Is it true I need a new graphics card?

@paolaelectra  I'm sorry, but your computer doesn't support a graphics card upgrade.  R7A360 isn't a proper graphics card, just a mobile graphics chip designed for laptops and all-in-one computers.

The driver for that mobile chip is also very out of date.  Unfortunately, AMD never released drivers for this particular chip, leaving it to the manufacturers of the systems the chip was in.  HP hasn't released a newer driver since the one you have either.  So I'm not really sure there's a good option here.

Hello @puzzlezaddict! 

So there's no hope for me, no way I can play The Sims 4 anymore (properly, pc runs it, but poorly) except maybe by buying a brand new computer?

Again 💔

@paolaelectra  A new computer with reasonably strong hardware would handle Sims 4 better, for sure.  But if that's not currently a reasonable option, you should theoretically still be able to play on this one, with some adjustments.  If the game still lags no matter what, that suggests there's another system issue that needs to be addressed.

Please move your entire Sims 4 user data folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.  (Even if you've done it recently, start fresh again.)  Restart your computer, and don't open anything aside from Origin.  Set Origin to offline mode, then take your computer completely offline, as in, disable wifi and/or unplug the ethernet cable.  Launch the game, and set the in-game resolution to 1280x720; stay on fullscreen; don't change any other settings yet.  Start a new save and play for an hour or so.  Let me know how it runs initially and whether the lag appears or gets significantly worse as time goes on.

Hello again @puzzlezaddict!

Well, I did and guess what?

May 24, 2020 14:54 my time.

Start the game (I've already created a Sim and placed her in the world)

Placed the "Restaurant" that comes with some expansion, takes 5 mins aprox.

After that, I start my game like you said, brand new, no Origin connection, no internet connection and no other program running (I disabled everything disableable)

It took 10 secs for me to hear the "starting music" (you know which one, right?) so yay!

But uh oh... game really started 1:50 mins after the sweet sound of starting music.

Household: 1 Sim. World: San Myshuno. There are 3 Sims outside my apartment. With a fruitcake.

After around a minute into the game:

I have to pause/unpause my Sim to perform given action.

I have to cancel bathing since Sim's hygiene bar is full and she's still playing in the bathtub. I open the calendar so canceling works, otherwise Sim would keep on bathing.

Annoying sound and repetition of Sims' voices.

Flickering screen.

Sim time: 20:28 Real time 15:11

Sim starts reading a book, progress bar stops so I pause/unpause. Ventilator sound.

Needs bar low as to be in red remains green.

I unzoom cam, action bar progresses.

Sim time: 22:39 Real time: 15:15

Needs bar finally had turned yellow (Hunger)

Ventilator noise: progress and needs bars are neither dropping nor filling. Sound stops, bars move.

Sim time: 00:39 Real time: 15:18

Pause/unpause: both bars progress (remember Sim is reading)

Sim time: 01:05 Real time: 15:20

Sim finishes reading.

Sims outside are still outside chatting, eating. Their voices are the ones that get doubled.

Sim time: 03:23 Real time: 15:24

Sim starts walking through walls and objects.

Actions take a few seconds to appear into the action section.

Sim time: 03:44 Sim goes to sleep.

Sim time: 04:46 Sims outside, still outside

Sim time: 06:21 One of them has peed.

Ventilator sound hasn't stopped for a while.

Sim time: 12:34 Real time: 15:37

I zoom in: ventilator sound stops then starts again.

Sim time: 13:18 Real time: 15:38

While sleeping, I told my Sim to go to the bathroom and prepare some food.

Energy bar full, Sim still asleep, after pause, she wakes up.

DURING PAUSE: Bladder bar fills up, 4 simoleons get deducted from my account for the salad she has not even prepared yet. "Physically" my Sim is on her way to the bathroom.

Sim time: 13:48 Real time: 15:40

Audio doubles, image flickers

Sims outside, still outside.

Sim time: 14:36 Real time: 15:43

Sim has gone to the bathroom, washed her hands, prepared a salad, she sits at the table... and she won't eat. Pause/unpause for it to happen.

Sim time: 15:34

She's done eating, though progress bar isn't completed. Pausing fixes this.

Sim time: 15:58 Real time: 15:47

As a favor to outside Sims, I'll take my Sim to the library. Press telephone icon,  click travel option...

Sim time: 16:22 Real time: 15:49

Traveling to Willow Creek Archive

Real time: 15:50: Loading screen...

Decent audio

Ventilator sound goes off.

Real time: 15:53 "Starting music" sound

Plumbob stops

Ventilator sound starts

Sim time: 16:06 Real time: 15:54

Sim at the library.

I save and exit.

Sorry for the long post, for short, I experienced a significant decrease in loading screens time, all the rest, still happens at my normal game.

Thank you if you read all that, if not, thank you anyway.

@paolaelectra  I did read it, or most of it—I might have started skimming and looking at the listed times to see how things were going.  Please check your in-game framerates at the 1280x720 resolution, and also at 1920x1080.  You don't need an exact average, I just want to know where the number settles when you're not moving the camera or anything.  You can enable the fps counter in Origin: hover over your username, select Application Settings, then the Origin in-game header, and choose a corner of your screen where you want the fps counter displayed.

Please also run hwinfo and generate a log file, so I can see how your hardware performs.  You can download it for free here:

https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

You can choose to install the full version (under Installer) if you want, and be sure to click the green button, not the orange one.  Or, if you'd prefer not to install anything, download the portable version instead.  You can unzip it and launch it from Downloads or wherever you want to keep it.

Restart your computer, open hwinfo, choose "sensors only," and click the icon that's a sheet of paper with a + sign to start logging.  When you're asked where to save the log, choose your desktop, so it's easy to find later.  Wait five minutes, then open Origin and Sims 4, but don't run anything else at all on your computer.  Play for at least 20 minutes, quit, and stop the logging by clicking the same icon.

Upload the hwinfo log to a third-party filehosting site, and link it here.  Please leave it in .csv format, otherwise my log reader may not be able to open it.

Hi once more @puzzlezaddict ,

Let's see if I did it right:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pamo6enppylua1m/paolaelectra270520.CSV?dl=0

I got a screenshot of the fps... too high, right? oh! that's for the 1920x1080 res. I need to get you the 1280x720 one

If I did the filesharing wrong, can you point me to the thread explaining how to do it?

Thanks a million

@paolaelectra  That fps is extremely low, and it's no wonder the game isn't playable for you.  This is not the same thing as lag, but it's still indicative of a system issue.

The filesharing part of the hwinfo log is fine, but it looks like you only logged a few seconds of play time.  I really need to see around 20 minutes, so I can tell how your hardware behaves over time as you play.

Hi again @puzzlezaddict 

I got a little longer one I thought I did wrong, so I tried a 2nd time and that's the one I sent you. Thing is I played like for an hour or so, though it might be wrong.

Anyway, here it is, it was previous to the one I sent you, hope it's useful. If not, I can do it again, the thing is I don't know when to click on the text like icon.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/by7jdsb3qzlidmw/27n103la.CSV?dl=0

And about the FPS, when I started the game today, it did at 57.51 or something. It quickly dropped to 10 and the remained from 4 - 6 for the rest of the session.

@paolaelectra  That's much better, thanks.  I'll look over the numbers later tonight and get back to you.

The fps you listed sounds in line with the other symptoms you've described: a few minutes of decent performance followed by everything slowing to a crawl.