:------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update your video drivers, For nVidia users, there are now good updated drivers located in the nVidia website I provided. Choose your graphic card! For ATI Download the latest drivers from your card.

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx




STEP 9:-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to your graphics setings, for nVidia got to Nvidia Control Panel found in the control panel and for ATI got to the Catalist(< I think not familiar with ATI), change the settings to performance.
 


STEP 10:------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally install the "Grand Theft Auto Lag Fix", Once the installation is done, you will see a "Contig" and a "GTA 4 Downgrader" on the GTA IV main folder. First select the "Contig" file and make a shortcut to the desktop. After you
create the contig shortcut, right click and go to properties. Once on properties look at "Target" everything should be highlighted, DON'T DELETE IT, at the end make a space and an -S, like this ""C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\For Slow\Contig.exe" -s" once you have eddited the contig shortcut run it,
you will get a CMD window, don't don anything just let it run intill it finishes should not take that long, 10-30 minutes depending on your computer speed. Next on the GTA IV main folder look for "GTA 4 Downgrader", for this one you don't need to make a shortcut just run it, again you sould get a CMD window,
don't do anything just let it finish should not take that long just a few seconds. Once its done ill ask you to restart the system. This will be the last restart.

UNINSTALL!!!--------------------------------------------------------------------
To uninstall this mod simply got to the Grand Theft Auto Main Derectory and find the icon that says "uninstall" all files will be removed. But backup files won't install automatically, you will have to install the backups yourself with the backups you created.

NOTE: IF UNINSTALLING THE GAME MAKE SURE YOU FIRST REMOVE THIS TWEAK, OR IT MIGHT NOT UNINSTALL.


DOWNLOAD

For SLOW computers
http://www.4shared.com/file/-DTxE8S_/Grand_Theft_Auto_Lag_Fix_BETA_.html

For MEDIUM computers
http://www.4shared.com/file/-PO3h-0z/Grand_Theft_Auto_Lag_Fix_BETA_.html

For FAST computers
http://www.4shared.com/file/3GicuRhT/Grand_Theft_Auto_Lag_Fix_BETA_.html


IMPORTANT
Once you have downloaded your tweak, make sure to mess with the graphic settings, believe it or not like I said on the outdated tweak, for some it will lag on low graphic settings and for some it won't lag on high graphic settings. DON'T be afraid to mess with the settings. If you are interested on what I did, after you install the tweak, look for "LAG README" on the Grand Theft Auto IV main folder.




_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _________
OUTDATED BUT STILL WORKS

THIS IS ONLY FOR NVIDA GRAPHIC CARDS(Doesn't work well on ATI, sometimes it doesn't work at all!)

Make sure u have the latest patches installed for gta iv and social club.... The best patch in my opinion that works best is the 1.0.3.0.

NOTE:This may or may not work for u, depending on how old or fast your pc is, it worked for me went up 17fps!!

WARNING: DO STEP 3 AT YOUR OWN RISK!! IF U STOP IT OR U DO IT WRONG ILL PROBABLY WON'T SCREW THE GAME UP BUT JUST IN CASE FOLLOW IT CAREFULLY!!!!

For 7 series:
Haven't tested on the oldest ones but it did show improvement on the 7900!

For 8 series:
8400gt, 8500gt, 8600gt 256mb-1GB

For 9 series:
9400gt, 9500gt, 9600gt 256mb-512MB ONLY!

Those are the cards that have more trouble playing GTA IV, but luckly there is a solution without overclocking your graphics card! Since my gamming pc isn't fully done i decided to look for a solution for my 8500gt, the game lagged like crazy, i was getting around 19-21 fps on all low and on high around 5-9 fps!! Even though some people can play the game, getting an average of 27-32 fps on the graphic cards listed above, it did show an improvement form 32 to 46fps!! At the end When i finished I ran the game and from 21fps im getting an average of 32 fps!!!(30-32 on the outside and 32-40 on interiors!)

I dont have a verry fast pc or a verry slow one here is my pc:
PC:Gateway GT4022
Processor:AMD Athlon 64 @ 2.41GHz Performance rated at 4.0HGz
Ram:1.50 GB of ram (DDR)
Hard Drive 200GB
Video card: GeForce 8500gt
As u can see my PC isn't fast or slow.

Follow this steps CAREFULLY!

1. Firs download this... http://www.4shared.com/file/116004096/db2708dc/commandline.html its a command txt file. Place it in the game directory and don't eddit the file!!. For example: C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto IV

2. Once the command file is in the game directory, download this other one.. http://rapidshare.com/files/186766678/gtxd.rar and place it here C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto IV\pc\data\cdimages DON'T FORGET TO MAKE A BACKUP!!

Here get's complicated.........
3. Download this other file.... http://www.4shared.com/file/116004163/2d178aab/Contig.html

Pay attention most get this wrong! Extract the Contig file cut or copy the contig.exe to the game directory C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto IV and make a shorcut to the desktop should look like this...
after u have the shorcut right click it and go to properties...on TARGET add a SPACE at the end then -s like this... then click apply or OK. On the contig shorcut on your desktop run it u should get a CMD box and it should be done in 5-10 mins depending on your computer. Its verry importand that u dont stop it u should let it finish.

4. The last thing you are going to do is get hacked Nvida drivers(new ones) it seemed that the drives were locking the FPS at 19-22!!! with hacked drives the fps are free and unlocked meaning that there are no restrictions!! u can download it here, just chose your graphics card series or model and download your driver!!!
http://downloads.guru3d.com/

Hope this helped.. It did for me i gained 17 FPS!!! If u need any help please leave a comment!

And yes it will help boost your FPS if u just want more performance!!!!!

Here is a pic getting 42 FPS without blurr on a geforce 8500gt!!!!!


Graphic stings: Almost high, little better than medium graphics!


And remember to mess around with the graphc settings for me on low settings it lags but on higher setting it doesn't lag! IDK...

AND ONCE AGAIN IF U NEED HELP LEAVE COMMENT AND ILL ANSWER..


Ive noticed that people are having trouble finding the video drivers so here there are:

For Windows XP (64bit & 32bit)

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Videocards---NVIDIA-GeForce-(XP-32-bit)_c10.html   Here is a direct link for the drivers for XP 32bit, choose the drivers that are more updated like "185.20" << just an example



http://downloads.guru3d.com/Videocards---NVIDIA-GeForce-(XP-64-bit)_c28.html   Here is a direct link for the drivers for XP 64bit, choose the drivers that are more updated like "185.20" << just an example


For Windows Vista and  7(64bit & 32bit)


http://downloads.guru3d.com/Videocards---NVIDIA-GeForce--Vista-%7C-7_c32.html  Here is a direct link fo rthe drivers for Vista and Windows 7, choose the drivers that match with your pc. Here the drives for Vista 32-64bit are mixed with windows 7 so be carefull read everything before you download.

Quoted from 'Shorty_209'
Direct link can be found Here

[Murt]

This topic looks awesome Devin, think it will help many players.

Good work with it.

Regards Murt. 

[Devin]

I never created the topic, simply quoted it from the IV:MP Forums as you can see at the bottom of the post, but thanks.  :roll:


And yes, a 9600GT is perfectly fine to run GTA IV, it is the exact card I am playing IV:MP with currently without any problems.

[Void]

Very useful, indeed.
Adding the link of this topic to the sticked FAQ. Thanks for your contribution.


Regards.

[cDa]

tested with medium one, works like a charm

[Devin]

Glad to hear positive remarks in regard to this, I hope it will prove to be very useful to many players.

[Murt]

Not that this would help me, but people with worse PC's than myself. I can run GTA IV on highest resolution and details and get 45-60 fps stabile.

[Pude]

Please note that hacked drivers are not signed by Nvidia, they may cause you errors or bad performance depending on your PC configuration. (maybe not Gtaiv, but other games)

Contig.exe is defragger from Microsoft. It can defrag single directories, like gtaiv folder in this case.
You should always keep your hardrive defragmented anyways.

Be sure to make a copy of common/pc folders in Gtaiv directory !
Be sure to clean out previous graphic drivers before installing these. (example . Driversweeper)

[Dean Willis]

Going to try it! I have 9600, lets hope for good. Thanks for getting it to Argonath.

Greetis,

[Norrage]

Seems nice, tho i dont want to format my hard drive every week.

[Devin]

No one mentioned formatting your PC, it said doing Defragmenter once in a while to make sure your system is organised.

[Dean Willis]

Works great! nice graphics and I have better FPS. Thanks!

[Pude]

Seems nice, tho i dont want to format my hard drive every week.

It's funny that i often find people who uses computer a lot, without knowing that it's necessary to keep their computers defragged!

A fragment is a piece. If you drop a vase on a concrete floor, you get fragmentation of the vase. Lots of little pieces. Which is pretty much what your data looks like on your hard drive after you've been using it for a few months. Ever try to stick all the little pieces of a smashed vase together again? Well, that's kinda what your computer has to do to get that file that you just tried to open. It's first got to find all those little pieces and stick them all together again, and then present this stuck together file to you.

Now here's the part where it gets worse. When you are finished with the file, and you save it, your computer breaks it up again into all these little pieces, plus some more little pieces that you just added with your edit, and it has to find all the places where it got the little pieces from in the first place, and put them back there. And you wondered why your computer was slow!

When we defragment our hard drive, we are giving the computer a chance to find all the little pieces of all the files, and enabling it to stick all these pieces together and keep them together by saving this whole file in one place on the hard drive. So when you request a file or document, the computer only has to search for one thing, which it joyfully finds and presents it to you on your screen in a very short time.

When we defragment our hard drive, we are giving the computer a chance to find all the little pieces of all the files, and enabling it to stick all these pieces together and keep them together by saving this whole file in one place on the hard drive. So when you request a file or document, the computer only has to search for one thing, which it joyfully finds and presents it to you on your screen in a very short time.

So make it for your hard working computer, and it should repay you with faster file retrieval, and a longer, trouble free life.

Windows has own defragment tool, but it's not as convinient as many other tool around.
Perfectdisk is awesome, altought you need to pay for it. Another great one is Iobit Smart Defrag, it's free and it supports automatic defragment also, so you dont need to take care of defragmenting, it does that when your not using your computer.

[hAWK.]

So basically when you complete all this procedures your hard drive gets fragmented? If it's like that, as you said it will cause slower file management. By the way I use PerfectDisk, too - great program.

[Dean Willis]

The tweak is good.. by I crash after 15 minutes of playing.. any solution?