Disabling packs actually improves performance
Just yesterday, I was playing the Sims 3 with all the packs disabled. I was essentially playing Sims 3 base game because all the packs were installed but disabled/inactive, and apparently, I found out...
Forum Discussion
I think how many packs you can play with depends highly on what you are playing the game on. Since the Sims is the only game I play since Sims 1 came out up to and including Sims 3 (I have Sims 4 base game but don't play it) and I play on a desktop PC, I always made sure whatever PC I bought could handle the game. I'm playing right now with all packs enabled and most of the store, including all the worlds but have no mods or cc. It loads fast (under a minute) and I don't have many problems.
