GTA V PC Performance, 4K And 3 GeForces

The Setup: Mayhem And Mobsters In 4K

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series has been wildly successful for many years now, offering some of the edgiest story lines, game play tactics and objectives the gaming industry has ever seen. With psychopathic main characters, you are left in the depraved communities of Los Santos and Blaine County, to walk a path few would dare choose in real life, committing nefarious acts, robbing and pillaging to complete your objectives. In short, it's rather entertaining that you're tasked with leaving a virtual world worse off than you found it, consequences be damned. But if you're reading this, you're probably well aware of this game's much maligned story line, and the fact that it's one of the most successful video games in history.

You probably also have been waiting for the game's release on the PC, as a platform that can potentially offer the best, most unbridled version of this wonderfully twisted game. GTA V for the PC has been one of the most anticipated releases in the franchise's history and in fact over 1 million units were sold on day one. Not long ago, we gave you our full game play and performance review here, which covered what gamers can expect from GTA V for a mainstream experience. Today, we're aiming to give you quick taste of what GTA V can play and look like with an over-the-top system config at super-tight 4K resolution. 

What does it take to run GTA V at 4K? We'll give you a view of that, as well as how it scales over multiple NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 GPUs, in the pages ahead, along with some screen shots for just a bit of eye candy as well.

Test Rig
Yes, none other than Dell-Alienware's Area 51 with the power of three GeForces under its hood.

Our test vehicle is a bit of a doozy you might say. When GTA V for the PC was released, things were crazy busy around the office. But the Alienware Area 51, with its 6-core Haswell-E chip and tri-SLI GeForce GTX 980 setup, was staring us down all day, every day, begging for a taste of the mean streets of Los Santos. So we acquiesced. It was a tough gig but someone had to do it.

Area 51 Side Panel Off3
All I've got is a sawed-off shotgun, three GPUs and the truth.

This should get the job done, methinks...

Alienware Area 51 Test System
Specifications & Features
Processor: 
Intel Core i7-5930K @3.5GHz Six-Core 
Memory:16GB DDR4-2133 (4x4GB)
Graphics:3 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 - Tri-SLI
Motherboard:Custom Alienware Area-51, Intel X99 Chipset
Storage:1 x 256GB Samsung SSD 850 Pro Solid State Drive
4TB WD HDD 7200 RPM

So, we fired this beast up and connected it to a 28-inch Dell 60Hz 4K display. However, let's get something straight right off the bat. We're using the term "4K" when specifically speaking of a 3840X2160 resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Yes, this isn't digital cinema standard 4K but this is where the computer games industry has settled on "close enough" to 4K.

GTA V Gaming At 4K Resolution
Here's lookin' at you, kid. You and that phat 4K panel.

And with exactly two times the pixel density of standard 1920X1080 resolution, it's sure close enough for us as well. So, with that bit of tee-up out of the way, let's first start with some visual comparisons and a look at high fidelity gaming in the morally bankrupt world of Grand Theft Auto V...

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