Re: Weird Mouse Lag

@A_Fulcrum_Agent  When you open Origin but don't launch Sims 4, do you see the same problem?  Or is it only after the game loads and before you close Origin again that you see the issue?  You mentioned the problem showing up before Sims 4 was open in the clean boot, but was Origin open or was this right after you rebooted?

If you can find that other mouse, it would be a useful test.  The way you describe the issue, it could be due to Origin overloading the system, or it could still be something about the mouse you're using.  In the meantime, you can experiment a bit.

Try using a different surface (mousepad, gaming mat, whatever) under the mouse.  Also try disconnecting and reconnecting the mouse at some point after your computer boots, and separately after you open Origin.

There are two Origin tools that run alongside Origin proper: the Client Service and the Web Helper Service.  Try disabling those in the Task Manager before you play.  And put Origin in offline mode afterwards, but before you launch the game.  Disable Origin in-game as well: hover over your username, select Application Settings, then the Origin in-game header, and disable the option at the top.

@puzzlezaddict
It seems things are fine with Origin when it's just open. It isn't until I open Sims4 that there's an issue. It seems pretty Sims specific because I was in SWBF2 a couple of nights ago, and didn't have the issue there but had it when Sims was up earlier. It's only after the game loads that I've gotta close down Origin to get my mouse back to normal.

Origin was not open at all during the clean boot. It seems part of it was having the Razer software closed because once it was restored, the problems outside of Origin/Sims4 gradually stopped.

I don't really have a whole lot I can stick under my mouse ATM that's a level surface. I got the JFO CE pack, and it came with one of those massive gaming mats. I've stuck a piece of paper under it, for the moment, because it was all I could think of.

Those two services were already stopped even after I opened Origin. I think that might be due to having done the clean boot.

I've been disconnecting and reconnecting my mouse every time it acts up. That helps for a minute or two when Sims4 is up, but not really for long.

I had Origin in-game disabled initially but turned it on for SWBF2, so it was happening with it off before. I've tried it in offline mode a few times, and previously it didn't help much.

I'm still getting the mouse lag when Sims4 gets loaded. I noticed this time that it starts right when the in-game cursor activates. It does, however, seem to be significantly less janky with all these things turned off together, and the paper under the mouse.

I'll be getting the other mouse out later today to see if it still happens with it. It's still a Razer mouse, but it's a corded one where the JFO one is wireless. To note on the wireless, this happens whether the 2.4 gigahertz dongle is used, or the Bluetooth setting is used.

UPDATE: I moved it from being a borderless window to straight windowed, and the lagging mouse seems to have vanished almost entirely. O.o

@A_Fulcrum_Agent  That update is quite the plot twist.  I have a Razer (wired) mouse and use borderless almost exclusively, and I've never had this issue, although I've barely run the game since the last patch.  It would still be interesting to know whether your wired mouse has the same issue.

@A_Fulcrum_Agent  Alright, to be completely thorough, please do all of these together, even if you've tried all of them separately:

• Clear Origin's cache, then repair the game in Origin: open your game library, right-click on the Sims 4 icon, and select Repair
• Move your entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and don't add anything to the new folder that spawns the next time you play
• If you have GeForce Experience set to optimize Sims 4 settings, please disable that option (before the next time you launch the game)
• Restart your computer
• Go through the Task Manager and end any background tasks that don't absolutely need to be running: RGB software, MSI Afterburner, Discord, whatever
• Don't open any apps at all other than Origin

When you launch the game, you'll have all new graphics settings (due to the new options.ini), and it'll be in fullscreen mode.  Please test in fullscreen, borderless, and windowed modes, just to see whether there's any difference among them.

If you're still getting lag, please let me know how much CPU and RAM Origin and Sims 4 are using; you can just take a screenshot of the Task Manager if you want.

@A_Fulcrum_Agent  That's interesting to know.  And please take your time.  I'll be around whenever you get a chance to test.

@A_Fulcrum_Agent  Since this is a new Windows install (that's brutal), please run a new dxdiag and attach it to a post.  It should show any errors related to Sims 4, including whatever prevented it from loading.  There may be some info about Bluetooth as well, but if not, I'll ask someone else about it; I'm not great with that kind of thing.

Origin taking up a massive amount of CPU has been reported recently, although the posts are sporadic and there doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern to why it happens, or why it stops.  But putting Origin in offline mode, not just disabling Origin in-game but also going offline, may help.

@puzzlezaddict
Some updates.

I had to 100% nuke it from orbit (after moving important stuff from the main drive), and wrote 0s to the drive. Repartitioned, formatted, and installed a 100% fresh copy of Windows.

I had a massive adventure getting the mouse to work at all. As it turned out, the Nahimic service that Asus motherboards install at go does incomplete installs. Once I went and got the Nahimic 3 services and installed them, literally everything stopped happening.

Well, except the Bluetooth mouse not connecting to LTE signals. The random stutters and freezes got significantly better. It's playable, especially with Offline mode engaged.

So...that's what caused it, as near as I can figure.

Here's the DXDIAG though, so we can maybe spot what's up, and provide resolution to anyone else who gets this issue.

@A_Fulcrum_Agent  The most obvious difference is that you're now running a year-old build of Windows.  I haven't heard of any issues with the current build that would explain your issue, but there are plenty of drivers and other software that would have different versions for each build, not to mention how the same drivers would interact differently with each build.  I'm not suggesting you update to 2004 just to experiment, but it's something to keep in mind for when you do eventually need to update.

You also have a slightly newer Nvidia driver, one that hadn't been released when you originally posted.  What's interesting is how new the previous driver was, and yet Nvidia replaced it just over a week later.  Maybe that's because the company is working out the finer details of supporting the new 30-series cards; maybe there was a problem with the older driver.  I have no idea; I'm just suggesting that it's possible this made a difference, since the problem could at least in theory have been related to how the mouse was rendered rather than anything else.

It's interesting you mention Nahimic.  The software occasionally blocks Sims 4 from loading at all on certain systems, usually for a few weeks before some update in the background fixes it.  I've never heard of it causing your particular issue though, or of an incomplete install being a problem.  Still, given how much of a pain the software can be, it's plausible that it was the cause.  You could also try uninstalling it entirely, or at least shutting it down via the Task Manager, to see whether it helps with the residual stutter.

When you do eventually update Windows, it's a good idea to run one update at a time, manually, and test after each one.  Windows will install a number of new drivers along with its new build, and that can't be helped, but if the problem does recur, running the other updates separately may help clarify the cause.

At any rate, I'm glad it's better, if not all the way better.