Rockstar’s done a bang-up job tuning GTA V for PC, but if you’re running modest hardware, what graphics settings will net your the biggest framerate gains with the smallest drop in quality? Tweak guides for high-end titles are almost mandatory these days and the internet has provided for the latest game from the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
Should you disable anti-aliasing or shadows? How about anisotropic filtering? Steve Burke at Gamers Nexus has you covered with a rather in-depth guide explaining GTA V‘s various graphics options and the effect they have on performance. At the top of the list is, unsurprisingly, multisample anti-aliasing, which remains one of the more gruelling operations for GPUs. Fortunately, most will be happy with its faster, if blurrier counterpart, FXAA.
Next on the list is post-process special effects and grass quality. If you don’t mind forgoing a bit of fidelity when it comes to smoke, heat shimmering and the like, you can wind the former back to “Very High” or “High”, depending on your setup. Using “Normal” for grass quality can also reclaim some performance, though the article mentions it’s situational, as city areas will be affected less than open ground.
From here, the benefits of using lower settings aren’t so pronounced. Reducing shader quality can result in a nice boost with very little in the way of visual differences and shadows can safely be set to “High” from “Very High” with a negligible impact on prettiness.
If you’re still desperate for higher framerates, hit up Gamer Nexus for more potential optimisations, though expect diminishing returns. Maybe have a crack at 4K after your next upgrade.
The Complete GTA V Graphics Optimization Guide & Performance Benchmarks [Gamer Nexus]
Comments
14 responses to “Everything You Need To Know About Tweaking GTA V For Your PC”
On my current rig, which I think is by no means above average I get above sixty frames a second with all settings maxed out (including shadows) on 1920X1080. I don’t see why people say its un-optimised, the game has a lot of moving parts and people are playing on some really outdated tech expecting wanders.
For reference my system is as follows;
-Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H
-Intel 4770K
-Gigabyte 970GTX (this is probably the only “expensive” part in my computer these days)
-2 X 8GB Corsair dominator @ 2133MHZ
-124GB Samsung SSD (I have more drives, but this is the one gta is running off)
Tldr, people bitching about performance on the steam forum mostly seem to be trying to run the game on systems that I would class as less powerful than current gen consoles and yet expect a decent experience, should probably remember that PC gaming is expensive for a reason.
I have a Core i5 2500k with a GTX 560 1GB and 8GB RAM and I get a constant 60fps. It’s a well optimised game!
Yeah I have SLI 680s Running almost max settings around 90FPS it will never be this good again.
That’s… a bit above average.
Only the gpu is, everything else is at least two years old.
The GPU plays a debatably larger role in the faster pushing of pixels than the rest. That said, from what I’ve heard, the game performs admirably on most systems and scales well.
In fact, I’ve heard you can run the game 1080p, at PS4 settings/ almost maxed out (par the ‘extra’ bells and whistles in the advanced tab), with a similarly specced GPU as the PS4. And you’ll do it faster then the PS4 at about 40fps with a 7870, not a high end card.
That, to me, is a great port. But of course that’s with an i5 or equivalent. Although that’s by no means ‘high end’ anyway. But I shouldn’t jump to conclusions before the digital foundry comes out I guess, so I’m sorry if I’m wrong.
Look its a really solid port and most of the people complaining seem to have low i5’s or under-clocked i7’s; I don’t feel like a 4770k is hard to pick up any more at between $200-300 on ebay and is easily good enough to run most games.
“which I think is by no means above average”
Dafaq man ?
Are you serious ?
Not above average ?
Loooooooool
Man, take a rest or someting, you are saying nonsense . .
Except I am not, the only things in my computer that you could claim are new or expensive are the ram (which you can sub out for a slower timed version) or graphics card (which while it is new would a quick fix more most peoples problems).
PC gaming is by definition an expensive hobby, sitting there with four year old parts that make the gun run horribly does not mean its un-optimised.
considering most people would be more likely to go out and buy their PC from say Dick Smith or Hardly Normal…. you’re way above average man.
i’m pretty sure steam has a tool where you can compare your system against the average
Can someone take this guys PC away from him as he clearly does not appreciate it..
hahaha I have the same rig with exception to the video card, 7970 3gb XFX Black. 1080P, maxed textures, not a problem.
If you stuck at 30-31fps for some odd reason (use Dxtory to check) then try minimizing game, then maximizing. I believe this bug is related to some v-sync glitching into half-vsync issue.
Also guys making comparison to PS4, lets think for a second here shall we. Raise the IQ here for a tick and remember the PS4 is running on OpenGL, on AMD hardware, two things that are HORRIBLY matched compared to DirectX11 performance under windows (what us PC users get).
So seeing this game run much better then on PS4 with same hardware is AUTOMATIC. I would imagine the game runs better on XB1 then PS4 given the DX optimizations that are clearly done.
Once DX12 hits the XB1, the PS4 will be in trouble as it will likely still be using OpenGL API to achieve things. OpenGL NEXT will be out next year, not soon enough to save it.
Or adaptive vsync might be turned on in the graphical settings like it was for me when I booted up the game for the first time 😛
For those of you using AMD GPUs (there are dozen’s off us!), if you haven’t already, get the latest Catalyst beta drivers (15.4 Beta). They’re specifically optimised for GTAV, and they make a huge difference!
I’ve got a HD7870 with 2GB, and I’m running at 1920×1280 with virtually everything switched on, with no noticable slow-down. I haven’t measured the actual before and after FPS, so my statement is purely anecdotal, but I can confirm the beta drivers makes a significant difference!
Here are my specs for reference (It’s about 3 years old I guess):
Intel i7 3770 (not overclocked)
16GB DDR3
128GB SSD (OS Drive)
256GB SSD (Game Drive)
AMD HD7870/2Gb
So neither a beefy or underpowered machine….
wow, i love how everyone is saying you need a million dollar pc to run gta 5.
FX-4200 quadcore 3.3 ghz
12 GB memory 1600
r7 260x 2 GB
Gigabite motherboard
my pc is a low end pc and still get almost 60 fps at all times.
I’ve got an old gaming PC that has been out of action for a while. Just got it going again. Here are the specs and Gta is running nicely
Intel core 2 duo E6600 @ 2.4 ghz
3.0gb dual channel ddr2 @ 333mhz
Gigabyte g33m-ds2r motherboard
This PC has definitely seen its day but can still run Gta V !!