For other uses, see Computer.

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A Personal Computer (or PC) may refer to a desktop or laptop computer that is used for personal tasks such as browsing the Internet and gaming, rather than business or server functions. PCs are often refered to Windows Computers and in some cases, Linux Computers as well. In relation to the Grand Theft Auto series, the PC has long been a traditional "platform" for GTA games.

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Description

Because the computing power of a PC is not bound by strict standards by a single manufacturer, the PC platform is the most versatile, supporting modular upgrades. Being one of the earliest platforms to support Internet connections, this allowed early Grand Theft Auto games such as the first Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2 to support multiplayer modes whilst online capabilities on consoles were still in their infancy. PC versions of several GTA games also feature considerably improved graphics. PC GTA games are also the earliest games in the series to adopt custom radio stations and replays with the release of Grand Theft Auto III, as well as the short-lived ability to pick custom skins for the protagonist.

Modifications

Another notable advantage of the PC platform is their inherent ability to support third party utilities and modifications, which allows users to alter various aspects of GTA games. Some add in whole new features, which is commonly seen in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Some modifications are designed purely to make the game look better visually, which is a common mod option for Grand Theft Auto IV.

Emulation

Another considerable advantage is the ability to emulate other platforms like handheld/PlayStation 2/mobile enabling titles to be played via software and use controllers.

Video Editor

With the GTA IV PC version, Rockstar introduced an exclusive video editor that allow players to create, edit and share their own videos recorded while playing the game. This video editor later came back on the Grand Theft Auto V PC version, now named Rockstar Editor, featuring numerous improvements.

Issues

Like consoles, weaknesses are also present in the PC platform. The wide variety of hardware configurations present in the PC market and the presence of custom built or upgraded machines means there are inconsistent hardware capabilities among every PC in use. This may impede the ability for some players to play PC games smoothly or with the best graphics available. The game developers try to accommodate this by incorporating sliding scales of graphic and processing detail in their PC titles which allows low specification hardware to run the game at a playable framerate with drastically reduced visual detail.

The adoption of the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine for GTA IV, for example, led to a jump in the required amount of processing from the last PC port (GTA: San Andreas, which utilized RenderWare); many PCs in use during the release of GTA IV were found to be inadequate to run the game smoothly, even with the lowest graphical settings, due to what is widely considered a poorly implemented port. It required high-powered CPUs and mid-high end GPUs to provide the PC player with anywhere near the console player's experience. The wide range of hardware components on offer for the PC, making decisions on parts difficult for new builders, as well as the need to keep hardware driver software up to date, may also lead to incompatibilities that result in undesired glitches in graphics and audio or even instability in the game. Rockstar Games has never fixed the issues of the PC version of GTA IV, nor have they made efforts to convert it from Games for Windows – Live to Steam. GTA V had faced similar issues, with occasional stutters even at minimum requirements.

Release Pattern

Until Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto releases for the PC platform were given some degree of equal treatment as the PlayStation, having been released simultaneously with or launched a week after the PlayStation version. The GTA series is also known to have a single PC-exclusive title, Grand Theft Auto: London, 1961, which was available only for download (at a time when gaming consoles had yet to extensively adopt online downloads). The release gap between console versions and PC versions was widened with GTA III and several more major GTA titles after, in which the native console version(s) is first released, followed by the PC port several months later, if not longer.

For some reason, GTA titles which are native to handheld consoles (Grand Theft Auto Advance, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars) have never been ported to the PC.

After Grand Theft Auto V was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles on September 17, 2013, PC users wanted Rockstar to make a PC version of the game with some even beginning a petition. After a lengthy wait Sony announced at the Electronics Entertainment Expo 2014 that GTA V would be released for the PlayStation 4 in the fall of 2014, this was closely followed by a trailer and official announcement by Rockstar Games that it would finally also be coming to the PS4, Xbox One and PC. On 12 September 2014, Rockstar announced that the PC version will be released on 27 January 2015. On 13 January 2015, however, it was announced that the PC release had been pushed back to 24 March 2015. On 24 February, it was announced that the PC release had again been pushed back to 14 April 2015.

The PC version was released on 14 April 2015.

GTA games on the PC

System Requirements for GTA Games

The following tables specify:

the official minimum hardware and software configurations to run a title on a PC the official recommended hardware to run the title the unofficial optimal hardware to run the title at maximum settings with a playable frame rate.

Grand Theft Auto III

GTA III

System Requirements Requirement Minimum Recommended Optimal Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP Processor: Pentium III® 450 MHz CPU 700 MHz CPU Memory: 96 MB RAM 128 MB RAM Video Card: 16 MB Direct 3D Video Card 32 MB Direct3D Video Card Sound Card: Fully DirectX compatible Sound Card Free HDD Space: 500 MB uncompressed free hard disk space Media drive: Network: Controller: Other:

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

GTA: Vice City

System Requirements Requirement Minimum Recommended Optimal Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP Processor: 800 MHz Intel Pentium III

800 MHz AMD Athlon

1.2GHz Intel Celeron

1.2 GHz AMD Duron processor Intel Pentium IV

AMD Athlon XP Memory: 128 MB of RAM 256(+) MB of RAM Video Card: 32 MB video card with DirectX 9.0 compatible drivers

("GeForce" or better) 64(+) MB video card with DirectX 9.0 compatible drivers

("GeForce 3" / "Radeon 8500" or better with DirectX Texture Compression support) Sound Card: Sound Card with DirectX 9.0 Free HDD Space: 915 MB of free hard disk space

(+ 635 MB if video card does NOT support DirectX Texture Compression) 1.55 GB of free hard disk space

(+ 635 MB if video card does NOT support DirectX Texture Compression) Media drive: Network: Controller: Other:

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

GTA: San Andreas

System Requirements Requirement Minimum Recommended Optimal Operating System: Windows 2000 (with Service Pack 1 or higher)

Windows XP (with Service Pack 1 or higher) Windows 2000 (with Service Pack 1 or higher)

Windows XP (with Service Pack 1 or higher) Processor: 1Ghz Pentium

AMD Athlon Pentium 4

Athlon XP Memory: 256 MB RAM 384+ MB RAM Video Card: 64MB Directx9 compatible (GeForce3 or better) 128MB Nvidia GeForce6 or better Sound Card: Directx9 compatible Directx9 compatible surround sound card

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Series Free HDD Space: 4.7 GB free hard disk space 4.7 GB free hard disk space Media drive: 8x DVD ROM Drive 16x DVD ROM Drive Network: Controller: Keyboard & Mouse Keyboard & Mouse. Other:

Grand Theft Auto IV

GTA IV

System Requirements Requirement Minimum Recommended Optimal Operating System: Windows Vista (plus Service Pack 1)

Windows XP (plus Service Pack 3, DirectX 9, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5) Windows Vista (plus Service Pack 1)

Windows XP (plus Service Pack 3 DirectX 9, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5) Windows Vista (plus Service Pack 1)

Windows XP (plus Service Pack 3 DirectX 9, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5) Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz

AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz

AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz

AMD Phenom 9850 X4 @ 2.5 GHz Memory: 1.5GB 2GB (Windows XP)

2.5GB (Windows Vista) 4GB Video Card: 256MB NVidia 7900

256MB ATI X1900 512MB NVIDIA 8600

512MB ATI 3870 1GB NVIDIA GTX 280

1GB AMD Radeon HD 4870 Sound Card: DirectX 9 compatible Stereo Sound Card DirectX 9 compatible Surround Sound Card DirectX 9 compatible Surround Sound Card Free HDD Space: 16GB 18GB 18GB Media drive: DVD Drive DVD Drive DVD Drive Network: Initial activation requires internet connection Initial activation requires internet connection Initial activation requires internet connection Controller: Keyboard & Mouse Keyboard & Mouse.

XBox compatible game controller supported Keyboard & Mouse.

XBox compatible game controller supported Other:

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City

GTA: Episodes From Liberty City

System Requirements Requirement Minimum Recommended Optimal Operating System: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1

Windows XP - Service Pack 3 Windows Vista - Service Pack 1

Windows XP - Service Pack 3

Windows 7 Windows Vista - Service Pack 1

Windows XP - Service Pack 3

Windows 7 Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz

AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz

AMD Phenom X3 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @2.4GHz

AMD Phenom X4 9850 @2.5GHz Memory: 1.5GB XP

1.5GB Vista 2 GB (Windows XP)

2.5 GB (Windows Vista) 4GB Video Card: 256MB Nvidia 7900

256MB ATI X1900 512MB NVIDIA 8600+

512MB ATI 3870+ 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280

1GB AMD Radeon HD 4870 Sound Card: 5.1 Channel Audio Card 5.1 Channel Audio Card Free HDD Space: 18 GB of Hard Disc Space 18 GB of Hard Disc Space 18GB of Hard Disc Space Media drive: DVD Drive DVD Drive DVD Drive Network: Initial activation requires internet connection Initial activation requires internet connection Initial activation requires internet connection Controller: Keyboard & Mouse

Xbox 360 compatible controller Keyboard & Mouse

Xbox 360 compatible controller Keyboard & Mouse

Xbox 360 compatible controller Other:

Grand Theft Auto V

GTA V

System Requirements Requirement Minimum Recommended Optimal Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit

Windows 8.1 64 Bit

Windows 8 64 Bit

Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1

Windows Vista 64 Bit Service Pack 2

(NVIDIA video card recommended if running Vista OS) Windows 10 64-bit

Windows 8.1 64 Bit

Windows 8 64 Bit

Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1 Windows 7 SP1 64-bit

Windows 8 64-bit

Windows 8.1 64-bit

Windows 10 64-bit Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs)

AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs) @ 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHZ (4 CPUs)

AMD X8 FX-8350 @ 4GHZ (8 CPUs) Intel Core i7-3770 @ 3.4 GHz (8 CPUs)

AMD FX-8350 @ 4 GHz (8 CPUs) Memory: 4GB 8GB 8GB Video Card: NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB

AMD HD 4870 1GB

(DX 10, 10.1, 11) NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB

AMD HD7870 2GB 1080p: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 4GB

AMD Radeon R9 280/ HD 7950 3GB 4K: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB

AMD Radeon R9 295X2 (or 2x R9 290X) Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible 100% DirectX 10 compatible 100% DirectX 10 compatible Free HDD Space: 72GB 72GB 72GB Media drive: DVD Drive (if installing via physical DVD) DVD Drive (if installing via physical DVD) DVD Drive (if installing via physical DVD) Network: Network requirements Network requirements Network requirements Controller: Supported controller Supported controller Supported controller Other:

Trivia

The PC is the only system to include games from all three Universes (2D, 3D, and HD).