Well shit, those specs are crippling for me. Not that I'm getting this particular game, but it reminds me that I need to do some serious upgrades to my system. I don't even have 2GB's of RAM yet!

LittleBigPlaneteer

hopefully my lowly 4850 1giger can run that bitch at 2560 x 1600

balls187 upside yo head

I mean, most games take at most 10, but 18? WHAT?

*OBJECTION*

antisniper

Damn, I only have 2 Terrabytes of HD and 4GB Ram :(

Rotmm

I own those specs, but 18GB is a bit, well, stunning. Oh for the days when games came on 5¼ floppy!

Ginnsberg

18gb is two xbox 360 discs, hopefully this means there'll be some big improvements on the pc.

Shane86

18GB and you still have to have the disc in the drive to play I bet.

First thing I do after I LEGALLY PURCHASE my game though is hit up the no-CD crack sites.

nolanvoid

I'll stick to not having the peice of trash game regardless

Blazinfire0

@Arlips: Meant to say I'd (I would) hate to be the guy with an entry-level 512mb card. That was quite a typo as I have an 8800GT myself.

Arlips

@arstal: To a certain extent, but on the same topic though, what ever happened to actually trying to compress their shit? I understand the whole hi-res textures and stuff, but once upon a time we fit whole games onto a CD-ROM. Then games started appearing over two CDs... Then the DVD came... Then developers got lazy -- why make extra content when you can just fill up what you've got with useless junk :)

Laser_iCE

18GB? Form my POV, that was expected on a game of this magnitude. As for dual-core, any of the recent 65nm X2's from AMD or the recent Penryn's from Intel should be fine.

8800 series or greater from nVidia and the new 4800 series from AMD/ATi should also be fine.

But as for my own rig, this thing is 5 years old and there is no way in hell I'll run this game. I need a new PC as I am still chugging along with an Athlon XP 2000+ from AMD. xD

RtFusion

@Estel: Dude.

HOW!? That's a lotta stuff.

ShirtGuyDom

Yikes...that is a bit steep...but if someones willing to make a hot coffee mod for it, I'm all up for shelling out another $2000 + $50.

:)

Kate get in my PANTS!

/not a sexist, I swear...

NeVeRMoRe666

I'll be happy with my 1680x1050 resolution, thank you very much. I can play the game fine, but if I can get my hands on a SLi compatible socket 939 board, I can get me another 9600GT and play it even better.

Socket 939 FTW!

Thassodar

@Jamez: The thing is if devs tried, they could really make it easier on PCs.

I always view massive system requirements as a sign of shoddy quality.

arstal

I only have 17GB left on my entire 2TB PC. Clearly, I need a new TB HDD.

Estel

I kick those min spec's ass.

Quad core processor, 4GB RAM, 8800GTX with 712MB memory.

I might pick this up despite the fact that I already have the PS3 version. Maybe when it goes down in price.

ShirtGuyDom

You can build a computer rig that will easily support all the games coming out and last you a good 2 years until it starts to show its age for about $1000.

That may seem like a lot but if you see the performance difference of a multi platform game and it running on a fine-tuned PC it is absolutely staggering.

eboku

there's always a +/- 10-20% with these figures. For instance Mass Effect says 15 gigs(but it's only 10.2 gigs (for me currently) even with the expansion).
WAR Open beta said 12 gigs. it's only 10. They mean yeah 18 gigs prolly if you save everything on a different save perhaps.
I don't trust the recommended space anymore because of these factors. The last time it was accurate was 2 years ago unless the game is an FPS in which case they take tech specs slightly more serious (because technically it is their only selling point)

Comments 'rnt Us (usually)

Processor: Dual core processor

Little vague? Either way, my new PC could run it i'm sure. Not that i'd buy it for PC, when i can for a console. Though Vice city was fun on PC.

Walker

I think I might be able to play it on my T60. Maybe.

Any news on if there is a demo?

Dragonis

So....no one else is picking out the extremely general GPU requirement? There are a lot of 512mb cards out there, and the performance gap between some is gigantic. There really should be some sort of standard by now for listing requirements, forcing devs to list suggested cards like any good dev does. I hate to be the guy with an entry-level 512mb card that thinks he's all set for max detail.

Arlips

Well if it has a HDD install it must suck then, right 360 fanboys?

18 gigs is a little bit HUGE though. I mean, that's 2 DVDs or about 5/7th of a single layer BR.

boringjob2

More reason why I'm ditching PC for consoles

HobbaHobba

@ShaggE: indeed, and not just any candy, we're talking about candy corn, the most tasty candy in the history of the world.

eddienoteddy

Yep, I'll stick with the console version. :p Not surprising specs, though. A game that detailed and huge is going to chew up RAM and HD space like candy.

ShaggE

Hmm, honestly not as bad as I was expecting.

GiantEnemyCrab

xbox 360 version for me thank you. i dont have it yet but i will within a couple of weeks. i dont have money for new pc. ive had my pc since 2004 lol and it works fine to me

dipsetboy17

18gb of HD space is likely for the higher resolution textures that the PC version will have. This game is going to look so much better on the PC than it did on the home consoles.

Deviation59

Yeah, it's usually not the Hard Drive space that surprises me, but 18 GB is a lot.

Interstella5555

512mb Direct3D compatible card. It is almost a standard on all onboard graphic solutions; but won't even be able run Vista Aero.

I wish developers would start putting "Get at least 8800GTS if you want to ENJOY the experience" and get rid of minimum requirements altogether.

PsycheE

not as bad as I was thinking. With everyone nowadays upgrading and buying huge computers with tons of storage, this isn't looking too bad

NY_nets_in_09

@antisniper: If you want to play PC games, maybe you should use a gameworthy PC.

Mine is pretty sad, and it's got 2GB@400 MHz, and 2 7600's in SLI. 2GHz Athlon 64 is still a good chip, but it's pretty outdated with 2+ years.

Jamez

my 360 version is good enough, thank you very much!

magictroll

Well, that's not too bad. I'm pretty sure my PC could handle that.
I think it's less than Crysis or Assasin's Creed.
And yet, the Fallout 3 reqs are hidden(Or I missed them).

Ad-hominem

I'll run it at 1440 x 900 ;(

dinosaur

Holy shit, eighteen gigs. I need a new hard drive..

Kirbysuperstar

PC games require to much changing of technology frequently. I stick to my PS3, I know I never need to upgrade that. I just put a 250GB hard drive in it and im all set.

finder39

80GB? Wat.

2 weeks ago I was running on a machine with 80GB...and I've always hated it. When I was testing a machine with 1.5TB, it was bliss. So I upgraded to at least 250GB (got another HDD sitting here, just in case I decide I need it).

Jamez

WTF, 18GIGS? WHAT? RAM? WHAT? 2GB? WHAT? My computer only has 1.

antisniper

Makes me almost wish I hadn't plunked $60 on the PS3 version.

NukaCola

Oh, I was expecting worse. I guess I should be fine, if not "2560 x 1600" fine. 18 gigs, though... that is a bit hard to swallow.

Scorpi

I don't understand what's the problem with the ram. These days, ram prices have become so shee-sorry, cheap that it's not that big of a deal. I plunked a new 2gb ram for my laptop the other day for only $50. That's less than a game with far more use other than just gaming.

umiman

@Gam3r:

lol dude.. looks like il be joining you as im gonna be on my laptop

BADASSgeek

@mva5580:

enjoy your PORT

MyLittlePwny

Can I run it at 75x120? That's the best I can do with what I'm working with.

Gam3r

lol at the console babies who can't hang with the adult system.

Enjoy your inferior, lazy crap. I'll be playing THE version of GTA IV. I'll be sure to link some of the GTA IV mod sites once the game is released and Kotaku writes some other article on GTA.

mva5580

Damn that's a large install! Still, fairly easy requirements overall.

Wolfers

I can run it..My only surprise is the 18GB requirement!! It'll take 1 hour to install that thing!

CockroachMan

yay....I can play it!!! But I still have my PS3 version so.......

kingme

@PsycheE: Forget on-board video cards if you want to play games. Most of those only have 128MB or less of memory. When they say they have 512MB or 1GB it means they grab the rest of it from the computer's main memory, which is very slow.

Narishma

That's actually not too bad. I could run that. Though I've already got the PS3 version, and I'm almost done with it, soooo...

MrPerson

so im guessing theres no chance in hell il be able to run this on my vaio AR51?? :( so sad.. what exactly 'can' i play on this laptop which will look decent...

BADASSgeek

@Ginnsberg: Don't copy that flop-

Banned.

Seriously though, I'll stick with the PS3 version. Sometimes I think PC gaming may go the way of the Mocarana. Then I see games like Spore, and remember that they'll be just fine.

Thorax

@Laser_iCE:

My guess is its a loading issue. You can load uncompressed files much faster than compressed files which in an open world sandbox could mean a large performance increase.

Morberis

@NotTheGuy: oh and cod4 6.5
It also shows my pr0n folder is twice as large than all those combined.

NotTheGuy

Oh, no doubt I can run this at full capacity. I just think I'll use my external hard drive to install this game...

DukeOfPwn

Haha, and my new 750GB HDD just came today.

Floreum

Spacemonger tell me Crysis is about 6 gb, bioshock 5.5, Stalker (1) 5.5, Assassins creed about 7.

NotTheGuy

W00t, my computer owns these things...Nice.

HudoKudo

I can run it easy. But that 512mb vram is a bit much. But hey games are getting crazy these days. So thats why i go with ps3.

Allcars

lol what a wierd way to write system requirements. Not very suprised by the 18 gigs installed though. Alot of games have been moving towards such huge installs lately. Age of conan is a mmo, but still that thing was like 23-26 gigs installed. Not to worried about it though hard drives are cheap as hell now.

Detre

@Ginnsberg: Yes, how I miss those days when games came on 20 floppy disks and took an hour to install...

Narishma

@mva5580: Do you get an erection when there is a PC game released with no console port?

Thorax

@umiman:
i know what your saying but still, me on my lappy might be tearful if i try playing this.. im using a vaio ar51 series, i have a 8400m gt card, dual core running @2ghz and 2gb of ram - but i know it will still look like crap when compared to the console versions because im on a lappy

BADASSgeek

@MyLittlePwny:
but dude ive heard theres gonna be a 'warm falafel mod' hidden in there somewhere, you might be missing out!

BADASSgeek

At first I thought these were the minimum requirements and not the recommended but after going back and reading my mind was put at ease. From my experience most games are barely even playable if that at the minimum requirements and i'd hate for my e8400 (oc'd to 4.0ghz), ATI 4850 and 4 gigs of ram build to already be just barely squeeking by.

R9delta

Thankfully I put together a whole new computer recently. My brother picked up GTA IV on the X360 and I used that to play with friends on Live...but this... this one I'm getting just for me.

As for you McWhertor, (you sad, luxuriously bearded monkey you) you need to just upgrade an HD. 500MB and 1TB SATA drives are disgustingly cheap now. Just hit up our local Fry's here in Burbank or frisk NewEgg/Pricewatch and you're set:)

Parsifal

Holy crap!!
18 Gb?
Ok, the game is huge and all... but I wasn't expecting 18 Gb.

That's like, all the pr0nz I download in a.. week! :P

Anyways, I use a lappie, so I won't be able to play it... 512Mb graphics card not available.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

Thats nothing...Age of Conan requires 32 gigs of room.

AggroRhodes

18GB???

rich8606

Superior graphics, mods out the ying-ying, additional content, better online play...I can't wait. PC wins again! :D

malio

@mva5580: Hey, nerdboy. With $$$$ u spent rigging your PC, it makes PS3 looks more affordable. I feel sorry for ya... not really

HobbaHobba

@Thassodar:

AM2 FTW..... Are we socket fanboys?

VishusBurn

ok my comp can easily handle that but my monitor wont handle 2560 x 1600... actually how many people own monitors that have that high resolution?

niacin

@finder39: Heh shows how much you really know about pc gaming. Every time that some one uses that argument I laugh. I built a machine a year ago almost that blows those specs out of the water and guess what? It only cost me $1000 and its quad core so its pretty much future proof for quite some time. Anyone can build a system that will run the game just fine for pretty cheap.

@mva5580: People like you don't make it easy for us PC gamers to get any respect. Why does there seem to be some war between console gamers and PC gamers? Totally different platforms in my opinion and have their own pros and cons. Let the console fanboys duke it out and leave the PC out. They have more to fight about anyways.

I bought the PS3 version of the game but I'll probably pick this one up too if nothing else for the sweet mods that will come out of this one. GTA IV MMO ftw :D.

TwilightKing

Jesus christ... 18 gigs?! That's more than this laptop that I'm on can handle... since the hdd is only 15 gigs.

akumaserge

or a deal destroyer, lol.

vasha

18 gigs is a rip off.

vasha

512MB video card?

That had better only be the Recommended system specs because my system only has 256MB...

Frank

You can get those specs for $400 easy.

Fryfat2

@dinosaur: Me too... And my Laptop can handle this baby with no problem ;)

Hellicus

@UFO: Lol. That was actually funny.

Let's see here...

Processor: Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or better)
RAM: 2GB
Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader
Drive: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive

And that's for 2560x1600?

Well... My Core 2 Duo T5750, 4GB of RAM, GeForce 9700M PS4.0 Compatible :D, and Dual-Layer drive should cover that...

As for the 18GB of HDD Space... I don't know... That's gonna be hard to appropriate with Mass Effect, Battlefront II, Gears of War, and Assassin's Creed all consuming space, not to mention the other games on the other partition :/

Papa Midnight

hmm *weighs hands* 18 gb gta iv install?...or porn collection...decisions decisions decisions.

snowbeach024

18gb of an install is nothing.Hard drives are soo cheap these days, just ask microsoft !

UFO

@Estel: Your porn addiction it's getting worse...you need to rethink your life.

Mike918

I think it will work good on medium settings and decent with high settings, thats how all the games run on my macbook pro.

I'm really surprised they are not into the "DirectX 10 and vista are better" thing.

I just can't wait! I would buy the 360 one but for that I would need both a 360 and an HDTV, and those are still pretty expensive here in Brazil.

romulobr

I'll stick with my PS3 version even though I have a new PC with 4GB's of ram and a Radeon HD 4850 card.

DigitalHero

@PsycheE: I have an 8800GT, 512MB, runs Vista Aero fine.

Onboard video, like on the 780G AMD boards, run Aero fine too.

Usama

the big point here is that the recommended level of video card is not mentioned and 512mb video cards have been out for a while.

lilaliendog

"While the minimum system requirements for the Windows version of GTA IV are still a mystery, the recommended requirements are yours for the studying."@Frank: -_-
considering that's at such a high resolution, im pretty impressed with how low it is.

roflwaffles

18 GB? That's a hefty chunk of HD space right there. Oh well. My PC would commit seppuku if I tried to run GTA IV on it (we're talking 1,8 GHz Sempron, 1 GB PC3200 RAM and a trusty old GeForce 6200 with 256 MB RAM), and I can't be arsed to upgrade it as the majority of games I want are console exclusives, so I'll just skip GTA IV until I get around to buy a PS3.

Combichristoffersen

I bet to run it at console resolution (< 720p) even a 2 yr old PC will do it.

JaLooNz

ROFL 18GB Of HD Space.

theEnemy

"Drive: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive"

Should I be concerned about this? I never really considered this so I'm not sure if my DVD-RW drive supports such discs. Or is this a common function on modern DVD-ROM drives?

questworld

Yee, looks like another crappy pixel shader 3-required console port.

HikariOblivion

Good on all but the GPU... Damn u HP and ur craptacular Laptops. Lucky for me I still have access to the Console Versions.

I h8 ph15h with a passion

Meh, Age of Conan was 20ish gigs.

Can't wait to see the mods.

Tizlor

It'd be cheaper for me to just go ahead and buy a damn 360.

supercrap

@ShirtGuyDom: He torrents. I'm in a similar position with 3 hdds that add up to 2TB and only 300 gigs left. :(

fumar

@Thassodar: Hell yeah socket 939! And I happen to have an SLI mobo for it too with a pair of 7800 GT's.

fumar

crap, I need more ram

CSanjuro

@questworld:

all dvd drives can read dual layer dude all is well

HitokiriX

I have know idea why there is such surprise in the original post or in the comments, these specs are super low...2 gigs of ram is incredibly cheap and there are Core 2 duo processors that kick ass for around $100....

PATSCRU

Just follow the day... follow the day and reach for the sun!

Also, I hope my 8800GTS doesn't die on me between now and then. I've been having graphics problems as of late...

GhostKamikaze

Even though I own the PS3 version, I want to upgrade my rig for this version. It can handle the game no problem, but I would love to see it as what I saw in high settings. Also, 18GB? Man, games are sure taking a lot of room now a days.

Mike's Stalker

Wow thats a lot of space taken up. Luckily HDD is cheap as chips now, you would think a download that size would cut out a fair bit of piracy. Considering I worry about downloading a 1 gig game this is going to be a brick & mortar purchase for me.

el_rezzo

*booming voice*
"CSanjuro NEEDS RAM BADLY!"

Parsifal

18 GIGS!!!!!!
You may as well put it on it's own drive.
@questworld:
Considering most movies are dual layer disks if you can play a movie I think you're fine.

Crowbot

well ive got everything but the RAM and i was getting another Gig 2moz anyways.

lost_in_hollywood

shit just realized, im not sure but i got an E model dual Pentium, is that worse than a D model, i know computers im just not familiar with Intel's model naming system. at least AMD just keep it simple with the numbers!

lost_in_hollywood

With hardware being so cheap nowadays, the requirements aren't too steep. You can now get 500GB+ for pennies. I can't even remember the last time I would have thought 18GB an issue. I can't even remember having a hard disk drive that was smaller than 100GB - I would have still been at school then.

You can now get a graphics card for under $US200 that runs Crysis and Assassin's Creed at top settings - the NVIDIA 8800GT. RAM prices have also fallen through the floor.

The only people who are still being shafted are the people who have old connections (like the AGP graphics port) and have to buy a new computer from scratch.

mcderek3000

lmao 2560 x 1600 is an insane resolution. No wonder you need some serious juice to run it. It will look 3 times better than the console version though. Better framerate, less pop up, longer view distance etc.

Gen.Grievous

Who havent got at least 500GB today? so 18GB shouldnt be hard. and 2GB is nothing, standard is 4GB in todays computers.

512mb graphic card is on standard even that most people probaly buy a 7xxmb card today!

cmd

@finder39: that's upgrading, my friend.

xbulletholes

Remember guys, this is not the console version here, the graphics have been ramped up so any comparisons to console hardware is instantly null and void, I'll be able to run this on my office PC with an 8800GT and my personal rig will annihilate it.

And did the people stating they cannot run it actually believe their 3-4 year old ailing desktop had a chance??

Crutchley29

I'm fine on everything, I think. 35GB of hard drive left on my applications & programs partition, so I might uninstall Maya to get a little more page.

~phil

@questworld - that's just what I was thinking too

soviet_

I barely have 2gigs of free space left... time to get an external hard drive, methinks.

Wizzard

stupid 360 being the limited factor for the console version........

eternalsunshineofcoralfang

my 80 GB hard drive weeps

mferrari

@supercrap: Yes, very good! Also, if you're buying a car it'd be cheaper for you to just go ahead and get a cobalt instead of the corvette.

220

Ask me about my 10gb OS HDD sometime. Also about my 700GB data disk.

omicron1

Crap, I clearly need to change my processor as fast as I can, since the rest is just fine. And whooooooooooa, 18gb? I'll think about buying a new HD just as well it's gonna be with the cpu.

VelhoBabao

@eternalsunshineofcoralfang:

Considering that it was made for the 360 first, then ported over, blame the fact that exclusives sell better on the 360.

Terance! - In Before What My Message Says

I got 99 games, but GTA:IV PC ain't one,
if your game needs 18 gigs I feel bad for you son.

Terance! - In Before What My Message Says

20 gigs? Geezus - Hot Coffee 2.0 better be worth it!

Trai_Dep

Imagine how much porn I can fit into 18GB.

No thanks, I upgraded HDD on my PS3 and it only requires 5GB installation.

HobbaHobba

@VishusBurn: I believe we are, good sir. I believe we are.

May the best socket win. I heard the AM3 chips will work in AM2 boards. I'd like to see that.

Thassodar

Ooooh yeah, my machine should run that fine. ;)

-soul_reaper-

Why is everyone still complaining? If you are satisfied with your current case and monitor, you can build an all-new machine for around $550 that easily surpasses those recommended requirements and allows you to do non-gaming things quickly.

Oh, and while 18GB hard drive space is a lot for games, there is absolutely no reason to complain when $59.99 can get you a 320GB hard drive.

For the record, I'm so going to play this maxed out at 1680x1050 with butter-smooth fps.

cqdemal

Oh boy. Hmm... buy this game now for my 360, or wait the 3 years for when I update my computer for those specs?

Cpryd001

@supercrap: Who'd buy a multi functional computer for just a game?

Dr.Chocobo

ill stick to it on my 360 thanks, my computer is only good for spore.

otis123

Cough, hark, what? 18 gigs?!?!

Eruanno

Current specs:
256MB RDRam
60GB HD
2GHz Intel Processor
Geforce 3 Ti500

*Stands on the shore, staring wistfully at a ship disappearing into the horizon*

Hassun

@Tizlor:

From looking into my HDD AoC was almost clocking in at 30gigs. It was like 25~gb or so. Not including if you wanted to be on testlive, which is just like having 2 copies of the game on your HDD -.-

MechaTek

@Kirbysuperstar: That's half of my home PC hard drive!

Americo

god have mercy on the people that are spending money on their computer for this mediocre game.

RaepGoblin

Wait till next gen when Im sure 50 gig will be the norm. Thats why I stick with consoles. No need to upgrade and companies optimize the game to work perfectly.

Madness

Wow, recently the harddisk requirements get scarier than graphics card requirements. 18 Gigs? I saved up about 20 Gigs to have room for the future, but this would suck up the last reserves.

lumpi

@questworld: It's a common function, i wouldn't worry about it at all.

Most DVDs sold by Hollywood are dual-layer, so if you've played movies on your computer without any problems then you know you're good. Also any data DVD that has more than 4.7GB of data is dual-layer, so if you've tried to install or read something off of a disc w/ more than 4.7GB of data you should be fine.

Single-layer DVDs (termed DVD-5) were popular very early in the DVD format's life (does anyone remember those DVDs you had to flip over to keep watching the movie?) but quickl gave way to dual-layer DVDs (DVD-9). DVD drives for PC users took a while to catch on to the dual-layer burning, but they were all able to READ dual-layers pretty early on.

Usama

hmm i wonder if it'll work on my 8600m GT 128mb..it runs COD4 fine.

smeee

hmm i may have to buy a firewired external HD..my windows partition is only 32gb..

smeee

This might worry the 4 people who play PC games at 2560 x1600.

questworld - I suggest you by the game and if it won't install download the game from the Pirate Bay.

NintendoFanBoy64

18GB, Shit, that's like twelve thousand floppies. No wonder people say 100 hours plus to complete, I'd spend 50 hours just swapping disks on my Com64. I'll stick with the Wii version thank you.

chris_wing

I got all the specs...but it's still really high, higher then crysis. And 18 gigs baaaah, that's if you want all the radio stations installed on hard drive, it will be a lot less

@smeee:

I bet it will, I don't see why this game will require 512mb video card when consoles barely have 1/4 that.

Whatever the recommended, the minimum is lower and tweaking guides will probably exist because ordinary people that are not payed to tweak a game are always much better...

GodKiller0

good... looks like i'll can play that game just fine on my laptop at 1600x900 ^^

Atachi

@mva5580: They sure are crap aren't they? Getting them 6 months earlier. What the hell were we thinking.

Soyerzz

18gb Is a hell of a lot. And 512mb Graphics is OTT. I may just stick to my Ps3 version ;)

Soyerzz

damn 512MB vid. i've got half.
and the 18gigs hard drive is a bit steep, my 2 raptors in stripe only give me 150GB of space.

well, off to buy a new computer i guess
at least its going to be awesomer than the x360/ps3 version

zyberteq

@mva5580: Fanboy at 12 O'clock.

mcderek3000

My 160GB drive is crying on the inside. Good thing I already played it on PS3. :D

DorkimusPrime