New computer, visual tearing error

If you have not already done so, you will need to cap the frame rates for that GTX 1050 card. Unlike more modern games, TS3 has no functional built-in fps limiter and a 1050 is powerful enough to run too high on those. The usual tool to use would be the Nvidia Control Panel to set up a profile for TS3.exe (for Patch 1.69) or TS3w.exe (with the "w" for Patch 1.67) to arrange vertical sync. If that's not enough to lock things in or if gameplay in windowed mode is required, then we add Nvidia Inspector which would be a separate download, and explicitly set the frame rate cap to the refresh rate of your monitor. Most are 60 Hz, so that would be 60 fps, some can run higher.

See this post, under the spoilers, for some excellent screenshots of the two tools.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16540301/#Comment_16540301

Runaway fps rates can lead to graphics glitches, poor performance, lag, screen tears, and can ultimately damage your card. To check the fps rates you are actually getting in-game, ctrl+shift+C to bring up the cheats console and type fps on (enter). As you play and move the game camera around, the displayed rate should never rise above 60 fps (or whatever the refresh rate of your monitor actually is). To switch the numeric display off, cheats panel again and fps off (enter).

If you still get screen tears when the fps capping is in place and verified, you may want to try switching off Win 10's Game Mode and perhaps try Windowed Borderless Gaming as sometimes that method of play works out better especially on Win 10 systems.
https://westechsolutions.net/sites/WindowedBorderlessGaming

Sounds like some progress, then. Are the screen tears any different/better in windowed vs. full screen mode? Was Windowed Borderless no help with those?

I guess the next thing to look at would be your resolution, is it the native one for your screen? And might your Nvidia drivers be in need of an update already?

"fatbat21;c-17112700" wrote:

"igazor;c-17112216" wrote:
Sounds like some progress, then. Are the screen tears any different/better in windowed vs. full screen mode? Was Windowed Borderless no help with those?

I guess the next thing to look at would be your resolution, is it the native one for your screen? And might your Nvidia drivers be in need of an update already?

I tried windows mode before, and it just made the game look bad such a big decrease in resolution. And is the tearing still bad for my card now? Or is it safe to play now that fps are limited. Also shouldn’t it be able to be closer to 60? Isn’t 30 kinda low for a computer like this?

Screen tearing isn't really bad for your card or computer, it's just incredibly distracting and annoying to play through. What's bad for the card is overworking the fps for no useful reason but you have already taken care of that. On the Control Panel, do you have vertical sync set to On (or Adaptive, whichever one works better), Triple Buffering On? You should bet getting better than 30 fps on that system, but it shouldn't be the end of the world if things hover around 30. Is Nvidia Inspector set to 60 or something around there explicitly in its Section 2 of its options?

On windowed mode, the point of the Windowed Borderless Gaming solution I linked to above is that the "window" takes up all but a very tiny part of the entire screen so it should look mostly just like full screen. Have you tried this solution? If your resolution is off-kilter in such a mode, then it might be that you have the resolution of your laptop itself set to a lower one than it and you might be happier with. And again, I would recommend checking with the computer manufacturer for any updates needed by your Nvidia drivers.

@fatbat21 What world are you playing in currently? Test in Sunset Valley to see if it's any better.

If that doesn't help, try cutting your internet connection entirely while you play. If you launch TS3 through Origin, sign in and put Origin in offline mode, then turn off wifi and/or pull the ethernet cable.

If that doesn't help either, please run a dxdiag, post the results at pastebin.com or some other free filesharing site, and link it here.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

@Rhiannon58 "On" is fine, and if it's not helping, try "Adaptive" next. Please make sure you're using the correct .exe for the game as well. You need TS3.exe for an Origin/1.69 install, and TS3W.exe (with the W) for a disc or Steam install.

Thanks everyone!

"fatbat21;c-17116164" wrote:
Also my fans track their speeds, how many rpms should the sims 3 be running at?

Am just applying logic here rather than some kind of advanced knowledge of system hardware.

But that's a hardware configuration question, meaning it depends on the fans and the rest of the system. It's not a game-specific metric. The correct answer, I guess, is the speed at which is required to keep the laptop cooled. If the fans are leaping into super high gear (sounds like an airplane getting ready to take off) through routine gameplay, then you wouldn't want to prevent them from doing so or your laptop will overheat. Instead we would want to find out why the game is stressing out such a capable system so much, is the play environment too warm, maybe a laptop cooling pad is required, etc.

This is what I’m playing on https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-nitro-5-15-6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-1tb-hard-drive-shale-black/6212601.p?skuId=6212601

"igazor;c-17112077" wrote:
If you have not already done so, you will need to cap the frame rates for that GTX 1050 card. Unlike more modern games, TS3 has no functional built-in fps limiter and a 1050 is powerful enough to run too high on those. The usual tool to use would be the Nvidia Control Panel to set up a profile for TS3.exe (for Patch 1.69) or TS3w.exe (with the "w" for Patch 1.67) to arrange vertical sync. If that's not enough to lock things in or if gameplay in windowed mode is required, then we add Nvidia Inspector which would be a separate download, and explicitly set the frame rate cap to the refresh rate of your monitor. Most are 60 Hz, so that would be 60 fps, some can run higher.

See this post, under the spoilers, for some excellent screenshots of the two tools.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16540301/#Comment_16540301

Runaway fps rates can lead to graphics glitches, poor performance, lag, screen tears, and can ultimately damage your card. To check the fps rates you are actually getting in-game, ctrl+shift+C to bring up the cheats console and type fps on (enter). As you play and move the game camera around, the displayed rate should never rise above 60 fps (or whatever the refresh rate of your monitor actually is). To switch the numeric display off, cheats panel again and fps off (enter).

If you still get screen tears when the fps capping is in place and verified, you may want to try switching off Win 10's Game Mode and perhaps try Windowed Borderless Gaming as sometimes that method of play works out better especially on Win 10 systems.
https://westechsolutions.net/sites/WindowedBorderlessGaming

Hi!!! Thank you so much, so I’m still getting some tearing in cas, and a bit less in live mode, now my fps is around 30 ish. Is there another step i should do. Also my fans are a lot calmer now! I’m glad you responded!!

Visual tearing issue. Is there where the top of the screen shreds or looks torn, streaked? If so, that's what I'm seeing when I try to play TS2 (or 3 for that matter) on my laptop. I posted about it in this thread:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/960723/screen-flickering-when-trying-to-run-ts2-on-my-laptop#latest

"igazor;c-17112216" wrote:
Sounds like some progress, then. Are the screen tears any different/better in windowed vs. full screen mode? Was Windowed Borderless no help with those?

I guess the next thing to look at would be your resolution, is it the native one for your screen? And might your Nvidia drivers be in need of an update already?

I tried windows mode before, and it just made the game look bad such a big decrease in resolution. And is the tearing still bad for my card now? Or is it safe to play now that fps are limited. Also shouldn’t it be able to be closer to 60? Isn’t 30 kinda low for a computer like this?