Sims 3 crashing every 5 minutes

@holzybolzy2002  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

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

Please also let me know whether you've taken any steps to limit your in-game framerates.  This is necessary on many modern systems because Sims 3 doesn't have a built-in fps limiter, and it's easy enough to do.  If you need help with the process, just ask.

Thank you, i've attached the DxDiag. Could you please run me through the process for limiting my in-game framerates please? I've put my game in windowed mode if that helps

@holzybolzy2002  First of all, your dxdiag lists a couple of crashes of the graphics driver and one of its control software, so it's a good idea to do a clean uninstall and reinstall of the driver.  (I can't tell whether they're Sims 3-related, but this issue should be addressed regardless.)  Here's how:

https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/02/clean-re-install-of-graphics-drivers-with-display-driver-uninstaller-ddu.html

You can get a fresh copy of the newest driver here:

https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/amd-radeon-hd/amd-radeon-hd-7000-series/amd-radeon-hd-7750

It doesn't matter whether you have the HD 7750 or another GPU—your dxdiag just says 7700 series—but the driver is the same for all 7700-series cards, and in fact a number of others.

Once you've reinstalled the driver, you'll need to download a third-party tool to limit in-game fps.  If you're going to use the Smooth Patch, by Lazy Duchess, the newer versions come with an fps limiter, so that's an easy option.  Otherwise, the most lightweight tool I know of that works in both fullscreen and windowed modes is RivaTuner Statistics Server.  Once you've installed it, restart your computer, open it, and you'll see something like this:

Click the green Add button, add TS3.exe (without the W), and in the red box, set the framerate limit to 59, the current refresh rate of your monitor.  (If you get screen tearing, you can change this to 60.)  Set it to start with Windows if you want, or not (yellow box).  RTSS does need to be running while you play in order to force the fps limit, so if you're not going to remember to launch it each time, allowing it to start with Windows is helpful.  It won't affect any other games or applications aside from the ones you add to the list.

Restart your computer again before trying to play, and make sure RTSS is running: you should see it in the tray, which you can open by clicking the ^ icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.  Then confirm that the fps limit is working, which you can do by bringing up the cheats console (ctrl-shift-C) and entering fps on.  The number will appear in the upper-right corner of the screen.

Let me know how the game runs with the framerate limit in place, and we can go from there.

Hi again, sorry for the late reply. I downloaded the smooth patch mod you reccomended and unfortunetly it didn't work. I've downoaded the RivaTuner one however it wont open for me. Ive downloaded it and successfully installed it but whenever i try to open it nothing happens at all. Is there a step i maybe missed? I've attached a screenshot of the file location i saved it in. I right click and select open on the "RTSS" application.

@holzybolzy2002  RTSS may be running in the tray, so please click the ^ icon and look for it there.  You can also check the Task Manager.

I did need to restart my computer after installing RTSS to get it to work, so please do that too if you haven't already.

By the way, the Smooth Patch's fps limit needs to be manually enabled, so perhaps that was the step missing when you tried that approach.

You were right it was running in the tray, i hadn't thought to check there. I did everything you suggested and my sims was running at 58 fps however it stilled crashed after 5 minutes, the fps had gone down to 55, so it didn't work ☹️

@holzybolzy2002  I think it's time for some hardware monitoring.  Please download hwinfo (it's free) from here:

https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

You don't need to install anything; just choose the Portable version, unzip it, and launch it from Downloads or wherever you like.  If you do want the full installer, be sure to click the button for hwinfo itself, not for lansweeper.

Restart your computer, open hwinfo, choose Sensors Only, and click the button that's a sheet of paper with a + to start logging.  Save the log file to your desktop for easy access.  Wait five minutes, then open Sims 3 and play until it crashes.  Don't alt-tab out of the game or run any other programs, aside from the EA App of course, while you're testing.  When you're done, click the same button to stop the logging.

Please upload the log to the third-party filesharing site of your choice (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and link it for me.  Either leave it in .csv format or, if you're going to use OneDrive, create a .zip file, and don't open the log before uploading it, or else my log reader might not be able to interpret it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1heAjK9WkOevyiQaQ3VYbR3lg9hgqqOeH/view?usp=share_link

i used google drive and i think i've done it right? the link is attached in the reply.

@holzybolzy2002  Sorry for the late reply.  I went over the log twice and didn't find anything suspicious, but that isn't conclusive, obviously.  To be thorough, what power supply does this computer have?  What exact graphics card do you have, and what supplemental connectors, if any, are plugged into it?  This is data that's usually in an hwinfo log, but it appears your hardware doesn't have those sensors.

For the power supply, I'd like the manufacturer, model name, wattage, and rating, all of which you can see on the unit itself.  You'll probably need to take off a side panel, but that's it.  For the graphics card, if the exact model doesn't show in the Device Manager (Windows key-X, Device Manager, Display adapters), try the Task Manger's Performance tab or Windows Settings > System > Display > Advanced Display Settings.  I already know it's a 7700-series card; I'm looking for the exact model.

Also to be thorough, please try playing in a new admin Windows account.  Make it a local account, as in, don't sign into Microsoft, and don't sync with any other services you normally use.  You'll be able to launch Sims 3 without reinstalling anything, but your saves and other content won't be available.  That can be addressed later; for now, just start a new save and see how it runs.  Use RTSS to limit the framerates again, but don't open anything else, aside from the EA App, while you're playing.

Its a Corsair CV450 for the power supply i think, that's all i could find on the actual unit. As for the graphics card it says AMD Radeon HD 7700 series and theres no supplemental connectors. Sorry if any of that doesnt seem right, im not too good with all this so i asked my friend to help me out, hence the late reply again. I ran the game in a different account but the same thing happened as when i usually launch the game.