Melted Graphics Cards?

I recently downloaded the Sims 3 on my computer again and it crashed (to no surprise). On my old computer it would crash all the time but my new computer is a bit better though so I did a quick Google search to try and figure out why the game is so prone to crashing. Is it true that the game can literally melt your graphics card? Are vsync/frame rate limiters recommend, and how do they work/how do I install them (I'm not extremely tech savvy). My computer already has some issues and I recently replaced the hard drive, and I just want what is best for it. Any advice for making the game run smoother is appreciated, thank you!