Re: Sims 3 graphics distorted on new gaming laptop

@Kimmi81  To be honest, I think there might be a problem with the Nvidia graphics card.  I'm not saying that there definitely is, but this is unusual behavior even for an old game like Sims 3; I've only seen it with Intel Arc GPUs (not your Xe graphics, the discrete cards released a couple years ago) with early drivers.  Even if your other games are fine, I'd still suggest running a couple of benchmarks.  The 3DMark demo, free through Steam, includes Time Spy and Firestrike, and it's worth running those a few times to look for crashes or graphical anomalies.

If you don't find anything and don't want to pursue this further, using the Xe graphics for Sims 3 is fine if not ideal.  But since this is a new laptop, it would be better to find out about any issues now, while it's under warranty, rather than later.

@puzzlezaddict I didn't see Firestrike in the 3DMark Demo, but ran Time Spy. It looked perfectly fine. I included the results.

After following the steps in this thread: How-To: Get Sims 3 to Recognize a New Graphics Card (carls-sims-4-guide.com) I managed to get the graphic cards recognised, I guess. The DeviceConfig now says found: 1, matched: 1. However, the graphics still look the same. New DeviceConfig below:

=== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2918 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 3491 RAM: 32472 Adjusted RAM: 31960 Cores: 20
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows 8 6.2.9200
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 6
OS minor ver: 2
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: GenuineIntel
Brand: 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900H
Family: 6
Model: 10
Cores: 20
HT: 0
x64: 0
Memory: 32472MB
Free memory: 19363MB
User:
Computer:
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU
Name (database): GeForce RTX 3070 Ti [Found: 1, Matched: 1]
Vendor: NVIDIA
Chipset: Vendor: 10de, Device: 24e0, Board: 15991025, Chipset: 00a1
Driver: nvldumd.dll, Version: 31.0.15.5161, GUID: D7B71E3E-67A0-11CF-BC67-96350EC2D235
Driver version: 5161
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 1024MB
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1

@Kimmi81  That looks good; your card is properly recognized and rated this time.  I'm not surprised it didn't help with the graphics glitches though.

The Time Spy score is a little low, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything, for example even moving the mouse while the test is running can cause a slight decrease in performance; having other apps open at the same time would have a larger effect.  So I think it's worth clean-uninstalling and reinstalling both graphics drivers, as described here:

https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/02/clean-re-install-of-graphics-drivers-with-display-driver-uninstaller-ddu.html

For now, use the drivers Acer provides for your laptop, listed here:

https://www.acer.com/us-en/support/product-support/Predator_PH315-55

You'll want the VGA Driver (UMA) from Intel and the VGA Driver (3070 ti, although they're all the same driver) from Nvidia.  Skip GeForce Experience for now.  The proper order of operations is uninstall the Nvidia driver > uninstall the Intel driver > restart > reinstall the Intel driver > restart > reinstall the Nvidia driver > restart, all while your computer is offline.

At this point, please test the game.  If you're still seeing graphical glitches, please move the angle of the screen around and see whether it makes a difference.  It probably won't, but it's worth doing on the off chance there's something slightly wrong with the connection to the screen that only shows up when you're using the dedicated card.

If that doesn't help, please limit the in-game framerates again, this time to 60, and see whether that makes a difference.  Please also let me know whether the limit is being respected, via the fps on cheat.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you so much for all your help so far. I did the clean uninstall and reinstall of the drivers: no further improvement

I limited the FPS to 60: no further improvement

FPS limit is being respected. 

I also ran TimeSpy again, see attached.

@Kimmi81  The Time Spy score is somewhat better, and within the range expected of your hardware.  (Some variation can be due to how the manufacturer tuned the laptop and isn't necessarily indicative of a problem.)  So try the newest driver from Nvidia instead:

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/221746/en-us/

Run the installer as an admin: right-click the download and select "Run as administrator."  Select the Custom (not Express) install method, and make sure that GeForce Experience is NOT selected.  Restart after installing the driver and before trying to play.

If that doesn't help, try installing the newest driver for your iGPU as well.  Depending on how your laptop is wired, the iGPU and driver may be part of the graphics pipeline even when an application is using the Nvidia card.  Why this would only affect the graphics when the Nvidia card is in use, I don't know, but it's certainly a possibility.  You can get the driver here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/132214/intel-core-i912900h-processor-24m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz/downloads.html

Run this one as an admin as well, and restart before testing.

It's typically best to use the graphics drivers that the laptop manufacturer provides, especially for the integrated chip in a dual-GPU machine.  But that's only true as long as there aren't any graphics-related issues.  At worst, you'll need to DDU the drivers and reinstall them, just like you already did, which is inconvenient but not enough of a problem to avoid trying the newer driver.

@puzzlezaddict Sorry, it took me a while to get back to you. I do appreciate all your help. After installing the newest drivers, the problem persists. HOWEVER! Not in windowed mode. Now I hate playing in windowed mode (I need edge scrolling), so I'd love to get a bit further with this, but I guess this is something... Any more ideas?

In addition: I tried playing a save on the integrated graphics card and it crashed about three minutes in. I could send the xcpt report, but I'm pretty sure it was due to playing on the integrated card, because I then switched to the Nvidia card and was able to play the same save without any crashes. 

So basically, at the moment, I only have bad options:

1. I play on the integrated video card: good graphics, but crashes are pretty much guaranteed.

2. I play on the Nvidia video card on full screen: no crashes, but distortion in movement, no smooth experience.
3. I play on the Nvidia videocard in windowed mode: no crashes, good graphics, but all the annoyances of playing in windowed mode.

Am I out of options? Would I have been better off buying another laptop (advice welcome)? Is there something wrong with the video card?

@Kimmi81  Try Windowed Borderless Gaming and see if it works for you:

https://westechsolutions.net/sites/WindowedBorderlessGaming/

You can also try this tool, which forces vertical sync in DirectX 9 games:

https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/84-d3doverrider/?changelog=32

On the other hand, if you're still within the return window for this laptop, it's worth considering getting a different one.  I'm not saying that this model is defective, because it appears to be fine, but your issue is absolutely not normal and has me concerned enough to suggest that other options are worth pursuing.  I don't think it's worth spending a lot of extra money to switch to a laptop that will probably (but not certainly) not have this issue, but for me at least, it would be worth the inconvenience of starting over with a new machine.

I've heard from other players using the same or a lower-end Intel iGPU who can play without any major issues, so it's also not a good sign that your game is crashing on the iGPU.  But that might be fixable with a hard fps limit, if you want to try it.  I don't know whether Intel has added an fps limiter to its graphics control panel, but if not, RivaTuner Statistics Server works well and is lightweight (and free).  It does need to be running while you play, but it can be minimized to the system tray.

@puzzlezaddict I will try the Windowed Borderless Gaming but do wonder in advance if edge scrolling will work on that, since that is what I need the most.

Additionally, some searching has led me to more topics, not specifically related to The Sims 3, about similar distortion in full-screen mode with different games on Windows 11. Possible solutions suggest disabling Fullscreen Optimization for the .exe of the game in question. I think that could possibly be a solution, but I can't try it, because when I click the box to turn off the Fullscreen Optimization, the game won't start up at all anymore. I think maybe this conflicts with the Alder Lake Patch? 

Does any of this make sense? Sorry to take up so much of your time. 

@Kimmi81  Fullscreen optimization settings shouldn't conflict with the Alder Lake patch, but you can try the Task Manager workaround for the Alder Lake issue instead.  That should confirm whether the issues are related.  Here's the walkthrough:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11720109#M251930

Please don't apologize for taking up my time.  I wouldn't do this if I didn't enjoy it, and I want to figure this out both to help you and because it's an interesting problem, and I might learn something useful.

I managed to turn off the full screen optimization and get the game to run. However, results remain the same. I'm trying the windowed borderless thing, although if that doesn't give me edge scrolling, it's of no use. 

@Kimmi81  I would still recommend trying D3DOverrider at some point.  It was built for issues similar to yours, issues that were much more common 15 years ago.  I'm not saying it will definitely fix the problem, but it might, and if so, that would be a simple workaround.

@puzzlezaddict I downloaded D3DOverrider, but when I try to run it, nothing happens... Maybe a Windows 11 incompatibility?

Also, I noticed this (see screenshot), does that mean anything, have any effect?

@Kimmi81  Did you have a game or anything else graphically demanding open when you took this screenshot?  Please let me know either way.  It could be a problem or nothing at all.

Please also post a screenshot of how Sims 3 looks in windowed borderless mode, and a screenshot of your in-game graphics settings when using borderless.  I'd also like a screenshot of what the game looks like in fullscreen mode now, since it's better but not fixed.  Finally, please post a current dxdiag.  I'm asking someone for a second opinion on this and want to be thorough.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you for your reply and all your help.

I didn't have a game open when I took that screenshot. I took another screenshot when I had Sims 3 running (in full-screen mode). Since I can only add three files to one reply, I'll add that to a new reply, along with the dxdiag, and attach the screenshots of the game to this one. 

I also added the information you asked for. I named the attached screenshots either "full screen"  or " windowed"  for reference. Do note that the full-screen pictures are not actual screenshots because I can't figure out how to time that well (on movement and in full screen), so I took those with my phone. The blurriness is because of that, but the distortion (defragmentation, maybe?) shown is accurate to the way it looks in the game. 

@puzzlezaddict I attached the game screenshots to the previous reply. Adding the Nvidia GPU Activity shot and the current dxdiag to this one.

@puzzlezaddict Can I ask another question? Do you think there's actually something wrong with my GPU? I mean, I could possibly settle for playing in windowed mode, but if there''s an actual issue with my GPU, I still rather send this laptop back.
I managed to run Fire Strike and added the results

Hi @Kimmi81 

I am the person @puzzlezaddict spoke to about your case. (Don't know why she never uses my name, she might be ashamed of me. 😛 )

You said the distortion only happens in moving images, so only if you move the camera, or if something moves in game?
Can you see the distortion in real screenshots at all? (A screenshot on a computer is not really a photo of the screen but taken from memory (RAM), meaning that if there are no distortion in a real screenshot the problem might be the monitor, and not the GPU.)

There are no distortions whatsoever in Time Spy or Fire Strike nor in any other application?

@Kimmi81 

There are three settings:

1. high-performance NVIDIA processor

2. Integrated graphics.

3. Auto-select.

Any laptop that is not stationary and always plugged in should use point 3, Auto Select.

That way the system will choose the appropriate GPU for the task at hand. This shouldn't cause any graphical artefacts, of course.

Auto Select is the default setting, wasn't that the case on your system?

What happens if you choose "Auto select"? (Edit: Restart the system after changing the settings.)

@holger1405 It was (and is, because I put it back to that now that I know what's going on and I decided to play windowed anyway), but when playing TS3 the system didn’t automatically pick the Nvidia option.

@Kimmi81  What about using auto-select in the Nvidia control panel and telling Windows to use the Nvidia card?  The setting is under Windows Settings > System > Display > Graphics settings; you'd click Browse and find the game (ts3w again) on the list, and choose the high-performance option.

@puzzlezaddict That was the next thing I have tried (I had actually already found that myself, I was quite proud lol). This gets ignored by the system. In the sense that, while it holds (the preference is noted and saved), when starting the game, display still chooses the integrated card upon game start up. 

@Kimmi81 

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Kimmi81 wrote:

This gets ignored by the system. In the sense that, while it holds (the preference is noted and saved), when starting the game, display still chooses the integrated card upon game start up. 

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It still does not recognise the setting even if you reboot before playing?

@holger1405 Nope.

Even though the setting is saved like it should be (if I go back to check in display settings, it has the high-performance card assigned to TS3W.exe in settings), as I go back to the game in full-screen mode, the distortion is back, and the Nvidia GPU panel says the game (application) is running on the high-performance card, but still, no displays are connected to this GPU. Only when I go to the Nvidia control panel and change it so the display always uses the high-performance card, everything looks okay. 

I'm okay with it, though. I'm getting used to right-click scrolling, which gives me the same options as edge scrolling, and I think I might even prefer windowed borderless now. And if I do wish to play the game in full-screen mode without distortion, I know what to do now.

I'm willing to keep trying things and experimenting some more to help other players, though, so any more suggestions are still welcome.