FPS drop after latest update (1.98.158.1020)

@dumbelf28  Sims 4 has had a problem with random fps drops for years now.  These can happen on any computer, even one with overpowered hardware that isn't being fully utilized.  Clicking the esc key helps some players, but not everyone.

Separately, I've noticed that after the update that was released alongside Growing Together, Sims 4 seems to respond badly to situations where the computer is almost out of memory.  This is new and different—it used to be that a lower-end computer with 4 GB RAM would still run the game okay, maybe not perfectly but definitely not with the serious performance issues I'm seeing now.

What I see now is that if a computer's main memory (RAM, not the page file) is almost all in use, Sims 4 can slow to a crawl, with low fps and delays in responding to clicks and sims standing around instead of following commands.  This is true even on computers with 8 GB installed memory, which should be enough for the system to manage its resources effectively.

In your case, I would try playing in a clean boot, not because I think the problem is some other program running alongside Sims 4 but because this is the way to free up the most RAM for the game itself.  The idea is to get to a point where your system memory is under 90% used even while you're playing.  If you notice more fps drops even without memory use close to maxed out, then it's a different problem.  If the game runs fine until RAM use goes over 90%, or 95%, or whatever the value is, you'll know that's the issue.

Here's how to do a clean boot:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

The one service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App needs in order to run.  Disable the rest as described.

When you reboot your computer, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down any service that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be enabled.  If you accidentally kill a critical process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.

If you can, I would suggest putting the EA App in offline mode before launching Sims 4 as well.  Sometimes the App doesn't like this, so don't worry if it doesn't work for you.  But if it does, that would help because it reduces the App's RAM use as well.