Screen Tearing!

@SamH1982   It's been a while since I've had to explain this. Assuming the hardware is working properly (gpu, memory, and display) screen tearing is a configuration issue. Displays typically have a set optimal resolution due to it's construction (dot pitch, etc). Ideally if your laptop display has a resolution of 1920X1080 at 60 FPS for example that's what you set your graphics card to for best picture. The spec for your laptop display should be in the documentation. Reasons for tearing. The computer generates frame buffers of data to be sent to the display. If there is any problem syncing (the call for data before the frame is complete maybe) could cause tearing. Most times the default setting on the number of buffers is good. Some settings such as the anti-aliasing settings could change the number of buffers. These buffers are memory. There is usually (but not always) dedicated memory just for frame buffers. If more memory is required computer unused main memory can be used for frame buffers. This "borrowed" memory is usually slower then dedicated memory. A problem could be when the computer has to swap memory in and out of virtual memory. Virtual memory is space on your computer's main storage device. The process of swapping data in and out is slower then "borrowed" memory. The memory manager in the computer's motherboard chipset takes care of that. Another configuration that could cause problem is the wrong device driver. Laptops typically (but not always) have a more complex device driver. This is why having the correct up to date device driver is important. I recommend resetting the gpu to defaults and see if you still have the issue. The resolution is a set value. The FPS can only be set higher then 60 IF the display is a multisync display- you can't make it multisync If the issue is still there you need to post your computer's dxdiag.

This is not a complete explanation of the video system. It is just one way to explain how tearing can happen. The video system is very complex. To start tweaking video settings you need to know if the hardware can operate beyond default specs.

@SamH1982  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

Please also check your in-game fps, which you can see by bringing up the cheats console (ctrl-shift-C) and entering "fps on" without quotes.  The number will appear in the lower-left corner, over the user interface.  I'm curious what kinds of framerates you're seeing.

@roberta591Thanks for this information.  I'll have to look at my laptop's documentation and see if I can find any information about the laptop display.

How do I reset the GPU defaults?  Will I do that in the NVIDIA Control Panel?

@puzzlezaddictI have done that.  File attached here.

@roberta591Ok, I went onto the Acer Website and looked at the system specs.

It says Screen Resolution is 2560 x 1440 and Standard Refresh Rate is 165Hz.  I'll check to make sure my in-game resolution and refresh rate are set to these values, as a starting point.

I'll probably also do a clean install of the GPU Drivers, just to be on the safe side.

OK, so I have done a clean reinstall of the display drivers on my laptop.  I then restarted Windows and ran The Sims.  I got a message about an unrecognised graphics card, but it seemed to work ok despite that.  I went in and changed display resolution and refresh rate to match what it says in System Spec and so far so good.  Hopefully it stays like that.

@SamH1982  I'm glad to hear the game is working again.  Just to follow up on a few things, a clean uninstall and reinstall of the drivers would reset all the Intel and Nvidia graphics options to defaults.  The Nvidia Control Panel also has a reset to defaults option, which works fine on its face, but your dxdiag showed a couple of Nvidia errors, so reinstalling was the right move.

Hopefully you used the drivers Acer provides for your laptop:

https://www.acer.com/us-en/support?search=PH315-55&filter=global_download&suggest=ph315-55;1

On a machine this new, it's best to use the drivers provided by the manufacturer rather than the more generic ones from Intel and Nvidia.  I'm not saying you need to uninstall the generic ones if that's what you used, only that it's something to keep in mind if you run into more issues in the future.

The unrecognized graphics card is due to your GPU's device ID not being in the game's database.  It's not a problem, as you can probably tell: the graphics options are set to Ultra anyway, and that's all the device ID helps with.

Finally, it's worth making sure that Sims 4 is still using your Nvidia graphics card and not the Intel chip.  Go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, open config.log, and you'll see the GPU the game is using listed about 30 lines down.  Let me know if it's the Intel chip; if you see the 3070 ti, you're fine.

Hi @puzzlezaddict,

Thanks for this extra information.  I unfortunately did install the drivers from the NVIDIA and Intel websites - mainly because the driver versions on their websites seemed to be a bit newer than on the Acer website.  However I'm not having any issues at present but if I do in the future I'll install drivers directly from Acer website instead - hopefully being slightly older versions won't cause any issues.

I did check config file this morning like you said and it's showing the NVIDIA device so it looks like all is well.

Simply, I changed from full screen to windowed full screen and tearing is gone 🙂