I see, thank you for your help! If my laptop does end up being able to run one of the most demanding packs, is there any between the four that would be less strenuous, or are they all about the same?
hI! Did you have any luck with your MX330 running Sims 3?
@Edgstorm Are you looking to buy a new laptop, or do you already have one with an MX330? If you're shopping now, you could do better and might save a bit of money by going with a high-end integrated graphics chip, e.g. the one in an Intel i7-1165G7 or an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U. Even the next-best options would still likely do better than an MX330.
If you already have the computer, there's no harm in trying to play. The base game and the earliest expansions should be totally fine; Pets and Seasons may not be; the ones in between can be hit or miss in this class of laptop. Stuff packs are always fine.
Hey, thanks for replying so quickly, I already have the laptop with mentioned graphics card, issue here is: the game does not recognize it and starts with the internal one.
@Edgstorm There are two separate issues. One is that Sims 3 won't recognize any newer cards, as in, it won't know what they are, because they're not in the game's database. But that shouldn't prevent the card from being used, just give you the "unrecognized card" message. The other is if it's not using the card at all.
The way to see which card the game is using is to go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3, open deviceconfig.log, and look for the listed card, about 30 lines down. If it says MX330, even if it's not found or matched, that's fine. You can still add the card to the game's database if you'd like; just post that section of deviceconfig, between "Graphics device info" and "Options," here.
If your integrated chip is being used, you can force the game to use the Nvidia card through Windows settings. Hit Windows key-i, select System > Display > Graphics Settings, click Browse, select TS3.exe (for an Origin install) or TS3W.exe (for a disc or Steam install), click Options, and choose High performance, which should correspond to the MX330. Save the setting, launch the game, and check deviceconfig again: it should now list your dedicated card.
