SR2 or GTA4 (On PC)

[clarinetJWD]

I haven't tried multiplayer on GTA IV, but I don't get the big fuss honestly. No you can't run it on high, but it's like Crysis in that respect. They put graphics settings much higher than current hardware to future-proof the product. The consoles run it on low settings, at low resolution, so if you can pull off medium, it's far and away better than the console versions. This isn't to say there aren't optimization problems. There are, but it's not as bad as so many people say.

I have a c2d e8500, 4GB RAM, and 2x9600GT 512MB in SLI, and I can run it just fine on medium with respectible draw distance at 1920x1200 (~30fps most of the time). If I use the -availablevidmem 2.0 trick, I can get it up to high settings for a small framerate hit. (~24 or so, less than I'd like though.)

The mem trick effectively gives you more video memory by referencing some of your system memory as video. I recommend anyone with 2GB of ram use '-availablevidmem 1.5' and 2.0-3.0 if you have 4GB or more. (the number is the multiplier for your VRAM)

Just make a shortcut to LaunchGTAIV.exe, go to properties, and add the modifier with no quotes at the end of the Target field.

And remember GTA IV is scaled for the future. You are not meant to use max settings on current gen hardware.

 

[PersianLlama]

GTA IV is scaled for the future. You are not meant to use max settings on current gen hardware.

Or it's a bad port.

On topic:
I'd say GTA4 if you absolutely need either of those games, because it runs better, at least in my experience. However, my suggestion is to get neither of them.

 

[Dark Crusader]

I'd like to start off by saying that personally I do happen to be biast to GTA:IV, I like the realism route it has taken, nothing is more fun than jacking a car in front of a cop and flooring, watching the car tyres spin wildly as the car struggles to get traction, then finally taking off, watching as the cop tries to keep up in his piddly under-powered cop car. God I wanna play GTA:IV again now, pity I'm not at home.

That being said, SR 2 is still a fun game. Getting down to buisness though, the short answer is that GTA: IV will run better on your PC.
The long winded answer is that while SR2 run fine during normal on foot sequences during a driving sequence(and considering the fact this is GTA with different characters, location and paint job, there'll be a fuckload of it) things tend to get a bit choppy in places. Choppy isn't quite the right word, slow motion is more the right word. It's like everything slows down to half pace... in random spots. Now I wouldn't have a problem with this if it was predictable, or it happend all the time, but it seems to like to do it just when you're least expecting it, so what happens is you end up over or under correcting a turn, then it speeds up.. and you fucking crash.
Now on the other side of this is GTA:IV, for me, GTA:IV runs perfectly fine, and my rig is slightly under-powered in the graphics card department compared to yours (9800 compared to 8800) and with 1 GB more use-able RAM(I'm waiting for a comercial release of Win 7 before I upgrade from XP, so my other 1 GB is currently sitting idle), so they should run about the same. The only thing is that you really shouldn't adjust your graphics settings, the bottom 3 sliders(I think), won't have much adverse affect until a really process heavy bit comes(hell they barely affect the frame rate in the tester), the top one however, will kill your computer. You can put it up about 15 points and it will move your graphics card usage up about 50-100 MB's of vRAM.

So to sum up, GTA:IV, if you leave it un-edited should run perfectly fine(I say should, I'm not running a proper version, it's a personal statement against the fact that despite the fact that it's been so many months since release, they still haven't dropped the price from $98.60 and that they gave us the M-rated version, even though we have an R18+ rating, so I don't have to contend with Anti-piracy measures, possible speeding my computer up. Also, don't flame me for this, I would've bought it if they hadn't done the afore-mentioned things, even at the ridiculous price).

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

My suggestion is upgrade to an 8800 GT, then you might be able to take GTA: IV. SR 2 should run as well, however a word to the wise, it's going to cause fustrations as it slows down at the worst times, GTA: IV appears to be more stable. If things come to worst, you could always over clock the CPU (2.66 GHz should be stable as it uses the same architecture as the E6700), not that I'm suggesting that of course.

 

[clarinetJWD]

GTA IV is scaled for the future. You are not meant to use max settings on current gen hardware.

Or it's a bad port.

On topic:
I'd say GTA4 if you absolutely need either of those games, because it runs better, at least in my experience. However, my suggestion is to get neither of them.

Please read the whole post. I said earlier that it most certainly does have optimization issues, but that doesn't change the fact that it is built to be scalable for future hardware.

 

[Da_Shiz]

I have Saints Row 2 and it is a kick ass game. much simpler then GTA San Andreas. i have yet to play GTA4. as for graphics, my PC is a 2.4gh quad core with 4 gig ram and a Nvidia 8800GT. with this i can have the game up to High graphics and it still runs fine. there are parts sometimes when going fast in a car where it skips, but its only ever been one ot two frames for me, and generaly only hapens once per play... that memory trick sounds awesome though ClarinetJWD. i shall have to try it, might get perfect running of the game

Saints Row 2 seems better as a game though, simply because you get the enjoyment of killing hundreds of people without having to be a black gangster being yelled at by other black gangsters. (no offence to all the black gangsters reading this, its just my experiance of playing GTA San Andreas )