# GTA IV suddenly lags



## Hashmeister

Hi @ all,

well as the title of this thread already says: GTA IV suddenly totally lags. The reason i noticed this is that i just bought grand theft auto episodes from liberty city a couple of days ago and after installing it i noticed that every minute or so it lags for a couple of seconds (on Fraps a drop from the average 35 that i have down to 1-3fps) and then it returns to normal.


My pc specs are okay for the game:

Windows 7 64bit
Core 2 Quad 2,67 Q6700
6 GB Ram DDR2-800
Geforce 8800GT (512MB DDR3)
MSI P6N SLI (MS-7350)

after that i digged up my old copy of gta IV, installed it and noticed that the game lags too! But way more than EFLC... and it "time dependant" - sometimes it takes a couple of minutes to start, sometimes it "starts from the start". After installing Modern Warfare 2 i noticed - to my very surprise - that THIS game actually runs smoothly... no problems at all, played 2 spec op missions without any kind of lag, even under "heavy assault"...

My hardware temperatures are okay, and the graphic card temp is also okay (max. 87° C) ingame.... 

Now the thing to keep in mind is that i PLAYED GTA IV through (TWICE) a couple of months ago on this very computer, and with the same (if not higher...) graphic options that i have now... so WHAT could have possibly caused these both games (GTA IV and EFLC) to suddenly lag like that?

Thanks in advance


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## diduknowthat

I have had that trouble too. one way of solving it (at least what I found) is quitting out of windows live game (whatever it's called) after you initially load your game. however, you won't be able to save after doing so. If you find a better solution please post it as I'm in your same shoes.


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## Hashmeister

Yeah but that can't be it - like i said i played it without any kind of problem(s) before... i was thinking something maybe in terms of virus/malware maybe? I don't know, I'm kind of searching for a more concrete answer than just "virus/malware"  I dont understand what could have changed and i dont know whether i should maybe format my system...??....


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## diduknowthat

I know, mine ran fine too until one day out of the blue it just started lagging randomly. I got lag especially when I turn the character's field of view.


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## Hashmeister

Yeah me 2! using a game controller just makes the lagging problem get worse than using keyboard/mouse.. isnt anybody here who has a solution to this problem?


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## diduknowthat

From the research I did when it problem first occured I think it's Windows live game thing that's messing up. I don't know of any permanent fixes though.


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## Hashmeister

diduknowthat said:


> From the research I did when it problem first occured I think it's Windows live game thing that's messing up. I don't know of any permanent fixes though.



Well how can i close windows live anyway??


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## Hsv_Man

All my games for windows live run absolutely fine are you sure there isn't a hardware issue such as psu getting old and not getting enough power through your hardware.


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## diduknowthat

Hsv_Man said:


> All my games for windows live run absolutely fine are you sure there isn't a hardware issue such as psu getting old and not getting enough power through your hardware.



It's not a hardware problem. It's a well documented problem in GTA4.

Take a look at this thread. I was too lazy to try (as I already uninstalled the game) but it has helped a lot of other people.

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=388896


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## Hashmeister

Okay I found out what my Prolem is: it's my Graphic card. It strongly overheats, propably because my ventilation system wasnt so good and the dust was partially blocking the gpu vent itself... even after cleaning there was no progression there (card was too worn out already, it always was 108°C while ingame....) - so after i used my friends graphic card instead of mine the game DIDNT lag anymore... it ran fluently (just like it did 2 years ago with my pc)..

so my advice: check your GPU (Temp.)! Or better yet: all your PC Temps (GPU, CPU(s), ....)


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## diduknowthat

How different is your friends card? It could be a driver thing because this problem is very common.


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## wooxie2

Hmm, maybe it could be patches who lags everything. Maybe you could try deleting xlive, and everything related to GTA IV and then install GTA and try patches one by one?


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## Shane

This is why i gave up on GTA IV for pc,It seems that whatever you do such as installing all the patches,adding things to tweak the game etc it always runs slugish and not very well,Even on the most highest end systems it has been known to run horrible,Yet for some it runs fine...very wierd.

Got it for 360 now,Its finally playable with no hiccups!


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