Grand Theft Auto IV — a light title that runs on modest PCs: specs & FPS
2008 · Adventure, Action · Rockstar North · ESRB Mature · Metacritic 95
Official system requirements
Publisher-published Minimum / Recommended values via RAWG, retrieved 2026-08-21. Real-world performance varies with drivers, resolution and your full build.
| Spec | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / Windows XP - Service Pack 3 | — |
| Processor | Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHz | — |
| Memory | Memory: 1.5GB XP / 1.5GB Vista | — |
| Graphics | Graphics: 256MB Nvidia 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900 | — |
| Storage | DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card | — |
| DirectX | Hard Drive: 16GB of Hard Disc Space | — |
| Item 7 | Sound Card: 5.1 Channel Audio Card | — |
| Item 8 | Other Requirements: Initial activation requires internet connection; Online play requires log-in to Games For Windows - Live and Rockstar Games Social Club (13+ to register); software installations required including Adobe Flash, DirectX, Microsoft’s .NET Framework 3.0, Games For Windows - LIVE, and Internet Explorer. | — |
Multi-GPU FPS estimate
Estimated average FPS by GPU at 1080p / 1440p / 4K, derived from Grand Theft Auto IV's demand tier (tier 2, Light (entry discrete GPU)) and published TechPowerUp-style relative-performance indices (RTX 4090 = 100), retrieved 2026-08-29. Planning estimates, not benchmarks.
| GPU | 1080p | 1440p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 4090 | 392 | 259 | 149 |
| RTX 4080 Super | 351 | 232 | 134 |
| RTX 4080 | 338 | 223 | 128 |
| RX 7900 XTX | 375 | 248 | 143 |
| RX 7900 XT | 351 | 232 | 134 |
| RTX 4070 Ti Super | 300 | 198 | 114 |
| RX 7800 XT | 300 | 198 | 114 |
| RTX 4070 Super | 282 | 186 | 107 |
| RTX 4070 | 264 | 175 | 101 |
| RX 7700 XT | 272 | 179 | 103 |
| RTX 3070 | 247 | 163 | 94 |
| RX 6800 XT | 296 | 196 | 113 |
| RTX 4060 Ti | 217 | 143 | 83 |
| RX 6700 XT | 264 | 175 | 101 |
| RTX 3060 | 199 | 131 | 76 |
| RX 6600 XT | 225 | 148 | 85 |
| RTX 2060 | 180 | 119 | 68 |
| GTX 1660 Super | 149 | 98 | 57 |
| RX 580 | 172 | 114 | 65 |
| GTX 1060 6GB | 141 | 93 | 53 |
| GTX 1650 | 112 | 74 | 43 |
| Intel Arc A770 | 228 | 151 | 87 |
| UHD 770 (integrated) | 46 | 30 | 17 |
Method: a game's demand tier maps to a “GPU index needed for ~60 FPS at 1080p”; each GPU's relative index produces an estimate via a diminishing-returns curve, then scaled for resolution. Source: TechPowerUp GPU database (relative performance), 2026-08-29.
For the full hardware spec sheet and a deeper performance breakdown, see Full specs & performance data on GameFigs.
Age rating & regional compliance
GameRulePro pairs each title with its ESRB age rating and, where documented, real regulatory notes on loot boxes, skin gambling and randomized monetization. Every line is source-linked and labeled with its retrieval date. This is an educational reference, not legal advice — verify the specifics that apply to your jurisdiction.
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Age rating | ESRB Mature | ESRB rating via RAWG.io, retrieved 2026-08-21. |
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Open profile →Best graphics settings for Grand Theft Auto IV
Pick your PC and get a starting preset — resolution, upscaler, shadows, ray tracing and an FPS cap — tuned to how demanding Grand Theft Auto IV is on hardware. Print it and tune from there. Everything runs in your browser.
Best graphics settings for Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV hardware-demand tier: 2/9. Pick your PC above to get a starting preset, then tune up if you have FPS headroom or down if you're under your target.
Estimated starting point — real FPS depends on drivers, thermals and background load.
Grand Theft Auto IV — Best settings (Mid-range (GTX 1660 – RTX 3060))
Generated at GameRulePro · 2026-09-25
Release, patch & rule-change notes
Official release date: 2008-04-29. Ongoing patches and version history are published by the developer — for the latest patch notes, see the official store or support page. GameRulePro summarizes the official release only and does not invent patch dates. When a developer ships a rule-affecting update (balance pass, mode change, or ranked-reset), re-run the generator above to keep your house rules in sync.
About Grand Theft Auto IV
Every crime story is a story of a search for success. The player will become Niko Bellic, immigrant arriving at the Liberty City to reunite with his cousin Roman and find the man that betrayed him and his army unit fifteen years prior to the events of the game. While protecting his cousin, Niko has to deal with loan sharks, Russian mobsters, and other gangs. After the third game, GTA brought more realism to the player, in order to make the city and its people look more believable. Street vendors on every corner will sell food that replenishes health, bars with playable dart boards, bowling alleys and even comedy clubs and movie theatres. Open world will allow players not only hang out with important NPC in order to receive bonuses and unlocks but taking girls on the dates as well, to help Niko settle. Multiplayer mode allows up to 32 players to explore the copy of the single-player city and initiate multiplayer activities, like races or Deathmatches.
Performance reality & how to tune Grand Theft Auto IV
GameRulePro editorial — these notes are based on Grand Theft Auto IV's published specifications and genre profile, not a single benchmark run. Use them to set expectations before you open the settings menu.
As a 2008 action title, Grand Theft Auto IV sits at demand tier 2 (Light (entry discrete GPU)) — light on PC. It is light enough for older hardware and even integrated graphics at lower settings.
What to tune first on Grand Theft Auto IV
- Open-world RPGs lean on CPU and storage in busy towns — SSD + dual-channel RAM first.
- Shadows and lighting scale hardest; keep textures high since they mostly use VRAM.
- An upscaler at 4K recovers the most frames with the smallest visual hit.
The FPS table above is a model estimate from the demand-tier + GPU-index method. Real frame rates vary with drivers, background apps, thermals and resolution. Treat it as a buying or upgrade planning aid, then verify in-game. For step-by-step fixes, see the crash-fix and optimization guides linked on this page.
Sources & attribution
- Game data (release year, genres, platforms, system requirements, description, cover art) via RAWG.io, retrieved 2026-08-21.
- GPU relative-performance indices via TechPowerUp GPU database (relative performance), retrieved 2026-08-29.
- FPS estimates on this page are GameRulePro planning estimates from the demand-tier + GPU-index model — not benchmark results.
- House rules and tournament formats are community-style templates for casual play, not official rulebooks.
- Pre-launch intelligence (release windows, settings, editions, pricing, beta dates) is compiled from each title's official publisher / studio announcements and is source-linked per item with its retrieval date (2026-09-09). Where a detail is from reporting rather than a primary source, the item's source line states so. This is preview material, not an official specification.
- Per-game age-rating & regional compliance reference (ESRB rating via RAWG; curated regulatory notes) from the GameRulePro game-rules dataset, retrieved 2026-08-29.
How the Grand Theft Auto IV FPS estimate and rules generator are computed
Each game is scored on a 0–9 demand tier from its published PC requirements (and a year/genre fallback when requirements are absent). The FPS estimate compares your selected GPU's relative-performance index against the tier's required index using a diminishing-returns curve, then scales for resolution. The rules and tournament builder is a community-style template engine: it formats your group size, match format and tiebreaks into a printable sheet. All outputs are planning guides — verify in-game and agree house rules with your group before play.
Do more with Grand Theft Auto IV
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