Advanced Rendering - What in the Sim blazes is it you ask? Well read on..

I've tried it once and I didn't like the way it looked at all. My sims looked like plastic dolls, and my ceramic top stove had so much lighting on it, it looked like I was looking at a mirror. The water looked nice, but I could get good looking water with the setting I have. And you're right, it dropped the performance down so low it made the game unplayable. I think the game looks fine without the Advanced Rendering.