Re: [CURRENT ISSUE] Incredibly Low FPS when connected to Internet

Hi @SimQARobo 

I have Ethernet on my PC.

I have just the Resources file in my Mod Folder.

My cache folder is empty.

My tray folder has 5. Household bin, trayitem, 2 hhi files and an SGI file.

I am sending you a save file as well.

Thanks for looking into this! I've had this problem for over a month, mostly since the Freelancers patch.

@Dregnos 

Thank you for the save file and information!

I'm using WiFi, not Ethernet.

I have only 1 file in my mods folder, Resource.cfg.

I have 0 files in my cache folder.

I have 0 files in my tray folder.

One of the things I tried when trying to fix my problem was clearing my cache, so that's probably why these folders are empty.

I'm going to try to send you my save files too.

@SimQARobo 

Assuming the issue is still being looked into...

One of the recent updates to The Sims / Windows 10 / Graphics Card, has actually boosted the fps I get from 8-10 in the main menu to a fairly steady but still terrible 20. Though it's still unplayable past that point.

I'm using an Ethernet connected PC, hooked directly up to a Virgin Media HUB 3.0, though I can connect through WiFi as well but the problem remains. When I'm connected through one method, the other device is disabled.

There's 1 file in Mods folder - Resource.cfg, 0 files in the other folders. No saves to post since doing a complete wipe and reinstall.

I've attached a fresh DxDiag.

@AlfieSkytower 

Thank you for the additional information.  Unfortunately the team has not been able to reproduce this yet, but It's still under investigation.

I've played The Sims 4 ever since "Get to work" came out and it ran perfectly fine. I stopped playing shortly after I picked up "Seasons" and once I came back I couldn't get my FPS higher then 10-15 FPS. I've reinstalled Origin, Sims 4 and DLC. I changed my root file location from C to D as I was running low on space in my C. Both drives have more then enough space for Windows to create temp files, and when I'm running the game my PC is far from taxed.

If any additional info is needed feel free to ask for it.

Do you use a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection?

Ethernet

How many files are in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods folder?

None

How many files are in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\cache folder?

None

How many files are in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Tray folder?

None

Would you be willing to share your saves?

I deleted my save file before I reinstalled

Thank you for responding to my post.

Turning on V-sync did nothing to change anything. It didn't matter what I changed anything to, it would stay at 14 FPS.

Once I turned off my internet connection it jumped up to 60 FPS and dipped back down to 14 FPS when re-enabled.

I popped open a side panel on my tower, there's a bit of dust in there but the fans still rotate fine. I'll be picking something up tomorrow to properly clean it out.

I'm also having this issue after trawling the internet for hours

Do you use a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection?

Ethernet

How many files are in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods folder?

25 (I still have the issue with 0)

How many files are in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\cache folder?

That folder doesn't exist

How many files are in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Tray folder?

0

Would you be willing to share your saves?

My save is a completely fresh household in Glimmerbrook, nothing special

@SimQARobo 

I have an ethernet cable in my pc.

The lag is with and without mods

I have 0 items in cache

and I have 10 items in tray

@Honeypie1304 

Are you seeing this issue with a brand new, fresh game save ("New Game" from the Main Menu)?  Or only on a save that you're been playing for a while?

If you're only seeing this with a save that you've been playing for a while, would you be willing to share that save?  

(Instructions here: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/INFORMATION-How-to-Send-User-Files-to-The-Sims-4-Team/td-p/6065302)

@SimQARobo 

the lag starts when I open the game. when I have the internet 'on' on the pc I have about 5 fps, when I turn 'off' my internet on the pc and I start the game I have 120 fps.

the problem  starts with me when I open the game before I load up a save game. I have tried reinstalling origin and the sims multiple times and the only 'fix' for my lag is to turn 'off' my internet when I want to play. But I use the gallery pretty often so its pretty annoying that I cant play without lag when I have my internet on. So for your information my entire game is a fps hell the start up, menu and game

@Honeypie1304 

I see.   Would you be willing to share your entire Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4 ?

(Instructions here: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/INFORMATION-How-to-Send-User-Files-to-The-Sims-4-Team/td-p/6065302)

@SimQARobo 

I have uploaded the sims 4 map to onedrive this is the url.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtIeUn09-gU4hD3kBA5hmdkmXD1D?e=J8Hl3H

@Honeypie1304 

Thank you!

@SimQARobo 

do you have any updates on how I can fix it so that I have normal frames while I have internet online. If needed I can make a recording of the game with internet on and off iff that helps

@Honeypie1304 

Unfortunately I don't have an update yet.  Videos may be indeed be helpful.  Thank you.

I tried everything including a clean install of Sims 4 and Origin and no mods or files in Documents about the game before launch. I've been suffering from this issue since the Island Living patch, and it's still happening with the new University Life patch. So far, the only fix I found is to literally pull the ethernet cable out of my PC, at which point I get 100~ FPS whereas with any kind of internet connection (despite putting the game/origin in offline mode), get 19 FPS max.

@SimQARobo 

I am also having this issue. To answer your questions:

• Do you use a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection? 
  • I use an Ethernet connection. We have gigabit internet which runs quite well. We use a ton of bandwidth throughout our very small home but never run into issues.
• How many files are in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods folder?
  • There is 1 file in this folder. Resource.cfg. It is a 1 kb file. This is a fresh install. I have never played Sims 4 before. I have never installed mods.
• How many files are in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\cache folder?
  • This folder is completely empty.
• How many files are in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Tray folder?
  • There are 5 files in this folder. A .householdbinary file, a .trayitem file, an .sgi file, and 2 .hhi files. None of which are very large. Smallest is 2 kb and the largest is 44kb.
• Would you be willing to share your saves?  If so, instructions are here: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/INFORMATION-How-to-Send-User-Files-to-The-Sims-4-Team/m-p/6065...
  • Everything in my saves folder can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZfQ-dYVBjSAzO5KnZusSDffkdQWxGfuB?usp=sharing 

I can open The Sims 4 while connected to the internet and the FPS will be locked at 10 using the Origin overlay's FPS counter. When I unplug the Ethernet cable from the computer, the FPS immediately shoots up to 141 (which is the limit that I've set on my computer for nearly all games). The game then plays perfectly fine but I cannot stream the game and I cannot access any of my online social/voice comm tools.

If I plug the Ethernet cable back into the computer then I can literally watch the FPS counter in the game fall down from 141 FPS to 10 in a matter of seconds. My significant other sitting her computer in the same room has absolutely no issues running The Sims 4 while connected to the internet. We are both on windows 10. She has none of the online features disabled and Origin is online. For me it makes no difference what features are enabled or disabled. It also doesn't matter if I'm online or offline in Origin. The only thing that fixes it is to literally pull the Ethernet cable.

This is pretty unacceptable. I wish I could get a refund but at the same time it bugs me that I simply can't stream this game or play while talking to my friends online (because I have to disconnect from the internet manually). That's just ridiculous.

I have a game that runs with an astonishingly bad 1.5 to 7 FPS without mods.  It's only one specific lot and I'm willing to share.

@xochiquetzl_xkvn  How large is the lot, and how large and cluttered is the house?  Have you tried clearing out inventories, not only sims' inventories but also the fridge and any storage chests?  Is there anything else on the lot that you don't normally use?

I don't own anywhere near all Sims 4 packs, so I couldn't properly test your lot myself.

@puzzlezaddict 

So, it's the base game lot Oakenstead in Willow Creek, a 50x50 lot. We've added a greenhouse and a lot of plants--one Sim is a gardener (PhD of Pollen). There are also some personal items, mostly paintings and some vet equipment, two rockets (one Sim is an Interstellar Smuggler), but I just played here rather than redecorated extensively, if you know what I mean.  I took out all my mods and launched the game and was getting (I kid you not) 1.5 FPS. I disconnected from the Internet and that didn't help, and finally I said screw it and went to do something else.

(screenshot of the FPS last night, no mods, connected to Internet)

This morning, I came into the game intending to bulldoze the lot and not save after, in hopes of narrowing down the problem, and am getting 59.9 FPS!

(screenshot of the FPS this morning, modded, not connected to Internet)

I have a direct Ethernet connection, by the way. It's an Intel 9575LM Gigabit Network Connector. I don't have WiFi on this machine at all. It has 32 gig of RAM, SSDs, an older but still decent i-7 processor... I've attached my DxDiag.

Literally, all I did was disconnect from the Internet, close my game, sleep, reopen. Okay, I also had a PlantSim portal tree on the lot that I put in the household inventory, but that didn't seem to help.

And really, I don't think it's that my lot is overcluttered. Pics are too large to upload, but...
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuaT-f7qP6bD-1cFLrVpG_wcNLdF?e=wxvCBf
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuaT-f7qP6bD-1VuTVpXgpeDP933?e=qe6PJg
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuaT-f7qP6bD-1bTEHeKyVXStSZk?e=prftuO
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuaT-f7qP6bD-1gqJ7t1B9NZiFyC?e=Dos6Xr

Reading my DxDiag, I could probably stand to buy a bigger C drive, but I really think the issue here is Ethernet.

[Edit - Alas, it does slow down over time. Alas.  I'm not only on a 50x50 lot, but I'm on a 50x50 "green" lot. I don't know if that makes a difference]

[Edit - Okay, as an experiment I turned off Eco Footprint gameplay and suddenly my framerate is fine. Okay, it also generated a last exception when I reloaded the lot.  😉  This is the only house where I'm having that problem, and I've also played the 64x64 lot  in Brindleton Bay as a green lot with no issues. Oakenstead is 1-7 FPS with a green eco footprint and 50-60 FPS with Eco Footprint Gameplay turned off, and I continued to play and the FPS is fine, so I'm going to consider this fixed.]

@xochiquetzl_xkvn  This issue has a number of known causes, but I hadn't heard of a green eco footprint causing low fps only when the computer had an internet connection, so thanks for that.  You still might want to try some of the other suggestions in this thread, I mean if you feel like poking at the problem again at some point.  I'd start reading here:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Incredibly-Low-FPS-when-connected-to-Internet/m-p/9949206#M204800

I linked two earlier fixes, and then there are a couple other interesting posts after that.

As for your dxdiag, yes, you definitely need more space on C.  Among other things, Windows won't be able to install a feature update with less than 20 GB free; you'll notice your Windows build is from fall 2020.  There are ways around this, but low free storage on C can also cause a variety of performance issues, so it's probably worth moving some files elsewhere.  Besides, F has plenty of space and is just as fast a drive.

Your dxdiag also lists a number of timeouts of the graphics driver, so you'll want to address that as well.  Since your driver is a few months old, you can simply install the newest one from Nvidia:

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/186768/en-us

Run it as an admin (right-click, select "Run as administrator"), choose the custom install option, and check the box to perform a clean install.  Restart when you're done.

@puzzlezaddict  I ordered a new, larger SSD to use for my C drive.

It really does seem to be the Eco Footprint. I didn't try reconnecting to the internet, but I did search the forums and found this person who had to turn off Eco Footprint on Oakenstead because of lag. https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/OPEN-ECO-Sun-rays-appear-when-eco-footprint-is-disabled/m-p/9493108#M156070

I also had trouble getting the light rays to go away, but I turned Eco Footprint back on, cheated the game to neutral footprint, and then turned Eco Footprint back off and reloaded the lot. I got a last exception (LOL) but it worked.

At any rate, the horrible FPS has not recurred with Eco Footprint off, which is weird because I have a green Eco Footprint on Hounds Head, which is 64x64, with no issues (in another save), and have a green Eco Footprint at the Goth house without issues (in another save). So it's not that it's Willow Creek, and it's not that it's a large lot. It really does seem to be Oakenstead. I might try it with my vanilla save and open a bug report, as I think it's a separate issue.