GTA not using full GPU capacity

GTA not using full GPU capacity - Content woman using laptop on floor

I recently installed Grand Theft Auto IV on my PC (Intel i3 6100, 4GB RAM, GT 710 2GB DDR3). I installed a few car skins and the game started to drop frames at High settings. So I reduced it to Medium to avoid frame drops and lag. But then I realised that the game was using only 300-400MB of VRAM on Medium and 700-800MB on High. Despite my GPU having 2048MB of VRAM, why am I not able to run GTA 4 on high with no frame drops and lag? Is there an explanation and solution? Why is it not using the full (or near full) capacity of my GPU?



Best Answer

Despite my GPU having 2048MB of VRAM, why am I not able to run GTA 4 on high with no frame drops and lag?

GTA IV's PC port is very unoptimized.[1] [2] [3] Its successor, GTA V, will usually have better performance on the same PC.

Why is it not using the full (or near full) capacity of my GPU?

I believe that's to be expected for a 2008 game. 2 GB graphics cards were a novelty back then.

To improve performance, see the PC Gaming Wiki's GTA IV article. I'm quoting some of the relevant parts here:

Large framerate drops on densely detailed parts of the city

  • Lower the view distance to 25 or lower. Anything higher may cause drops in performance when looking at the city's skyline or at densely detailed areas (particularly Middle Park) for very little visual gain.
  • You may also increase your performance significantly while minimising pop-in and graphical glitches by setting the Detail Distance between 10 and 40.
  • If you need very high framerates, it is recommended that you disable shadows as they are CPU-intensive and also reduce the Vehicle Density to around 40 (33 is the console default if you want a "vanilla" experience).
  • Keeping Vsync enabled (with the shadows disabled) may help maintain close to stable 60 FPS even on old Core 2 Quad CPUs.
  • Alternatively, you can also try out disabling Clip Capture in the "Game" option in main menu and setting -mispecaudio which can unload the CPU to some extent depending on your specs and -noprecache in some scenarios and -disableimposters excluding flying.

Game will load with minimal graphics settings and won't let you change them

  • For video cards that have more than 2 GB or VRAM the game will run but won't let you change the graphics settings to anything better. In order to force the game to allow the changes, load the game's executable with this extra parameter: -norestrictions.

  • Bypass graphics restrictions on Steam version

  1. Open your Steam library.
  2. Right-click on 'Grand Theft Auto IV' and select 'Properties'.
  3. Press the Set Launch Options... button.
  4. Enter -norestrictions into the text field, press 'OK'.
  5. Start the game.
  • Bypass graphics restrictions on other versions
  1. Go to ''.
  2. Create a new text file in this folder and name it commandline.txt.
  3. Open it and add the string -norestrictions to it.
  4. Save the file.
  5. Start the game.

If on Windows 10:

Disable fullscreen optimization

  • Go to the installation folder.
  • Right click on GTAIV.exe and enter its properties screen.
  • Under the compatibility tab, tick 'Disable fullscreen optimisations' and click 'OK'.

There are also other performance-improving tips on the same PC Gaming Wiki article that you might want to try.




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Why is my GPU not full utilization?

Your GPU usage is very low because you're using the integrated graphics, there's a driver issue, you have a CPU bottleneck, or the game you're playing isn't optimized. Possible fixes are reinstalling drivers, upgrading or overclocking your CPU, and adjusting certain game settings.

How do I force GPU usage to 100?

INSTRUCTIONS: - Right click on your desktop, and then select Nvidia Control Panel. Then in the tab menu's, go to Manage Settings. Then set the Power usage from Adaptive, to Prefer Maximum Performance, and switch the rest of the options accordingly to what renders more performance.

How much GPU does GTA use?

GTA V GPU Requirements This is the game basically saying that you would need a GPU with at least 4GB VRAM at 1080P. It is still possible to play the game on high settings with less VRAM than this, as even Rockstar games recommends graphics cards with 2 GB of VRAM.

How do I fix low GPU usage?

How to Fix Low GPU Usage?
  • Fix 1: Reinstall the Graphics Driver. ...
  • Fix 2: Disable Third-Party Background Apps. ...
  • Fix 3: Install the Patches on Time and Optimize the Game Settings. ...
  • Fix 4: Update Chipset Drivers. ...
  • Fix 5: Change In-game Settings. ...
  • Fix 6: Avoid CPU Overheating. ...
  • Fix 7: Decrease the Clock Rate. ...
  • Fix 8: Reinstall the Game.




  • GTA 5 Low GPU Usage Fix! | GPU Intensive Settings For GTA 5 | HINDI




    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

    Images: Artem Podrez, Vlada Karpovich, Artem Podrez, Harrison Haines