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Re: Sims 4 game freezing/crashing Intel Core Processor

@immunetree2 I can't see the photo of the PSU, because the virus scanner is still not letting anything through, but if it's the one that came with the Dell, that's enough.

On the download page for your system, Dell offers a newer BIOS than you have and has marked it as urgent. So if you're comfortable updating it, that's a good place to start. It looks like the update is to address security issues, not anything that would explain the computer freezes, but there might be some other useful feature that isn't listed.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/xps-8900-desktop/drivers

Your other drivers are all the recommended versions or newer ones, and there's no indication that any of them is an issue. You may want to update the Nvidia graphics driver though, since it's older than your Windows 10 build.

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/163531/en-us

Most of the crashes listed in your dxdiag are from Origin's update tool, and the others are from Dell's update tool. For the Dell tool, you can try uninstalling the Dell Digital Delivery Application and installing the version offered for your computer. That one is slightly older, hence the need to uninstall the current version, but it should update itself if necessary, and in the meantime you've removed an install that's potentially corrupt. For Origin, you may as well clear its cache, uninstall it "the hard way," and reinstall.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/manually-uninstalling-origin/

It's possible that none of this will address the crashes though. In your position, the best approach may be to log some hardware info and wait for another crash. If you'd like to do this, download hwinfo from here:

https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

You don't need to install anything if you don't want to; just choose the Portable version, unzip it, and launch it from Downloads or wherever you want. (If you would like to install, be sure to click the green button, not the orange one.) When you're ready to play, launch hwinfo, choose "sensors only," and click the icon that's a sheet of paper with a + sign to start logging. Save the file to your desktop for easy access later.

Wait five minutes before launching Sims 4, and play normally. If you don't get a crash, you can click the same icon to end logging, and just delete the log. (Or upload it if you want, and I'll take a look, but there might not be anything useful to see.) If you do get a crash, the log should be intact up to that point. Please upload it to a third-party free filehosting site and link it here; leave it in .csv format, or if you use OneDrive to share, please compress it in .zip format instead.

9 Replies

immunetree2
5 years ago
Updated the Nvidia graphics drive.
Uninstalled the Dell Digital Delivery Application and installed new version.
Cleared Origin cache.
Tried to log some hardware info and wait for another crash.
There's a new problem (that I'm sure I caused while trying to fix stuff yesterday). Every Time I try to run Origin, it starts "updating" without actually opening Origin itself and then Always says "UPDATE ERROR: Your update could not be completed. Please download and install the latest version of Origin." Which I did the first time this happened. But even when I try to open the sims (for instance, to log info) I just get this same thing.
I'm almost wondering if I shouldn't just reset my PC. Whatever I did wrong seems to be affecting other programs.
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
5 years ago
@immunetree2 Try clearing Origin's cache and uninstalling it "the hard way," then reinstalling using the full installer. I linked uninstall instructions before; here's a direct download link to the full installer:

http://download.dm.origin.com/origin/live/OriginSetup.exe

Run it as an admin: right-click on the installer and select "Run as administrator."

If you want to reset your PC, that's your choice, but I don't think you're necessarily at that point yet. And of course if this is a hardware issue, a software reset probably won't have any effect, unless you happen to get a driver that plays better with its component than the current one.
immunetree2
5 years ago
Thank you. My only concern is over how "severely damaging" it can be to mess up a hard uninstall, because I certainly still don't know what I'm doing and wouldn't want to make it any worse.
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
5 years ago
@immunetree2 The hard uninstall of Origin is a pretty common troubleshooting step, and it's not supposed to delete anything critical to the functioning of your computer. But if you'd prefer, you can instead use a free app like Revo Uninstaller to remove Origin. First, clear Origin's cache, if you've opened it at all since clearing the cache the last time. Then use Revo (regular or portable) to remove all traces of Origin, except for the Origin Games folder. Here's how:

Quit Origin, then right-click on the Task Bar and open the Task Manager. Scroll through looking for Origin entries. If you find any, click on them and End Task.

Download Revo Uninstaller from here (again, the free versions are fine).

Install Revo, open it, and uninstall Origin. When it's finished, Revo will ask you which cleaning method you want to use. Select "Moderate" and then Browse.

If Revo finds any remaining registry entries, select all, delete, and click Next.

Revo will display "Remaining Data and Folders. Select all of them except for the "Origin Games" folder. (This is where your Origin games are located by default.) Delete the rest.

Restart your computer.

When you're done, download the full Origin installer and run it as an admin.
immunetree2
5 years ago
Okay, so I did all that and obviously everything isn't magically fixed, bUT I opened the Sims while running hwinfo to get a crash log at about 8AM?? It's now after 11AM and I actually had to close the Sims because it was working too well??? (AKA wouldn't crash) But I figure it's only a matter of time, so I can keep running hwinfo in case it crashes and send you the report?
Also, thank you so much for all your help! You've been very kind and patient, and this isn't the first time you've helped me here. Every reply is so greatly appreciated.
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
5 years ago
@immunetree2 That works for me. Just set hwinfo to log data each play session, and if you don't get a crash, you can delete the log when you're done. If and when it does crash again, upload the log and post here, and I'll have a look.
immunetree2
5 years ago
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xzzpr8xly3jf1j9/Sims%204%20Crash%20log%209-24-2020%20%282%29.CSV?dl=0
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
5 years ago
@immunetree2 Sorry for the late reply; I didn't get a chance to go over the log until tonight. There is one clear issue: the temperature of your graphics card is much too high. You can see it here:

Strangely, the GPU fan isn't running at full load until the temperature gets over 90°, which is hotter than I'd expect the cutoff to be. There are apps you can use to force the fan to run faster at a lower temp, but the first thing to try is to clean the card's fan. Given its age, it may be coated in dust; please also make sure it spins properly and that there's nothing blocking airflow inside the case.

The temps of your other components are fine, although the sensors on one of your hard drives cut out about halfway through the log. That's not a warning sign itself, and the temperature was low enough at that point that there's no reason to worry; I'm just pointing out that the sensor may not be working.
immunetree2
5 years ago
I truly cannot thank you enough for all your help! You've been a godsend! If I had absolutely any money to spare, I would tip you, my friend.
Just knowing what you found is extremely helpful, plus I did clean out all the fans in my computer (as well as the rest of the computer itself) and already noticed a difference. Thank you so, so much and hopefully you won't be hearing from me again for some time. 🙂
Have a wonderful day!