Sims 4 freeze/crash since october 15th 2020

@Marryparry  Given the errors in your dxdiag, the first place to start would have been with a clean uninstall and reinstall of the graphics driver.  However, it's not clear whether the errors are from before or after you reinstalled the driver, since there's no timestamp on the entries.  If necessary, there's an easier way to find out.

First though, try playing while your computer in not connected to the internet.  You can sign into Origin and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or unplug the ethernet cable.  Let me know whether you get any crashes or even any lag.  Please also check your in-game framerates: bring up the cheats console (crtl-shift-C) and enter "fps on" without quotes.  A number will appear in the lower left corner of your screen, over the UI.  Let me know what fps you're getting, both where it settles and how far it drops.

If you still get a crash with no internet connection, please set your system to generate a crash dump, and let the game crash again.

• Hit the Windows key, type "command prompt" in the box, right-click on Command Prompt in the search results, and select Run as Administrator
• In the window, paste "reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpType /d 2 /t REG_DWORD" without the outside quotes into the box, and enter
• Launch Sims 4 and play until it crashes
• After it crashes, wait for any crash dialogs to finish
• Then hit Windows key-R and paste "%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps" without quotes into the box, and enter
• Upload the last .dmp file to a free filesharing site and link it here
• When you want to undo the auto crash log dumps, open Command Prompt as before, paste "reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps" /f" without the outside quotes, and enter.

Thanks for the reply!

1. I've tried the clean graphics card install. Both before and after i made the dxdiag.
2.  Also tried the no internet-thingy. When i put on fps, it froze as well. Stayed around 190 until it froze on around 190.
3.  Crashdump https://gofile.io/d/rpVz3k

I'm worried this goes deeper than software.. I've tried a reset of Windows, and nothing changed. I've also tried swapping out the graphics card for my old one. Still the same problem. And when i wrote the post yesterday i had only tried the sims, since its the only game i play atm. But after i wrote the post i noticed all my games crash :/

But i appreciate taking you'r time to answer. If you find anything in the dump file that might be worth knowing, please tell me. 🙂

Kind regards
Marryparry

@Marryparry  The interesting information in the crash dump is that the Nvidia driver tried to read a null memory address.  So it wasn't Sims 4 causing the problem, at least not directly, and this kind of error could definitely affect any game you played.

Again, the first intervention would be a clean uninstall and reinstall of the driver, but since that didn't help, the next step would be to run some scans and see whether anything shows up.  I'm sorry I don't have anything more specific, but when all evidence points to the driver and the driver has been replaced (and the card itself as well), it becomes a bit of a guessing game to figure out what else might be causing the issue,

For basic Windows housekeeping, you can run DISM and sfc:

• Hit Windows key-X
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
• Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes into the window, and enter
• The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here
• After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again
• Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator)”
• Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes into the window, and enter
• Post the message you receive here

For your hard drive, run chkdsk:

• Hit Windows key-X
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
• Inside the window that appears, copy and paste "chkdsk /f /r c:" without quotes, and enter
• You'll be asked to allow a restart; say yes
• When the scan is done, here's how to get its results:  https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/40822-read-chkdsk-log-event-viewer-windows-10-a.html
• If Sims 4 is not installed on your C drive, repeat the process for the drive where its program files are located; the command would be "chkdsk /f /r X:" , with X being the driver letter

For memory issues, MemTest86 is the most thorough scan available.  The most thorough approach is to test each stick separately at at least twice, each time in a different slot on your motherboard.  You can download it here; the free version is fine:

https://www.memtest86.com/index.html

Here's a guide to using the tool.  You'll also need a USB stick you don't mind erasing.

https://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/memtest86_memory_guide/

Let me know the results of these scans, and we'll go from there.

Okay, so no luck... :/

1. Housekeeping:
   
   

   PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

   Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
   Version: 10.0.19041.572

   Image Version: 10.0.19041.572

   [==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
   The operation completed successfully.
   PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>

   PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> sfc /scannow

   Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

   Beginning verification phase of system scan.
   Verification 100% complete.

   Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
   PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>

2. The hard drives seemed okay by my eyes in the report... Although the C did not complete properly. This went to 100%, but stayed there for way to long.. So i finally just shut down the computer. This is a SSD, and contains windows. The games are on D, a normal drive.
   
   The RAM also seemed okay. It just finished, and found 0. BUT.. i did not swap the bricks and try as thoroughly as you said.
   
   This whole issue started unexpected, and without any warning. I noticed some brief graphical glitches while in The Sims for a little while, before it started freezing. I've also had some very few black flickering while in windows after this issue started. I ran The Sims in windowed just to try, and when it happened it seemed like windows was running normally in the background. I've also used a DAW (Digital audio workstation) and midi/audio without any issues. It's very specific to gaming..
   
   I've purchased Bitdefender and ran a complete scan of the system, and it didn't find anything.
   
   I appreciate so much you taking your time like this, really! It makes my day.
   
   Kind regards
   Marryparry

@Marryparry  That's odd that the PCIe slot would stop working properly so soon; the motherboard can't be more than a couple years old, regardless of how recently you bought the computer.  I don't know what board you have, but usually the top PCIe slot is x16 and any others are x8.  That shouldn't matter though: your GPU isn't fast enough to max out a PCIe 3.0 x8 slot.  Still, if the board already has this issue, it's worth considering exchanging it.

Thanks for the update.  I probably wouldn't have guessed it was the slot, at least not for a while, so it's great to know that this was the issue.  Even more helpful is how much information you provided: now I have some idea of what that kind of problem looks like.