SlipperyDuck
06-10-2010, 12:11 PM
9 possible fixes for GTA IV Stuttering. (STOLEN FROM STEAM FORUMS)
Around 40% of people who install GTA IV get the infamous and INCREDIBLY annoying Stuttering.
Unfortunately, those who fix it tend to fix it in different ways.
Here is a compilation of various fixes I have found around the internet that have worked for at least one person each; including me.
A funny coincidence is that most of the people with this problem have high-end systems.
How to add stuff to your GTA IV command line:
If you are using GTA IV Steam Edition:
Go to your Steam Library, right click on GTA IV, go to Properties, click Launch Options and put stuff in there.
If you are using GTA IV Retail:
Go to your GTA IV Shortcut, right click, click properties and put the commands in the target path AFTER the text that is already there. Do not delete it or you will break your shortcut.
Alternatively...
Go to your GTA IV main folder (look in program files/steam/steamapps/common if you are using steam), create a text file called "commandline.txt" and put the commands in there.
Note: The following are arranged by estimated number of people who's problems were apparently was fixed by the solution as of the time this was posted.
1. The famous memrestrict and restrictApp combo.
Put the following code in your GTA Command Line:
"....LaunchGTAIV.exe" -memrestrict xxxxx -restrictApp 0
Replace xxxx with your VIDEO CARD's memory (vram) multiplied by 1024 squared. For example, if you have 512 megs it would be 512 x 1024 x 1024.
2. Vsync, On.
Simply turn Vsync in the game on. Works for a lot of people.
3. Windows Event Log service, off.
Go to your Task Manager, click Services, right click "Windows Event Log" and turn it off. Dunno why it works, but it does.
4. Windowed mode, on.
Add the following code to your command line.
"....LaunchGTAIV.exe" -windowed
Yeah, you have window borders and it's annoying. However, not just does this fix the stuttering for a lot of people, it improves the FPS by a lot and decreases a lot of bugs and issues people encounter with the game.
Why so buggy, fullscreen?
5. Play in offline mode.
When Rockstar Social Club pops up and begs for your username and password like a banned World of Warcraft junky, click the "Play (Offline)" button.
Yeah, you can't wait three and a half hours for some other people to show up and play a deathmatch, but it works for quite a few people.
6. Use Memturbo 2/3/4 to optimize your PC and stuff.
For some people, the stuttering is caused by a memory leak unlike the usual ones.
Download Memturbo 2, 3 or 4, install it, set both the sliders on the main menu to 50 megs, go to options or configure and make sure "Don't recover unless CPU usage is below..." is unchecked.
7. Make sure that your computer isn't melting the ice caps.
Is your computer overheating?
A lot of people have this problem because they have their computers in an airtight granite case in the bottom of a hollowed out volcano.
Use a program like CPU-Z to monitor your computer's various temperatures and make sure that they aren't on Space Heater mode.
8. Make sure your ATI drivers are not 10.3.
For those of you people using Radeon 5xxx like me, Catalyst 10.3 murders GTA IV for some stupid reason. Update, silly.
9. This worked for me. Limit your FPS.
Ever wonder if your computer is too fast? Well, for GTA that can happen. Use the following command line to limit your FPS. Yes, your FPS will drop sometimes, but it has gotten rid of stutters completely for a few people.
"....LaunchGTAIV.exe" -refreshrate 50 -framelimit 1
Note: If you're having texture problems, some of these might fix your problem too.
I hope this helps!
Around 40% of people who install GTA IV get the infamous and INCREDIBLY annoying Stuttering.
Unfortunately, those who fix it tend to fix it in different ways.
Here is a compilation of various fixes I have found around the internet that have worked for at least one person each; including me.
A funny coincidence is that most of the people with this problem have high-end systems.
How to add stuff to your GTA IV command line:
If you are using GTA IV Steam Edition:
Go to your Steam Library, right click on GTA IV, go to Properties, click Launch Options and put stuff in there.
If you are using GTA IV Retail:
Go to your GTA IV Shortcut, right click, click properties and put the commands in the target path AFTER the text that is already there. Do not delete it or you will break your shortcut.
Alternatively...
Go to your GTA IV main folder (look in program files/steam/steamapps/common if you are using steam), create a text file called "commandline.txt" and put the commands in there.
Note: The following are arranged by estimated number of people who's problems were apparently was fixed by the solution as of the time this was posted.
1. The famous memrestrict and restrictApp combo.
Put the following code in your GTA Command Line:
"....LaunchGTAIV.exe" -memrestrict xxxxx -restrictApp 0
Replace xxxx with your VIDEO CARD's memory (vram) multiplied by 1024 squared. For example, if you have 512 megs it would be 512 x 1024 x 1024.
2. Vsync, On.
Simply turn Vsync in the game on. Works for a lot of people.
3. Windows Event Log service, off.
Go to your Task Manager, click Services, right click "Windows Event Log" and turn it off. Dunno why it works, but it does.
4. Windowed mode, on.
Add the following code to your command line.
"....LaunchGTAIV.exe" -windowed
Yeah, you have window borders and it's annoying. However, not just does this fix the stuttering for a lot of people, it improves the FPS by a lot and decreases a lot of bugs and issues people encounter with the game.
Why so buggy, fullscreen?
5. Play in offline mode.
When Rockstar Social Club pops up and begs for your username and password like a banned World of Warcraft junky, click the "Play (Offline)" button.
Yeah, you can't wait three and a half hours for some other people to show up and play a deathmatch, but it works for quite a few people.
6. Use Memturbo 2/3/4 to optimize your PC and stuff.
For some people, the stuttering is caused by a memory leak unlike the usual ones.
Download Memturbo 2, 3 or 4, install it, set both the sliders on the main menu to 50 megs, go to options or configure and make sure "Don't recover unless CPU usage is below..." is unchecked.
7. Make sure that your computer isn't melting the ice caps.
Is your computer overheating?
A lot of people have this problem because they have their computers in an airtight granite case in the bottom of a hollowed out volcano.
Use a program like CPU-Z to monitor your computer's various temperatures and make sure that they aren't on Space Heater mode.
8. Make sure your ATI drivers are not 10.3.
For those of you people using Radeon 5xxx like me, Catalyst 10.3 murders GTA IV for some stupid reason. Update, silly.
9. This worked for me. Limit your FPS.
Ever wonder if your computer is too fast? Well, for GTA that can happen. Use the following command line to limit your FPS. Yes, your FPS will drop sometimes, but it has gotten rid of stutters completely for a few people.
"....LaunchGTAIV.exe" -refreshrate 50 -framelimit 1
Note: If you're having texture problems, some of these might fix your problem too.
I hope this helps!