Also tried the "Tick the DX 9 box" trick as well as set Dpi to 100%. Neither of those helped, unfortunately.
I also forgot to include the Dxdiag... Here it is.
@SimSiili Some of the crashes in your dxdiag reference a component of Razer Chroma, so please uninstall Chroma for now.
If that doesn't help, as a test, please try running Sims 4 on the integrated graphics chip. Performance won't be anywhere near what it should be on the Nvidia card, but this should at least tell you whether the problem is the Nvidia GPU or driver versus something else. There are two approaches to try. One is to open Windows Settings > System > Display > Graphics settings, click Browse, choose TS4_Launcher_x64, and select the power-saving option. Do the same for TS4_DX9_x64 and TS4_x64.
You can see whether this worked by opening Config.log, inside Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, and scrolling down to Graphics device info. (Launch the game once after making any changes so that the file updates.) Whichever GPU is listed is the one the game was using when it loaded, at least. If you're still seeing the Nvidia card, right-click the desktop, select the Nvidia Control Panel, choose Manage 3D Settings > Global settings, and choose the Intel iGPU. This will affect all programs, so you'll want to undo the setting later, but it's a quick and easy way to test.
Running on the Intel chip, Sims 4 should default to DirectX 9 mode, which may not work well on the Intel chip for completely separate reasons. So make sure DX11 mode is still forced in the EA App.
The BlueScreens in your dxdiag point to a misbehaving driver, but not which one. So if you're still getting BSODs when running Sims 4 on the Intel iGPU, please provide the crash dumps. Go here:
C:\Windows\Minidump
For the most recent two or three files, right-click them and select Copy, then right-click your desktop and select Paste. From there, zip the files together, upload the .zip to a third-party filesharing site, and link it here. Please make sure that anyone with the link can read it; an easy way is to open it in a private window, where you're not signed into whatever account you've used.
Thank you so much for taking the time to investigate this!
Removing The Chroma did not help, but switching to the Intel UHD Graphics did. The game - albeit looking like something from the 90's - ran for several minutes before I saved and closed it myself. It seems that the blue screen is not happening with this solution.
Could you help me a little bit more: What should I do next now that we are fairly sure the NVIDIA is the problem? It seems silly to use this fairly fine gaming laptop to play with the Intel. Ugh, now that I said it out loud I sound so snob... Sorry about that.
@SimSiili I would say the same thing in your position, except probably a lot less politely (in private at least). What I'd suggest is waiting for at least a few hours of playtime before concluding that this issue is fixed, just in case. I can still look at a crash dump if you want—maybe it'll point to something specific and helpful.
If you're itching to try something else, you can try installing an older Nvidia graphics driver. You'll need to clean-uninstall your current version first. Please use this method:
You can find older Nvidia drivers here, after inputting your GPU specs:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/
The Game Ready Drivers (the type you want) go back to April, which is still recent enough to be compatible with Sims 4. Any time you're installing an older driver, you'll need to DDU the newer one first, so if you're going to try multiple versions, I'd start with the oldest you might use and work your way forward from there.
Inside my head I am less polite, cursing in Finnish which is to my understanding one of the best languages to curse in. I am revealing my age here but I told my little sister that now I really understand why my niece, 13, looses her cool immediately if she can't play her Genshin Impact!
Aaanyway, I will play more with the Intel and perhaps in a day or two try the older NVIDIA driver. I am so out of my league with all this, but your instructions are very clear and helpful.
Here is a link for the crash dump zip-files: https://we.tl/t-ixgOh90LdB Please prioritize other players that cannot access their game at all before spending more time with my issue. 🙂 Have a happy Sunday ahead and greetings from Finland!
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