Sims 3 graphics distorted on new gaming laptop

@Kimmi81  Fullscreen optimization settings shouldn't conflict with the Alder Lake patch, but you can try the Task Manager workaround for the Alder Lake issue instead.  That should confirm whether the issues are related.  Here's the walkthrough:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11720109#M251930

Please don't apologize for taking up my time.  I wouldn't do this if I didn't enjoy it, and I want to figure this out both to help you and because it's an interesting problem, and I might learn something useful.

I managed to turn off the full screen optimization and get the game to run. However, results remain the same. I'm trying the windowed borderless thing, although if that doesn't give me edge scrolling, it's of no use. 

@Kimmi81  I would still recommend trying D3DOverrider at some point.  It was built for issues similar to yours, issues that were much more common 15 years ago.  I'm not saying it will definitely fix the problem, but it might, and if so, that would be a simple workaround.

@puzzlezaddict I downloaded D3DOverrider, but when I try to run it, nothing happens... Maybe a Windows 11 incompatibility?

Also, I noticed this (see screenshot), does that mean anything, have any effect?

@Kimmi81  Did you have a game or anything else graphically demanding open when you took this screenshot?  Please let me know either way.  It could be a problem or nothing at all.

Please also post a screenshot of how Sims 3 looks in windowed borderless mode, and a screenshot of your in-game graphics settings when using borderless.  I'd also like a screenshot of what the game looks like in fullscreen mode now, since it's better but not fixed.  Finally, please post a current dxdiag.  I'm asking someone for a second opinion on this and want to be thorough.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you for your reply and all your help.

I didn't have a game open when I took that screenshot. I took another screenshot when I had Sims 3 running (in full-screen mode). Since I can only add three files to one reply, I'll add that to a new reply, along with the dxdiag, and attach the screenshots of the game to this one. 

I also added the information you asked for. I named the attached screenshots either "full screen"  or " windowed"  for reference. Do note that the full-screen pictures are not actual screenshots because I can't figure out how to time that well (on movement and in full screen), so I took those with my phone. The blurriness is because of that, but the distortion (defragmentation, maybe?) shown is accurate to the way it looks in the game. 

@puzzlezaddict I attached the game screenshots to the previous reply. Adding the Nvidia GPU Activity shot and the current dxdiag to this one.

@puzzlezaddict Can I ask another question? Do you think there's actually something wrong with my GPU? I mean, I could possibly settle for playing in windowed mode, but if there''s an actual issue with my GPU, I still rather send this laptop back.
I managed to run Fire Strike and added the results

Hi @Kimmi81 

I am the person @puzzlezaddict spoke to about your case. (Don't know why she never uses my name, she might be ashamed of me. 😛 )

You said the distortion only happens in moving images, so only if you move the camera, or if something moves in game?
Can you see the distortion in real screenshots at all? (A screenshot on a computer is not really a photo of the screen but taken from memory (RAM), meaning that if there are no distortion in a real screenshot the problem might be the monitor, and not the GPU.)

There are no distortions whatsoever in Time Spy or Fire Strike nor in any other application?

@Kimmi81 

There are three settings:

1. high-performance NVIDIA processor

2. Integrated graphics.

3. Auto-select.

Any laptop that is not stationary and always plugged in should use point 3, Auto Select.

That way the system will choose the appropriate GPU for the task at hand. This shouldn't cause any graphical artefacts, of course.

Auto Select is the default setting, wasn't that the case on your system?

What happens if you choose "Auto select"? (Edit: Restart the system after changing the settings.)

@holger1405 It was (and is, because I put it back to that now that I know what's going on and I decided to play windowed anyway), but when playing TS3 the system didn’t automatically pick the Nvidia option.

@Kimmi81  What about using auto-select in the Nvidia control panel and telling Windows to use the Nvidia card?  The setting is under Windows Settings > System > Display > Graphics settings; you'd click Browse and find the game (ts3w again) on the list, and choose the high-performance option.

@puzzlezaddict That was the next thing I have tried (I had actually already found that myself, I was quite proud lol). This gets ignored by the system. In the sense that, while it holds (the preference is noted and saved), when starting the game, display still chooses the integrated card upon game start up. 

@Kimmi81 

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Kimmi81 wrote:

This gets ignored by the system. In the sense that, while it holds (the preference is noted and saved), when starting the game, display still chooses the integrated card upon game start up. 

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It still does not recognise the setting even if you reboot before playing?

@holger1405 Nope.

Even though the setting is saved like it should be (if I go back to check in display settings, it has the high-performance card assigned to TS3W.exe in settings), as I go back to the game in full-screen mode, the distortion is back, and the Nvidia GPU panel says the game (application) is running on the high-performance card, but still, no displays are connected to this GPU. Only when I go to the Nvidia control panel and change it so the display always uses the high-performance card, everything looks okay. 

I'm okay with it, though. I'm getting used to right-click scrolling, which gives me the same options as edge scrolling, and I think I might even prefer windowed borderless now. And if I do wish to play the game in full-screen mode without distortion, I know what to do now.

I'm willing to keep trying things and experimenting some more to help other players, though, so any more suggestions are still welcome. 

@Kimmi81 

I got that, my question is if you restarted the computer (a real Restart, not just shutting down and then starting it again.) after setting the global NVIDIA control panel setting to "Auto-select" and the game specific setting (ts3w.exe) to "high-performance NVIDIA processor" and before you played?
(Both should be set in this way.)

It can happen that such settings are not really set if the system is not restarted. (This shouldn't happen and is rare, but just to be safe.)

@holger1405 Yes. I did. I can do it again to double check though?

Edit: double checked. Same result.

@Kimmi81 

OK, thanks for checking. But then there seems to be a clear configuration problem on this laptop.

It might be a driver problem, but after clean reinstallation of the driver this seems rater unlikely.
(You used DDU to reinstall both drivers, the Intel and the NVIDIA one?)

I did. 

I agree this might be a specific problem with this laptop. However, and this is probably my stubborn character, but I don't think I want to go through the trouble of sending this laptop back, getting a new one and setting everything up again for an issue I probably won't encounter again anyway. 🤷🏼‍♀️