How much do I need to spend on a new PC to run GTAIV "well"?

greyster

I've been playing games on the PC for 14+ years, was a great fan of GTA1-3 but can't run GTA4 on my current PC.

I am just wondering how much my next PC will cost that runs GTA4 well, without lots of lag. If the cost is too high, I am thinking about jumping into console arena for the first time, simply because it is more cost effective.

If anyone else has just bought a rig, to play such games like GTA4, please let me know the spec and how much you paid. Thanks!

G

[Deleted User]

You're better off getting an Xbox 360 with a couple of games for £200 and trading the ones you don't want in, or buying GTA IV, than you are spending a lot more on a PC to run it well.

If you did want to go the PC route, I'd be budgeting the better part of £1,000 for it.

Marty_J

It might be worthwhile considering an Xbox 360, especially if you're a big GTA fan.

Apart from anything else, it has the episodic content, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, that you can't play anywhere else.

You can also be confident that the Xbox 360 will run any GTA game released within the next few years without any problems.

ComplexP

It's fairly simple with the PC vs console question:

If you want PC graphics to match an XBox you'll most likely pay more for it but you can spend a LOT more on a PC and get far superior graphics to any console but you'll be paying upwards of £1500.

Since cost seems to be a consideration for you, I'd say that the XBox is probably the best bet. You got an HD TV?

EDIT: I suppose the answer to your title question is 'a lot'

greyster

I have a Toshiba Regza 32" "HD Ready". What do you think?

greyster

Marty_J wrote: »

Apart from anything else, it has the episodic content, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, that you can't play anywhere else.

That is pretty cool, didn't realise it an exclusive. Are these games as large as the original game?

Marty_J

greyster wrote: »

That is pretty cool, didn't realise it an exclusive. Are these games as large as the original game?

No, they're just expansion packs. So you play as a different character with new missions and additional vehicles, music, weapons, and whatnot. Each of them probably takes around 10 hours to play through the main storyline, though there are lots of side-quests to complete too.

ctz

GTA4 is a "bad port" -- it doesn't run well on any reasonable PC even after a year and 5 patches. Buy a 360 if you want to play it.

[ My specs: AMD dual core 4600+, 3GB RAM, NVIDIA 9800GT. All games I've bought in the past 3 years work excellently on high settings, including L4D2, Crysis and ARMA2. Except GTA4, which is unplayable on the lowest available settings. Avoid it! ]

ComplexP

greyster wrote: »

I have a Toshiba Regza 32" "HD Ready". What do you think?

Should be pretty good.

Get an XBox

aliEnRIK

ctz wrote: »

GTA4 is a "bad port" -- it doesn't run well on any reasonable PC even after a year and 5 patches. Buy a 360 if you want to play it.

[ My specs: AMD dual core 4600+, 3GB RAM, NVIDIA 9800GT. All games I've bought in the past 3 years work excellently on high settings, including L4D2, Crysis and ARMA2. Except GTA4, which is unplayable on the lowest available settings. Avoid it! ]

Jesus, that IS a bad port!

ComplexP

ctz wrote: »

GTA4 is a "bad port" -- it doesn't run well on any reasonable PC even after a year and 5 patches. Buy a 360 if you want to play it.

[ My specs: AMD dual core 4600+, 3GB RAM, NVIDIA 9800GT. All games I've bought in the past 3 years work excellently on high settings, including L4D2, Crysis and ARMA2. Except GTA4, which is unplayable on the lowest available settings. Avoid it! ]

Agreed. I've got an obsolute beast of a machine complete with a Radeon HD4870x2 graphics card, an i7 920 processor overclocked to 3.8GHz and 6GB of DDR3 RAM and even I notice performance drops in some parts of the game. But I am running it in maximum settings.

No other game on the market creates even the first sign of frame rate drops for me but this one does.