GTA IV ATI Radeon HD 3000

[TreKKiker]

I got a new HP Desktop PC from Aaron's. (I know, but it was the only choice I have right now)
Everything is good enough to play GTA IV, except the graphics card. (ATI Radeon HD 3000)
Is their anything at all to make this game run better? It plays ok (probably 10-15 FPS) But it slows down a lot, like every other second, slow then fast, slow then fast, etc.

I've heard of stuff you can do in a commandline.txt, but I'm not sure what to do.

Or am I just stuck?

any suggestions are welcome.

When I fully own this computer, I'm going to upgrade the graphics card. Any graphics card that you could tell me that would work best with my setup would be nice, as well.

I'll post that as soon as I can

CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 220 2.8 GHz (Can You Run It says it is rated at 5.46 GHz)
RAM: 4 GB
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3000 Graphics (I'm pretty sure it is integrated, btw)
Can You Run It says I pass everything, but says failed.
Here is what it says:

	Video Card Minimum: 256MB NVIDIA 7900+ / 256MB ATI X1900+ You Have: ATI Radeon 3000 Graphics		Upgrade Suggested: Unfortunately, your Video Card does not meet this requirement. Click here to see some recommendations. Click here for the latest Video drivers.
Features: Minimum attributes of your Video Card Required You Have 3D Yes Yes Hardware T&L Yes Yes Pixel Shader version 3.0 4.0 Vertex Shader version 3.0 4.0 Dedicated Video RAM 256 MB 256 MB

any suggestionas are welcome. Tell me if you need more info.

Thanks a lot!!

[ex nihilo7]

Yeah, the integrated card you have came out when the NVIDIA 9 series came out. The 9 series for the most part was a rebadged 8 series, meaning your card is probably as powerful as the low end 8/9 series. The 7900 is a more powerful card.

[keefy]

Try this
http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...d.php?t=828416

But I strongly suggest buy a better card.

[.RAID3N.]

I've got a Geforce 9600gt which is a bit better than your card and I can't run that game for crap. So chances are you need a better card.

Also, your process isn't too amazing. Is that 'Aaron's' a leasing place? How much did you pay/are paying for this?

[aayman_farzand]

That system isn't meant for GTA4 at all. GTA4 is kinda like a benchmark game now, requires stupidly powerful hardware to get the best playable FPS (60+) so an integrated chipset won't be enough at all.

If you can buy a new PC and compile it yourself. Hardware is cheap nowadays, you still may not be able to "max" out the game with budget hardware but rest assured it will be a lot more playable than what it is now.

[gangsta_795]

Actually, a "playable" FPS is anywhere between 20-60 and GTA IV doesn't require stupidly powerful hardware.

But obviously, assembling a PC is always the better option.

[TreKKiker]

I've got a Geforce 9600gt which is a bit better than your card and I can't run that game for crap. So chances are you need a better card.

Also, your process isn't too amazing. Is that 'Aaron's' a leasing place? How much did you pay/are paying for this?

Aaron's is a leasing place, pay for 12 months to own it. I'm paying $102 a month, amounting to over a $1000. I know it's not worth it, but it's all I can afford right now. I can't just buy a PC right now. I have to wait until I own it before I can change anything, and when I do, I'm changing a lot of things! lol

Especially the processor and graphics card.

[keefy]

WOW you are paying way over the odds for a shitty computer, surely there are places that offer better deals than that.
12 months time that PC wont be worth upgrading it will be better starting from scratch, phenom 2 CPU's will be way outdated and Bulldozer are a joke to begin with that is assuming the board is AM3+ which I doubt it is.


I hate places lie that hty know poeple are desperate and so take advantage by offering silly payment rates.

[.RAID3N.]

Aaron's is a leasing place, pay for 12 months to own it. I'm paying $102 a month, amounting to over a $1000. I know it's not worth it, but it's all I can afford right now. I can't just buy a PC right now. I have to wait until I own it before I can change anything, and when I do, I'm changing a lot of things! lol

Especially the processor and graphics card.

Seriously, man. That sucks. Like keefy said, that computer probably won't be worth 300 bucks when you're done paying it off. Better to have saved up 300 or so and bought a barebones kit off Tigerdirect or something. Then upgraded 100 bucks a month. $1000 can buy you a MONSTER computer right now.

EDIT: For Example:

Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6GCt
Part price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6GCt/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6GCt/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H61M/U3S3 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($101.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1.25GB Video Card ($309.99 @ CompUSA)
Case: Rosewill R101-P-BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: OCZ 600W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer V193WEJb 19.0" Monitor ($88.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Microsoft Keyboard 200 Wired Standard Keyboard ($7.24 @ Wolf Camera)
Mouse: Kingwin KW-04 Wired Optical Mouse ($5.49 @ Amazon)
Total: $1021.61
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-10 17:35 EDT-0400)

[TreKKiker]

Well, I didn't buy the computer for the gaming anyway, since I have a PS3. Gaming was just another factor I wanted it for, but not one of my top reasons.

But thank you everyone for all the recommendations and help.

[keefy]

Well its a very expensive word processor then.

[Nakatomi Uk]

The ATi HD3000 series was a good GPU in its time it brought back some fans that left after the disaster that was the HD2xxx series the problem being is GTA4 came out along the days when I think don't quote me on this the HD4xxx series was out or coming out for release. My laptop I am typing on now uses a integrated HD4270 chip my old AM2+ motherboard used a HD3200 and I jumped to a HD5770 instantly they really are not meant for games in my opinion are integrated GPUs they are rubbish and rely heavily on system RAM to be shared heck the more you give it to use it can actually get worse. and as you stated it wasn't bought for that but the price your paying a month you could get a better one and still maybe pay the same or less and one with a proper dedicated card even if it's a HD4350 it'll be better than that card you have.

The dual core CPU is on the verge of being instinct shall we say and if I am reading your 1st post correct getting that to 5Ghz is amazing if I have read right, I would send it back and find something else for the amount your paying mate because your seriously getting ripped off big time even if it's just for general use. I am sure there's a decent triple core CPU system out there with a low to mid range GPU for you to use as general use for the monthly price your paying

[TreKKiker]

Well its a very expensive word processor then.

Actually, I don't use it for that.