SR2 or GTA4 (On PC)

[Ancientgamer]

So, I've heard all the arguments between Saint's row 2 and GTA 4 before, I also know that the people on the escapist are largely in favour of SR2. However, I have a more technical question - On the PC, taking patches into consideration, which runs better?

I know they're both horrible ports, and I don't think my PC would be able to run either in their natural state, but they've since both gotten 2 patches that supposedly increase performance quite well. I heard (from an unreliable source)that the SR2 patch makes it run up to 30% smoother, I've heard nothing specific about GTA 4, but I heard it runs slightly better than SR2 from the get go Anyway. I was just wondering if anyone who's played either of the patched versions of these games can make a suggestion. (getting them on the consoles is not an option.)

My PC specs:

9800GT 512 vRAM
Intel pentium duo 3GHz
DDR2 2 gigs RAM

 

[sneak_copter]

I haven't played GTA IV on my PC yet, but SR2 I played round a friend's place and his computer is pretty bad, and it ran smooth enough with decent graphics.

There have been real horror stories about GTA IV, and SR2 is probably the better game.

 

[Ago Iterum]

I also want the answer to this question! I'm more inclined to go for GTA4 though... Unless I hear some good points against it.

I'm packing the AMD Phenom quad core 9500
4GB DDR2 RAM
Custom NVidia 9600gt 1GB DDR3 VRAM

Reckon I could get it on high graphics settings? Does it HAVE high graphics settings, being a console port?

 

[sirdanrhodes]

I say neither, wait for MUCH bigger patches. I tried it on a budget laptop (I have no desktop now: ( ) and, SR 2 is the better port. By about 5FPS.

For me, GTA IV gave me 1FPS, 2 if I was lucky.

 

[Ace of Spades]

No. That's my answer to your question. Both ran horribly on my PC which can run Crysis on high. You need a PC made by Satan himself to get anything out of either of them. If you sell your soul for one like that, then I'd go for Saints Row 2.

 

[Ancientgamer]

No. That's my answer to your question. Both ran horribly on my PC which can run Crysis on high. You need a PC made by Satan himself to get anything out of either of them. If you sell your soul for one like that, then I'd go for Saints Row 2.

Even after both patches?

 

[Eipok Kruden]

Saints Row 2 is a REALLY crappy port to the pc. Bad textures, lighting, draw distance, pop in, way more glitches than the console versions. And GTA IV on the PC is a hardware whore. I'm not entirely sure if you'll be able to run it that well since I have a friend with a quad core, 6gb, and a 9800 and he has trouble running it on high. It's better to just get one of them for the Xbox 360. It's a better quality version of the game, hands down.

 

[Ace of Spades]

No. That's my answer to your question. Both ran horribly on my PC which can run Crysis on high. You need a PC made by Satan himself to get anything out of either of them. If you sell your soul for one like that, then I'd go for Saints Row 2.

Even after both patches?

Yep. They never worked well for me. You might have better luck though.

 

[llamastorm.games]

I also want the answer to this question! I'm more inclined to go for GTA4 though... Unless I hear some good points against it.

I'm packing the AMD Phenom quad core 9500
4GB DDR2 RAM
Custom NVidia 9600gt 1GB DDR3 VRAM

Reckon I could get it on high graphics settings? Does it HAVE high graphics settings, being a console port?

Please for one tell me you have a 64 bit operating system???
Err yeah, all PC have better graphics settings over console games(usually), a lot of games are console ports.
Textures sizes and so on are usually smaller on console versions to account for the lower amounts of RAM.
I doubt you could get it on high settings, letting it down is the poor port and your card isnt that great, yes its a 9600GT which 1gig orf dedicated video ram and you could certainly run it on medium settings, but you need to have something crafted by Gods to run GTA IV on full settings, something in the bounds of the new Nvidia 295.

 

[Ancientgamer]

Is there anyone who's played both? It'd be nice to have a firsthand comparison.

 

[tavenos]

I'd like some info on this too. I probably won't be able to do GTA, but I'm looking at SR...

Specs:

nVidia 7300 LE (sucks, but I'll change it to a 4850/8000something soon)
2GB memory
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400

 

[wordsmith]

I'm looking at both

sapphire Radeon 4870
4GB RAM
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.00ghz)

 

[Theo Samaritan]

I also want the answer to this question! I'm more inclined to go for GTA4 though... Unless I hear some good points against it.

I'm packing the AMD Phenom quad core 9500
4GB DDR2 RAM
Custom NVidia 9600gt 1GB DDR3 VRAM

Reckon I could get it on high graphics settings? Does it HAVE high graphics settings, being a console port?

You will not run it on high settings. To max it out you need an ATI HD 4870X2.

GTAIV is not the best optimised port. It needs a quad core because it uses three of them like it would a 360. Graphically if you put it on higher settings it does chug a lot, however "medium" settings is actually what the xbox360 does.

If you can put up with a game that you will not be able to max for a while, GTAIV is better than SR2 when it comes to technicality (despite it being around the 20-30 fps mark constantly, it runs better than SR2). They actually bothered to update the graphics which is a big plus.

Multiplayer runs smoother on GTAIV as well I find.

 

[phar]

Well I have an 8800 GTX and GTA4 ran no problems on my PC.

Not much of a comment because I only played it for a hour since we tried to get it going on a LAN but failed

I had finished it on PS3 so I couldnt be bothered starting again.

SR2 on the otherhand I havent heard of many people getting decent framerates.

Hopefully that helps..

 

[boyitsme95]

On a game stand point Saints Row 2 is much more stupied fun and Grand Theft Auto 4 is more for the story this time round. As for your computer specs, I think it's safe to think that it may run on your PC. By that I mean probubly (85%ish) but don't get mad if it dosen't.

 

[Gormers1]

Saints Row is so badly ported you should go for GTA4. And it has extra content that consoles dont. Not that GTA4 is that well ported either but...

 

[Ancientgamer]

One is aimed at adults, the other is for children.

Take your pick.

Something about saying SR2's for children made me gag on my oatmeal.

I get your point though.

 

[CyberAkuma]

SR2 is still damn near unplayable, even with the patch.
30% increase preformance? Don't fool yourself.
The game looks like shit, runs like shit and it IS on the PC, patched or not.

Choosing between GTA4 and SR2 on the PC is like being forced to choose between ebola or cholera

EDIT: And no, not even a 9800GT will help you out there.
GTA4 will still run at a shitty max 15-20 FPS on low resolutions and SR2 even less

Also, don't even TRY playing these games on native resolutions on widescreen LCDs.
It will KILL your framerate. These games are barely playable at 1280x960 already as it is...

 

[Ratman95]

If you get GTA 4 there is a file that turns of Bloom and increases the FPS by around 10 .

 

[CyberAkuma]

I've got a Q6600 (O.C to 3.00ghz) and a HD4870 1GB and i can't run on max settings. I get around 25-40fps at 1680x1050 so its pretty choppy.

I tried both games on a E8600 4.5 Ghz (OC'd) and G280.
GTA4 was near unplayable on my friends native resolution LCD and we had to go down to around the vicinity of 1280x960 to get even half-decent framerates. The game runs extremely poor on higher resolutions and if you have something above 19-inch, I really pity you.

SR2 gave us 7-10 FPS no matter which resolution. Great port...

In all... Don't get ANY of these games for the PC