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Camilavk24's avatar
Camilavk24
6 years ago
Solved

64 or 32? Help a non technological sister out

Hey, this is prob a super basic question, but I don't really know a lot about computers. I have around 4 ram, and I was told switiching to the 32 version would help with lag, but now with the whole legacy version of the sims 4 that doesn't seem to be working anymore (I downloaded the 32 "patch" and the game wont launch anymore) am I stuck with my laggy 64 version? Is there anything i can do before I upgrade my ram? I have little cc or mods, in order not to bog the game down, but something as simple as going to the park takes at least 5 min before it de-lags enough to play properly.

Thanks and sorry to bother.

pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    6 years ago

    @Camilavk24  Your motherboard only has two memory slots, but it can support up to 32 GB RAM total.  16 GB (one 8 GB stick in each slot) would be more than enough though, even 8 GB would be an improvement.  Your board supports a number of different models of RAM, although none will run at higher than 2133 MHz, so it would be a waste of money to get a faster speed.  You can see the list of compatible RAM types on this page, under the Memory tab:

    https://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Support/EN/Motherboard/H110M4-C23/Socket%201151

    You may also be able to install a dedicated graphics card.  The board supports a number of older cards, although I don't know how much room the case has.  (You could measure, or take the computer to a shop and ask.)  A dedicated card of reasonable strength will run the game much better than the integrated card you're currently using.  Graphics cards aren't cheap, but you might be able to find a moderately used one that would work.

    Depending on how powerful the new card is, you might also need a new power supply.  You can look at your current PSU and let me know the wattage and rating, if any, and I can give you an idea.

    You could install any of these parts yourself, or you could have them installed in a computer shop, whether you bought them there or elsewhere.  RAM is very easy to install, a graphics card is a bit more complicated but still straightforward; a new PSU means reconnecting the power cables to their respective components.

    All this depends on how much money you want to invest in this system.  It's not a terrible build, and you could make it significantly better with a few new parts.  On the other hand, you might prefer to wait until you're ready to get an entirely new computer.  Either approach is reasonable; the question is which one you prefer.

6 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @Camilavk24  Running Sims 4 with 4 GB RAM is almost always going to lag, unless you only have the base game and maybe a couple of early packs.  People's experiences vary somewhat, but the entire game takes up too much in the way of resources to run smoothly with less than 8 GB memory.

    Mods and custom content can slow down the game as well, although by how much depends on the particular files as well as how many of them you have.  If you want to see whether your content is causing problems, go into Documents\Electronic Arts and move your entire Sims 4 game folder to the desktop.  When you launch the game again, a clean folder will be created with no content.  Start a new save (no need to spend much time on it, this is just for testing) and play around a bit to see how it goes.

    The other thing you can do to help your computer is to not run anything else besides Origin and Sims 4 while you play.  Any other open app will use memory that the game needs for itself.  You can also change your Windows startup options to keep other apps from opening automatically.

    If you want to know what kinds of upgrades your computer might support, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.  This will also give information on other potential issues that might be causing lag.

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

    P.S.  You're not bothering anyone by asking.  That's the whole point of this site.

  • natsnorigin's avatar
    natsnorigin
    6 years ago

    I had 4GB Ram on my old pc and I did not lag that much as long as I turned my graphics settings down a little bit. I kept Sim detail very high though.

  • Camilavk24's avatar
    Camilavk24
    6 years ago

    Thank you! I actually don't even have too many packs but I would love to use more stuff from the gallery (those builds tend to be detailed and difficult to load) I'm going to try to upgrade sometime. I'll see if i can run the diagnosis you mentioned.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @Camilavk24  Your motherboard only has two memory slots, but it can support up to 32 GB RAM total.  16 GB (one 8 GB stick in each slot) would be more than enough though, even 8 GB would be an improvement.  Your board supports a number of different models of RAM, although none will run at higher than 2133 MHz, so it would be a waste of money to get a faster speed.  You can see the list of compatible RAM types on this page, under the Memory tab:

    https://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Support/EN/Motherboard/H110M4-C23/Socket%201151

    You may also be able to install a dedicated graphics card.  The board supports a number of older cards, although I don't know how much room the case has.  (You could measure, or take the computer to a shop and ask.)  A dedicated card of reasonable strength will run the game much better than the integrated card you're currently using.  Graphics cards aren't cheap, but you might be able to find a moderately used one that would work.

    Depending on how powerful the new card is, you might also need a new power supply.  You can look at your current PSU and let me know the wattage and rating, if any, and I can give you an idea.

    You could install any of these parts yourself, or you could have them installed in a computer shop, whether you bought them there or elsewhere.  RAM is very easy to install, a graphics card is a bit more complicated but still straightforward; a new PSU means reconnecting the power cables to their respective components.

    All this depends on how much money you want to invest in this system.  It's not a terrible build, and you could make it significantly better with a few new parts.  On the other hand, you might prefer to wait until you're ready to get an entirely new computer.  Either approach is reasonable; the question is which one you prefer.

  • Camilavk24's avatar
    Camilavk24
    6 years ago

    @puzzlezaddictWow that was throughout thanks! Honestly, I only use the pc for collage and to play the sims, so I think more ram would be a good improvement overall, as I can't really justify speding on a graphics cards and the game looks fine (i'm sure it provides other improvements as well but still). Anyway, thanks a lot for the insight, it was helpfull!

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