The Sims 3 with newer graphics card
Hi! I recently got a new pc with an Nvidia 3070 and my sims 3 game keeps freezing and lagging that it is unplayable. I've tried all of the performance and bug fixes from https://steamcommunity.com/sh...
Forum Discussion
@mbleier1000 I would suggest starting over with the fixes, so we can add them gradually and see if anything improves.
Remove any fixes and mods you might have added while fixing the game, then repair the game through Origin to restore it to the vanilla state. Also make sure that Windows and your NVIDIA drivers are up to date (check for Windows updates in your system settings, and use GeForce Experience app from NVIDIA to update to the latest drivers).
Go to Documents\Electronic Arts\ and either delete The Sims 3 folder, or move it somewhere safe, depending on if you wish to keep anything from it (like save files, if you have any).
First, you'll need to update the game's graphics files to recognize your RTX 3070. You can find the necessary files (GraphicsRules.sgr and GraphicsCards.sgr) in The Sims 3 installation folder, which is, by default, located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\. You should back up those files in case they need to be restored, then move them to your desktop for easier editing.
The instructions under the spoiler tag apply only to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 with device ID 2484.
Spoiler
GraphicsCards.sgr
1. Once you move it to your desktop, open GraphicsCards.sgr with Notepad.
2. Scroll until you find the line that says card 0x0fd1 "GeForce GT 650M". You can also use CTRL+F and paste the line to let Notepad search for it.
3. Above it, add a line where you'll insert information about your card: card 0x2484 "GeForce RTX 3070".
4. Once you're done, you should see something like this:
GraphicsRules.sgr
1. Once you move it to your desktop, open GraphicsRules.sgr with Notepad.
2. Near the top, there should be a line that says seti textureMemory 32. Replace 32 with 2048. Under that line, there should be a line that says setb textureMemorySizeOK false. Add a # before it, so it says # setb textureMemorySizeOK false.
3. Press CTRL+F and search for GTX 6??. It should lead you to a line that ends with: or match("${cardName}", "*GTX 6??*")). Replace GTX 6?? with RTX, so the line ends up like:
or match("${cardName}", "*RTX*")). Make sure you do not touch quotation marks and asterisks, or you risk breaking the file.
4. Save the changes and move GraphicsRules.sgr back to its original location, the Bin folder.
1. Once you move it to your desktop, open GraphicsCards.sgr with Notepad.
2. Scroll until you find the line that says card 0x0fd1 "GeForce GT 650M". You can also use CTRL+F and paste the line to let Notepad search for it.
3. Above it, add a line where you'll insert information about your card: card 0x2484 "GeForce RTX 3070".
4. Once you're done, you should see something like this:
vendor "NVIDIA" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de card 0x2484 "GeForce RTX 3070" card 0x0fd1 "GeForce GT 650M"5. Save the changes and move GraphicsCards.sgr back to its original location, the Bin folder.
card 0x0fd2 "GeForce GT 640M"
GraphicsRules.sgr
1. Once you move it to your desktop, open GraphicsRules.sgr with Notepad.
2. Near the top, there should be a line that says seti textureMemory 32. Replace 32 with 2048. Under that line, there should be a line that says setb textureMemorySizeOK false. Add a # before it, so it says # setb textureMemorySizeOK false.
3. Press CTRL+F and search for GTX 6??. It should lead you to a line that ends with: or match("${cardName}", "*GTX 6??*")). Replace GTX 6?? with RTX, so the line ends up like:
or match("${cardName}", "*RTX*")). Make sure you do not touch quotation marks and asterisks, or you risk breaking the file.
4. Save the changes and move GraphicsRules.sgr back to its original location, the Bin folder.
The next step is to limit your game's frame rate. The Steam guide did mention this, but it missed a step, so you should repeat it correctly.
- Open Nvidia Control Panel.
- Go to Manage 3D Settings -> Program Settings.
- In the dropdown menu (Select a program to customize), look for Sims 3 (TS3.exe); make sure it is not TS3W.exe.
- Under Specify the settings for this program, look for the following settings:
- Max Frame Rate (turn it on and set it to 60)
- Vertical Sync (turn it on).
- Apply these changes and close Nvidia Control Panel.
Now it would be a good time to test if these steps worked. Start the game, which should be reset to the factory state if you took out The Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts\ and try playing for a bit. Once you load into a world, use the cheat fps on to monitor the frame rate and make sure it does not go above 60. Once the game is open and the new DeviceConfig.log is generated, you can open it and check under Graphics device info that the changes made to the graphics files are working (it should say Found: 1, Matched: 1 for your card).
One tip I can offer from personal experience is to keep High Detail Lots on 1 or 2 if you move around the town a lot. Other settings you can max out if you want, but that one has caused lag for me when it was on high. You can, of course, experiment and see what works best for you.
hey! so I made these changes and my game is still freezing every few seconds or so. I checked the fps and im getting right around 58-60 fps consistently.
