You can't upgrade the graphics in a laptop. You're stuck with it until you get yourself a new one, brother.

Unfortunatly, you were right. I contacted HP and they said they do not have anything that can replace my graphics card nor can they increase my graphics card's dedicated graphics memory, they can only do that with desktop PC's. Man, HP really blows! I used to like HP, now I'm not so sure now! They said the only thing I could do was replace the motherboard, but they do not do that, it would void my warrenty, and it would cost as much as a brand new PC. Now, I'm stuck with my laptop and I won't be able to get a new one. Selling it is not an option since it was a gift from my parents and I really dont want to make them feel bad. This really blows

If the GPU is warm, that's normal, since it's supposed to be quite warmer than the rest of the components. Mine is about 20°C warmer than the rest of my computer. Just make sure that nothing in your laptop is going over 75°C; that's the warning temperature in my book, and your parts may start to have permanent damage.

Here's the thing. I already told you how to do this, and this is done in the commandline.txt method. I've marked in red the two settings that deal directly with the VRAM settings for GTA IV. If you set "-availablevidmem" to 2.0, that basically allows the game to use twice the amount of total RAM that it detects (i.e. the number that's displayed in the graphics menu). I've set it to that, and also made sure that the total graphics memory it is using with all the settings is below my available dedicated graphics memory, which is 1536MB (so in the game, my settings use up 1200-1300MB). I've found that if I go over 1300MB, my textures start disappearing, so I just left it below that—again, letting you know how unoptimized this game is, as it can't even use all of my dedicated graphics memory. (Or possibly other applications may also be using the VRAM as well, which is highly probable.)

Since you did not "thoroughly" go through with my instructions, I presume then that you still haven't tried adding "-safemode" to the commandline.txt file either? If not, try it, as some people have reported back that it helped them by forcing the game to use the lowest settings possible. If this still doesn't work, then upgrading your hardware is the only option you have if you want to get better performance.

I knew that from looking at his specs, that this computer wasn't made to run games, and so did the OP. He mentioned that it was a gift, and so he's trying to make do with what he has. Without upgrading, I don't see his laptop being able to run mods and have smooth FPS. That's why I suggested to get a desktop instead, but he said he's tight on money right now. I am aware that some of the newer laptops have this advanced sharing of total memory system between the CPU, GPU, etc., which as you said, means that there isn't really any true "dedicated" memory, and the lower frequency of the CPU was already bad news. But as I said, I'm a desktop guy, not a laptop guy, so I don't really have much advice for laptop users.

Well, I ran the game in safe mode and it ran faster, but it looked horrible. So I decided to use that as a benchmark and I tweeked the settings from there and even though it still doesn't look awesome, it looks better than it did and the game runs significantly faster than it did. Its ok, I guess, since I will have to live with it. But seriously, WTF R*! They better make GTA V more compatible with PC's or, I don't know what!

hey don't badmouth HP I have an HP DESKTOP, runs like a dream with a new Gfx card and power supply!

Man, HP really blows! I used to like HP, now I'm not so sure now!

I wouldn't be too quick to bad-mouth them.

I have a HP Pavillion Dv7 Laptop, its perfect for me as I use it mainly for college work.

As an added bonus, it can run IV and ArmA 2 on high / very high settings, which is good enough for me. The thing cost about £600.

Its all about looking around, read the specifications. Mine has a 1GB HD Radeon card which is fairly good for a laptop considering its not shitty alienware

I've had two HP computers, one desktop, obviously not as good as it could be for the money spent on it, it also made an appalling racket.

The other was a HP laptop, which had the most enthusiastic fan I've ever experience, it was on full-throttle all the bloody time, it also got nearly too hot to touch at times.

I've had several relatives and friends with similar experiences of HP laptops being noisy, and getting very hot, right from the cheap consumer lines to their high-end business-oriented product lines.

I have had two laptops & a desktop from HP, D230MT & G70-213EM are the models I remember. I will gladly bad-mouth them, not for "their" hardware, but for the un-belivable quantity of crapware they bundle. The first one I got (D230MT 7 years ago) came with a thick manual and a XP disc, all the others came with a "recovery" partition(yes they can't even shell out for 1 dvd!) full of crapware. I had to download a Vista HP OEM disc just to restore the thing to a CLEAN state.

And their customer support! I contacted them to ask for the price of a recovery disc and they replied "Out of warranty", HP - I was willing to pay your extortionate price for a disc - now I will never buy or recommend anything from you!

Every laptop is full with crapware, I formatted my Lenovo the day it got it, it's was much easier, it also came with a recovery partition, I prefer to do the installation so I can get rid of all the bloatware that comes with pre-built computers.

I also had problems with the charger, the isolation cracked near the "brick", exposing the live wire inside, despite contacting HP several times, no replacement charger were ever received.

I've been using my Lenovo since August last year, and had no issues, the battery isn't completely dead yet, which weren't the case with the HP.

I've been working and fiddling around with GTA VI's settings and my computer and my FPS is getting better. It is still slow and jittery sometimes and it doesn't look the greatest, but it is ok. And I have been considering checking and seeing if there is any crappy software that came installed on my computer. I'll probably do that tomarrow since it is late for me. (it was 12:20AM CDT where I am at when I typed this.) I still havent figured this one thing out. I have heard that there is a tweek for GTA VI that forces the game to use system RAM instead of VRAM. Is this possible. And I also found this thing on my computer that is called Virtual Memory. I thought about that tweeking it might help but I'm not sure if it will. Does anyone know?

I wouldn't be too quick to bad-mouth them.

I have a HP Pavillion Dv7 Laptop, its perfect for me as I use it mainly for college work.

As an added bonus, it can run IV and ArmA 2 on high / very high settings, which is good enough for me. The thing cost about £600.

Its all about looking around, read the specifications. Mine has a 1GB HD Radeon card which is fairly good for a laptop considering its not shitty alienware

Then why is my card similar to yours, yet I cant run all of my settings at high? It still doesn't make since that my card has over 2GB of memory, yet I can only use 512MB of it!

BTW NicolaiB, I love your videos! Keep up the good work! Can you maybe upload some more videos of RC3? I saw someone else uploded a video of it. It looks awesome! Tell Sam to keep up the good work and I am anxiously awaiting the RC3 release! :biggrin:

Edited May 27, 201213 yr by bucky16

Then why is my card similar to yours, yet I cant run all of my settings at high? It still doesn't make since that my card has over 2GB of memory, yet I can only use 512MB of it!

Its not just the card, you need to take into consideration the CPU and RAM. I've got a Intel Core i5-2410M and 6GB of Ram which probably explains why I can run IV at high settings.

As for the graphics card,

My laptop has two cards so to speak.

One is an Intel Integrated Graphics Chip which the laptop will mainly use for everyday tasks and some games like Minecraft and Amnesia.

The Radeon is only used when I load a demanding game such as ArmA, you need to check if you have switchable graphics like me.

Download a program called Catalyst Control Center, if you have switchable graphics you'll be able to press a simple button to switch to your high performance GPU.

Edited May 27, 201213 yr by Harper

You can't upgrade the graphics in a laptop. You're stuck with it until you get yourself a new one, brother.

You can if their dedicated

I downloaded a program called "AMD OverDrive" and I think it helped some. I also had forgotten that I had the traffic flow mod installed. So I decreased the time it ticks vehicles and it is getting better. I will guess that my average FPS might be about between 10 to 15 or 17 FPS in places with lots of buildings and traffic and 20 to 25 sometimes 30 (rarely) indoors and in places with few buildings and traffic.

You can if their dedicated

I really don't know what you mean. If you didn't read in one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that I contacted HP and they told me that I cannot upgrade my graphics card. The only thing I could do was replace the entire motherboard, but they do not do that and it would void my warrenty (my computer is less than a year old) and it would cost as much as a brand new laptop.

I downloaded a program called "AMD OverDrive" and I think it helped some. I also had forgotten that I had the traffic flow mod installed. So I decreased the time it ticks vehicles and it is getting better. I will guess that my average FPS might be about between 10 to 15 or 17 FPS in places with lots of buildings and traffic and 20 to 25 sometimes 30 (rarely) indoors and in places with few buildings and traffic.

I really don't know what you mean. If you didn't read in one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that I contacted HP and they told me that I cannot upgrade my graphics card. The only thing I could do was replace the entire motherboard, but they do not do that and it would void my warrenty (my computer is less than a year old) and it would cost as much as a brand new laptop.

Well than that means your graphics card is integrated (meaning it doesnt have its own memory and it attached to the motherboard). If you had a dedicated graphics card (separate memory) than you would of been able to replace it.

You can if their dedicated

No such thing. There's "discrete", meaning that it has its own memory. But it's not a physical card plugged into a PCI Express slot that you can simply swap out. Laptops don't work that way.

No such thing. There's "discrete", meaning that it has its own memory. But it's not a physical card plugged into a PCI Express slot that you can simply swap out. Laptops don't work that way.

Awkward that I have one?

High-end gaming laptops do