Tuning Tip: GTA 4 - Reflections tuning
As gameplay is concerned, Rocksatr's console port is quite convincing, but the performance isn't as good as expected most of the time. Even high-end PCs have problems. In the GTA-Forums there is a How-To for the "Ultimate GTAIV Performance Fix”. We checked that tweak - and received pleasant results.

If you increase the resolution of GTA, the game automatically increases the reflection quality, which is responsible for mirroring objects in water, on cars d the pavement. At the same time as it improves the optics of GTA 4 it also stresses the graphics card even more.

Tuning Tip: GTA 4 - Reflections tuning: How-To
So target is to keep the same graphical details while the reflection quality is reduced to gain more performance. To do this, follow the steps below:

• You have to b e logged in on the RSGC
• Run GTA 4 without command line parameters
• Set resolution to 800 x 600
• Set the remaining options to values you like until your VRAM is used up
• Write down the value of VRAM used in 800 x 600 with your settings
• Divide the result with the amount of VRAM of your hardware
• Create a shortcut to GTA 4
• Now add the command line parameter "-availalbevidmem x”; x is the result of your division to the target of the shortcut
• Also add "-height x” and "-width y”; x is your desired resolution height and y the desired resolution width (Example: "-height 1050 -width 1680" equals a resolution of 1,680 x 1,050)
• Start GTA 4 with the edited shortcut
• The game should now run with the desired
• The video options should still show 800 x 600 and the VRAM to be used almost completely
• Quit the game by pressing "Alt + F4”
• From now on run the game with the edited short cut

For more information and a detailed explanation see the thread in the GTA-Forums.

Tuning Tip: GTA 4 - Reflections tuning: Test procedure and Benchmark
Our processor benchmark review and our tests with 7 graphics cards revealed that GTA 4 is limited by the CPU. Therefore a system with a weak graphics card is required to check the performance benefit of the altered reflection quality. We decided to take a Geforce 9500 GT with 512 MiByte VRAM and a Core 2 Duo E8500 overclocked to 3.6 GHZ.

For the benchmarks we use our Promenade sequence which is quite suitable to check the effects of the altered reflection quality since it shows a big water surface and reflections on the pavement. The resolution was set to 1,680 x 1,050 and draw distance was set to 30 percent. Texture quality was medium all other settings were maxed out.

Tuning-Tip: GTA 4 - Reflections tuning: Comparative video

Below the conclusion you can download the video at full resolution, which reveals the differences even better.

Tuning-Tip: GTA 4 - Reflections tuning: Conclusion
The tweak from the GTA-Forums is excellent for get a performance benefit for weaker 3D accelerators. If you are not happy with the performance and the appearance of GTA 4, you might want to try the tuning yourself.