The city of Los Santos never slept, but in the back room of a modding forum, it was 3:00 AM and sleep had long since fled. Three users—known only by their handles: Hex_V, GlitchPunk, and OldSchool_Racer—were locked in a digital war. The prize? Bragging rights over which version of Grand Theft Auto V was truly "better."
The debate had raged for weeks. Update 164, the "San Andreas Mercenaries" patch, had brought stability and a host of new career-builder missions. Update 166, the "Chop Up" patch, had introduced chaotic vehicle-to-vehicle combat and the infamous Coil Cyclone II.
The thread title was simple: "GTA 5 Update 164 vs 166: Which is better?"
Hex_V typed first, his fingers a blur.
"164 is the peak of optimization. No random crashes during heist finales. The Avenger's new autopilot doesn't drift into the Alamo Sea. Plus, the Mercenary attack choppers actually spawn with logic. It's clean. 166 introduced the 'Sticky Rain' glitch where sticky bombs clip through car floors. That's not content—that's a mess."
GlitchPunk fired back instantly, a gif of a flying Oppressor MKII exploding mid-air attached.
"Clean is boring. 166 gave us CHAOS. Remember the Scramjet launch pads in the sewers? Remember the railgun ammo drop rate increase? 164 felt like a work simulation. 166 feels like a Michael Bay movie you control. Also, the Cyclone II's boost recharges in 0.8 seconds. That's not a vehicle—that's a middle finger to traffic laws. I choose the middle finger."
OldSchool_Racer, who had been playing since the PS3 days, finally chimed in. He didn't type fast, but when he did, people listened.
"You're both wrong. 'Better' isn't about stability or chaos. It's about feel. Update 164 made the police AI smart—too smart. They flank, they coordinate. It turned a rampage into a tactical puzzle. Update 166? They added the 'Old Gen' handling flag back for 20 classic cars. The Banshee finally understeers like it used to. The Futo drifts like a shopping cart again.
Better is the version where you smile. For me? That's 166. Because I missed spinning out on a curb and laughing instead of flipping the table."
The debate spilled into the servers. Crews split. A user named Nexus_One organized a "Versus Weekend" event: Saturday on 164, Sunday on 166. Thousands joined.
On Saturday (164): The heists went off without a single disconnect. A random player named "QuietLama" flawlessly piloted the submarine through the Merryweather gauntlet. Strangers added each other as friends. It was efficient, professional, and strangely beautiful.
On Sunday (166): The lobby descended into madness within four minutes. A man in a clown mask launched a bus full of players off Mount Chiliad using the Cyclone II's boost. Three separate jet griefers were taken down by a single guy in a crop duster with a railgun. The chat was just laughter and the word "AGAIN."
By midnight, a new post appeared. It wasn't from Hex, GlitchPunk, or OldSchool.
@Rockstar_Dev_Frank (Verified)
"We see you. 164 vs 166. The truth? Neither is 'better.' 164 is the scalpel. 166 is the sledgehammer. You need both to build Los Santos.
But if you want the real answer? Update 170 drops next month. We're putting the stability of 164 into the soul of 166. You'll get the railgun ammo AND the police AI. You'll get the Cyclone II AND the server fixes.
Until then? Flip a coin. You'll have fun either way."
The thread went silent for a full ten seconds. Then GlitchPunk replied:
"...Did a dev just tell us to flip a coin?"
And OldSchool_Racer, smiling at his screen for the first time in years, typed one last line:
"Yeah. And that's exactly why GTA V is still better than anything else out there."
The city slept. But the debate? That would live on—at least until Update 170.
Title: The Ghosts of San Andreas
Logline: A veteran GTA Online player, stuck in a grinding loop, discovers that Update 1.66 didn't just patch glitches—it patched souls. Now he must decide if efficiency is worth the silence. gta 5 grand theft auto v update 164 166 better
Marco’s controller vibrated as his Oppressor MK2 skimmed the rooftops of La Mesa. It was 2:00 AM. The city below was a neon grid of predictable chaos—sirens, distant explosions, the same four NPC lines about their mother's cousin.
Update 1.64. The "Golden Age."
He remembered it fondly. The Acid Lab had just dropped. The missions were buggy but alive. You could still launch a Vigilante into the canals and ragdoll for thirty seconds. There was texture pop-in, yes, but also character. He’d made twelve million dollars last week running street dealers, and every gunfight felt like a Tarantino scene.
Then came Update 1.66.
"Stability and Performance Enhancements," the patch notes read.
Marco snorted. That was corporate code for we killed the fun.
He loaded into a new lobby. The framerate was buttery smooth. 120 FPS. Zero lag. His character’s jacket creased realistically in the wind. But something was wrong.
The traffic moved too politely. NPCs no longer screamed "YOU PICKED THE WRONG HOUSE FOOL!"—instead, they whispered clipped, polite warnings and veered away. The chaos algorithm had been neutered.
He tried his favorite test: sticky bomb on a highway overpass at rush hour.
1.64 result: A twenty-car chain reaction, three exploding fuel tankers, a helicopter crash, and a paramedic who’d run over his own partner. Laughter for hours.
1.66 result: The bomb went off. Two cars flipped. Police arrived in twelve seconds (improved response AI). No chain reaction. The fire department actually put out the flames. One pedestrian pulled out a phone and recorded instead of running.
Marco sat back. "This is… worse."
He messaged his crew.
xX_SpeedoX_x: bro did they patch chaos?
LamarFan4Life: 1.66 is dogwater. They fixed the Cayo Perico door glitch. No more solo gold. 💀
GrinderMommy: But the loading times are 4 seconds now? And no more orbital cannon exploit? I call that a win.
xX_SpeedoX_x: You don't get it. The glitches were the soul. The jank was the poetry.
He decided to prove it.
He drove to the Del Perro Pier. In 1.64, you could wedge a Dump truck into the merry-go-round and launch ferris wheel cars into the ocean. In 1.66, the collision meshes were so refined that the truck just… stopped. A polite error message appeared on screen: "Vehicle blocked. Try another activity."
Another activity. As if he hadn't been playing the same game for nine years.
He switched to single-player, hoping for salvation. But 1.66 had back-ported its "improvements." Michael’s yoga mission now had a skip button. Trevor’s rage mode lasted three seconds less. Franklin’s special ability recharged slower "for balance."
Balance. In a game about psychotic heists.
Marco walked his character into the ocean. In 1.64, the water physics were gloriously broken—you could surf a Jet Ski up the side of a tsunami wave. In 1.66, the water had realistic viscosity. His character sank with mournful elegance.
As the screen faded to black, a new loading tip appeared:
"Tip #4,782: In GTA V 1.66, over 1,400 'exploits' have been repaired. Enjoy a more curated Los Santos."
Curated. That was the word that broke him.
He ejected the disc—no, the digital license. There was no disc anymore. Just a certificate. Just permission to exist in a world that had been sterilized like a hospital floor. The city of Los Santos never slept, but
Later that night, he downloaded a cracked 1.64 client on his old PC. The framerate was 22 FPS. The textures bled into each other. The first cop he shot flew through a wall and kept running.
Marco wept with joy.
Epilogue
Rockstar released Update 1.67 three months later. It added a battle pass, removed the ability to sell cars over $50k, and "improved" the casino so that you could no longer win more than twice an hour.
Marco didn't update.
His crew called him a dinosaur. He called them sheep.
He still drives his Adder down the 1.64 highway, where the bridge still has a missing texture, where the sunset still clips through the mountains, and where, for just a second, the game feels like it loves him back.
Better?
1.64 had heart.
1.66 has health.
Choose your scar.
The transition from GTA V Title Update 1.64 to 1.66 represents a shift from major content expansion to critical security and stability refinement. While 1.64 added massive gameplay features, 1.66 is widely considered "better" for PC players specifically because it addressed dangerous security vulnerabilities that made GTA Online nearly unplayable. Update 1.64: The Content Heavyweight
Released in December 2022 as part of the Los Santos Drug Wars, this update focused on expanding the game world and improving the "quality of life" for players.
New Gameplay Content: Introduced the Acid Lab business, the Freakshop social space, and several new story missions.
Visual Enhancements (Next-Gen Only): Added Ray-Traced Reflections to Fidelity Mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, greatly improving reflections on glossy surfaces and water. Quality of Life Improvements:
Added the ability to hide phone contacts via a "Favorites" option.
Allowed Agatha Baker Casino Story Missions to be played solo. Bicycles can finally be requested from the Mechanic.
Removed the requirement to complete Hao's Intro Race to access HSW upgrades. Update 1.66: The Essential Security Fix
Released in February 2023, Update 1.66 was a smaller but vital patch designed to protect players from severe exploits.
Security Protocol: Implemented a new data protocol to fix a major messaging exploit on PC that allowed malicious users to corrupt player accounts or block access to the game. Stability Fixes:
Fixed an issue where some accounts were blocked due to modified stats from third parties.
Resolved a bug that incorrectly notified players they needed to complete the Prologue to access Online.
Fixed car windows missing reflections in certain graphics modes. Summary: Which is "Better"?
For Content: Update 1.64 is superior as it provides the actual missions, vehicles, and the Los Santos Drug Wars storyline.
For Safety & Performance: Update 1.66 is the essential standard. It is "better" in the sense that it made the PC version safe to play again by patching game-breaking security flaws that 1.64 did not address. GTAV Title Update 1.64 Notes (PS5 / PS4 / Xbox Series X
To decide which is better, you have to look at what you want from the game. Update 1.64 was a massive content drop that changed how people played the game, while Update 1.66 was a critical "behind-the-scenes" fix that made the game safe to play again. Update 1.64: The "Fun" Update Hex_V typed first, his fingers a blur
Released in December 2022 as part of the Los Santos Drug Wars, this update is arguably "better" for content.
New Content: It added the Acid Lab business, the Freakshop social space, and the "First Dose" story missions.
Major Features: Introduced Ray-Traced Reflections for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in Fidelity Mode.
Quality of Life: Finally allowed players to hide phone contacts, request bicycles from the mechanic, and play Agatha Baker’s Casino missions solo.
Economy: Tripled payouts for Smuggler's Run sell missions permanently. Update 1.66: The "Safety" Update
Released in early 2023, this update didn't add new cars or missions, but it was "better" for the game's long-term health, especially on PC.
Grand Theft Auto V Update 1.64 & 1.66: What's New and Improved
Rockstar Games has rolled out two new updates for Grand Theft Auto V, taking the game to version 1.64 and 1.66. While the updates may not bring any groundbreaking changes, they do include several improvements and bug fixes to enhance the overall gaming experience.
Update 1.64:
The update 1.64 for GTA V was released to address several issues and improve stability. Some of the key changes include:
Update 1.66:
Building on the improvements made in update 1.64, update 1.66 brings additional fixes and tweaks to GTA V. Some of the notable changes include:
What's Better?
So, what's improved in GTA V with these updates? Here are a few key takeaways:
Overall, while updates 1.64 and 1.66 may not bring any revolutionary changes to GTA V, they demonstrate Rockstar Games' continued commitment to supporting and improving the game. By addressing bugs, stability issues, and gameplay mechanics, the updates help ensure that players can continue to enjoy the game's vast open world and engaging gameplay.
Since Build 164 uses the new scheduler, you should remove old command line tweaks. Go to your Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA V\ folder and delete commandline.txt if it exists. Let the game auto-thread.
Updates 164–166 may not have added new cars or missions, but they delivered the kind of behind-the-scenes fixes that keep a live game healthy. For players who value reliable sessions, consistent physics, and a cleaner online environment, these patches are a welcome improvement—proof that incremental maintenance can have a big impact on enjoyment.
If you want, I can expand this into a longer review, add patch-note style details, or format it for a specific blog platform.
For over a decade, Grand Theft Auto V has been a titan of the gaming industry. From its PS3/Xbox 360 origins to the ray-traced glory of the PS5 and Series X, Rockstar Games has continually patched and updated the title. However, in the PC modding and performance tuning community, two numbers have recently caused a significant stir: Build 164 and Build 166.
If you have searched for "gta 5 grand theft auto v update 164 166 better," you are likely not a casual player driving around Los Santos. You are likely a modder, a performance optimizer, or a veteran returning to see if the game finally runs smoothly. The question on everyone’s mind is simple: Is Update 164/166 actually better than what came before?
Let’s break down the technical specs, the hidden changelogs, and the community verdict on whether these builds represent the definitive way to play GTA V on PC in 2025.
It has been a monumental year for Grand Theft Auto V. Nearly a decade after its initial release, Rockstar Games continues to evolve the sprawling metropolis of Los Santos. While the gaming world holds its breath for GTA 6, the developers have dropped two significant patches—Update 1.64 and Update 1.66—that have fundamentally changed the way we play.
If you’ve been away from the game or are wondering if it’s worth hopping back into your stolen sports car, the answer is a resounding yes. Here is why the 1.64 and 1.66 updates make GTA 5 a better experience for solo players, veterans, and newcomers alike.
If you updated and regret it, you can downgrade to Build 160 using tools like the GTA V Downgrader (available on GitHub). This restores mod compatibility but sacrifices the anti-cheat and texture streaming.