Re: Sims 4 Macbook Will crash whole computer

@adiboo526

There are known performance issues in The Sims 4 with the Intel HD 4000 graphics card you have. The graphics card is integrated so is never going to be ideal for gaming. The first thing you should do is lower your graphics settings. You can either do this in game or you can delete the Options.ini file from Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 and let the game reset itself to the default graphics settings.

When you say it "crash my whole computer as if it is having a RAM Issue" do you mean a kernel panic? That's when suddenly an information box will appear on your screen telling you to restart your Mac. This can be a symptom of something faulty on the Logic Board. If your Mac is overheating there could be an underlying fault somewhere. Computers do tend to get hot when experiencing heavy CPU and GPU usage but it's extremely rare that a Mac will actually shut down through overheating. If it's still covered under Applecare, which you are implying it is, then I would make an appointment straight away for Apple to look at it.

How is your Mac positioned when you are playing? It's no good just sitting it on a tabletop or desk, you need to elevate it at least 1cm so air can circulate underneath. Sitting it on the edge of 2 DVD cases would be fine although maybe you should invest in some kind of elevated platform or cooling fan specifically for a Mac.

And the game will absolutely use more than 50% CPU usage. It's a game, that's what they do.

@adiboo526

You play on your bed? Then that's the issue right there. Not only will your Mac be frying inside it's aluminium casing because no air can circulate (the aluminium casing is actually designed to dissipate the heat from the CPU which is why it needs to have space underneath), it will also be drawing in loads of fluff and fibres into the single fan which will be clogging up.

If your RAM is not seated right then why don't you unscrew the bottom and reseat it? You must have replaced the RAM at some point to know it's not correctly fitted?

Your problems are solvable (apart from the known Intel 4000 issues), but only by you 🙂

@adiboo526

Ok, now I'm confused. Is it a RAM issue or not? Because you said in your previous post "It also isn't positioned correctly I know that" which would indicate that you've refitted it at some point. RAM can beep due to just being a faulty chip, even if it is fitted properly. Is 8Gb RAM showing up in the Mac info when you click on the Apple logo and then "About This Mac"? 

The Sims 3 is appalling on any Mac due to EA having used Cider to "wrap" the Windows version of the game. 

Have you tried a PRAM and SMC reset?

@adiboo526

Oh ok. Well I would start with making sure air can circulate, see how you get on with that. It might help you to purge your RAM regularly too during gameplay. Normally this isn't necessary but because of Cider being a massive resource hog and the game's inability to access over 2Gb RAM, it's a no-brainer in TS3.

okay so then what about sims 4 ? ive been following the other post you're helping with too, with the 120% cpu, so im pulling tips from there too.

@adiboo526

Oops, sorry that TS3 bit was meant for another thread! Trying to do too much.

You mean with regards to RAM? TS4 is native in OS X, plus it is 64 bit so memory issues are pretty infrequent. I really think your problem is overheating due to how you place your Mac. Get the air circulating and then report back on here 🙂