Sims 3 crashing on new gaming laptop
Hi everyone, I've just splurged on a brand new gaming PC after running Sims 3 on my Macbook (mid 2010) for 10 years. While the gaming quality is excellent and feels like I'm playing a brand new game...
Forum Discussion
@puzzlezaddict thank you so much for all of your advice!
I'm wondering if this could be part of my issue? Trying to bring up NVIDIA control panel and got the attached message.
I will definitely try all of your other suggestions and get back to you. Thank you again for your help!
@Harriet13 That is an odd error—I don't think I've seen it before, at least on a system that did in fact have an Nvidia card and a properly installed driver—but try restarting your computer and opening the CP before you open any apps, especially before launching Sims 3. If you still can't access the CP, it might just be how the driver or some installed HP software works. Let me get back to you on that.
In the meantime, you can use RivaTuner Statistics Server to limit framerates instead. RTSS is a free download from Guru3D; go to the bottom of the page for the real download (as opposed to any ads that might show up). Once installed, you'll see something like this:
You can set a global limit, or one for TS3.exe (not TS3W, that's for disc or Steam installs). Set the fps limit (red box), and choose whether RTSS should start with Windows (yellow box). The other settings don't matter, although you can choose to have RTSS display your real-time fps if you want.
Unlike some other tools, RTSS does need to be running in the background to work, so make sure to minimize it rather than Xing it out.
Hey @puzzlezaddict thanks for all your help so far and sorry I haven't come back to you sooner, I haven't been able to play as much in the last week.
So initially all of your guidance worked amazingly. no crashes whatsoever - and then the other day my game started crashing again. The only difference is that because it had been running fine I reloaded Story Progression into my game - so I wonder if it could have been what triggered it perhaps? Needless to say, I've taken that mod back out but am still getting crashes.
I re-did your initial step as well as checked for all updates on my computer. I haven't uninstalled Origin "The Hard Way" again but I can if you think that's still part of the issue!
I also fixed the issue with my NVIDIA control panel telling me it's not enabled, so set my frame rate to 70fps now.
Here is the latest DXDiag:
Here is "Restore Health"
Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.Try the new cross-platform PowerShell https://aka.ms/pscore6
PS C:\windows\system32> DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.19041.572Image Version: 10.0.19042.572
[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.
PS C:\windows\system32>Here is "sfc /scannow"
Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.Try the new cross-platform PowerShell https://aka.ms/pscore6
PS C:\windows\system32> sfc /scannow
Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.
Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
@Harriet13 It looks like your system updated to the new Windows build: your first dxdiag listed builld 19041, and this one says 19042. While the new build may be quite similar to the old one, it's possible that it doesn't (yet) get along with the graphics drivers written for 19041. Do you have the option to revert? If so, it's worth trying.
StoryProgression is a heavy mod, and it can be even heavier if its overall speed is too fast or if you use a large number of add-ons. When adding it to your game, it's best to start with just the base mod, set the speed to slow or snail, and see how the game runs; then adjust from there.
If you can't or don't want to revert to an earlier Windows build, another approach is to try playing in a clean user data folder. Move your entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and when you launch the game, a clean folder will spawn with no content. Don't add anything to this folder yet; just start a new save and see how it runs. This wouldn't help at all with a system (driver or Windows) issue, but it's also possible that something in your user data folder has been corrupted and is causing the crashing, and this is a quick test to find out.
Hey @puzzlezaddict thank you again for such a speedy response!
So I actually already tried removing the save files from the game and going off a completely new save, but it didn't change anything unfortunately. I'll give it another go though, just in case.
I will have a go at reverting the update to see if that changes anything also!
I also have attached a new DXDiag from a new crash last night, as in between me messaging you and your response by computer updated (again). I'm not sure if that's useful to you at all but figured I'd include it anyway.
I'll get back to you if anything changes!
Thanks again
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