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wmoon123's avatar
wmoon123
Seasoned Newcomer
3 days ago

The Sims 4 lagging and freezing on PC no matter what I do

Hello, I’m in desperate need of some help with the Sims 4 on PC. 

I’ll start with some background: I’ve had the game for years with no issues until last week. In the morning I played the game for a few hours with no issues but in the afternoon the game started lagging and freezing in build and live modes and it hasn’t been the same since. My laptop was not updated between the morning and afternoon; there were no changes to my laptop made that day. I have Windows 11 if that’s also relevant. 

I can’t go more than 30 minutes (on a very, very good day) without it lagging and freezing but usual it only takes 5 - 10 minutes for the problem to start. It has only crashed twice, otherwise once I notice the lag (and it’s hard to miss) I slowly save and exit before it totally freezes. I went through the forums and did as I was told: I’ve deleted my backups, I’ve deleted the local cash, I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled the Sims 4 and the EA app, I've tried repairing the Sims in the EA app, I’ve restarted and troubleshooted my PC (and I didn’t receive notice of any issues that needed my attention), and I’ve adjusted my settings in the game (like turning on laptop mode and enabling the V setting in game options - sorry, I can’t remember what it’s called). Nothing has worked. I also have no custom content or mods, only the base game and some add ons. 

I would greatly appreciate any help with this issue, it’s been a pain to deal with. Thanks!

epic
  • lanlynk's avatar
    lanlynk
    Seasoned Hotshot
    3 days ago

    wmoon123

    It could be any number of things, but not too long ago, EA changed from DX9 to DX11. You didn't specifically mention DirectX. Have you checked into that? It sounds like your system is fairly new (Windows 11), but you might need to check your graphics settings in relation to DirectX and the game. 

     

    There might be issues with corrupt saves, Gallery downloads, or even packs. Did you try a new, vanilla save? 

    Also, did you check on EA Answers HQ? I can't think of anything else to suggest off the top of my head, except to search EA Answers HQ for tech help. 

    The Sims 4 | Forum | EA Answers HQ | EN

    • wmoon123's avatar
      wmoon123
      Seasoned Newcomer
      23 hours ago

      Hi, thanks for taking the time to help. I checked what version of Direct X I have and I have Direct X 12. 

      As for gallery saves, nothing has been flagged as corrupted in my gallery but I do have old lots and households saved there. To be safe, I haven’t placed any of them in the game. However, I have wondered, even if I’m not playing them, if having old lots and households saved in my gallery has been part of the issue. Will I have to delete them? I have done vanilla saves and had the same issues but with my old (and possibly corrupt) households and lots in the gallery (not in the game). 

      I have looked at EA answers HQ; that’s how I knew to do about half the checks I’ve done but nothing has helped the situation and after chatting with someone from EA they suggested I post here. 

      • lanlynk's avatar
        lanlynk
        Seasoned Hotshot
        13 hours ago

        wmoon123 

        I don't delete anything from my Saves, Screenshots, Mods, or Tray folders without first backing them up. I save my Library Tray sims and lots to separate folders outside my game folder on my own computer drives (not the Gallery). I label backup folders by year and month, then label separate folders within those with the names of each household or lot I save. 

        It's kind of confusing to explain and tricky organizing it at first. But I'm careful and I do these backups every time I save to my Library. If I ever want to re-add a lot/sim back to my game, I can easily search and find them and place them back in the Tray folder. 

        I do not use the online Gallery as a backup method. That space is a mess, and at some point, I'm sure EA will start restricting the way players use it as personal storage rather than for sharing creations. 😵 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 days ago

    wmoon123  Does this happen on only one lot, or in one world or neighborhood, or in one save, or in all saves including new ones?  Please test and let me know.

    Please also test with the EA App in offline mode.

    If all saves are affected, please provide a dxdiag.  Hit Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop.  From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.

    • wmoon123's avatar
      wmoon123
      Seasoned Newcomer
      23 hours ago

      Hi, thanks for taking the time to help.

      I've been having issues in lots, the gallery, and in CAS no matter the world, save, or household. I have also texted with EA online and offline and nothing changes. 

      I've attached the dxdiag information; I can't really make heads or tails of it but I appreciate you taking a look. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 hours ago

    wmoon123  Do you have extra monitors plugged in via a USB dock?  If so, please unplug the dock and test the game again.  This is in part because some of the crashes in your dxdiag point to an issue with the software that manages the setup.  Some other Sims 4 crashes happened because the Intel graphics driver crashed, and there are a couple of separate crashes of this driver.  This setup could in theory be causing all of these issues.

    If you have the same problems while only using the laptop's built-in screen, with everything else disconnected, please do a clean uninstall and reinstall of the graphics driver, as described here:

    https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/02/clean-re-install-of-graphics-drivers-with-display-driver-uninstaller-ddu.html

    You can get a fresh copy of the newest driver Lenovo provides for your laptop here:

    https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/ideapad-s-series-netbooks/slim-7-14iap7/82sx/82sx0002us/downloads/driver-list/component?name=Display%20and%20Video%20Graphics&id=635380F4-448F-4129-AA77-265289D96F6F

    The driver is a bit old (pay no attention to the date on the Lenovo page), but it should be new enough to work with Sims 4.  If you're still seeing issues after reinstalling the driver, please look for new errors in the Reliability Monitor.  Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day.  Today is on the right.

    Look for an error that happened at exactly the time of your most recent Sims 4 play session, whether the game crashed or froze or simply lagged.  If you find one, double-click it to see more details, then copy that info and paste it into a reply here.  If you don't see a new error, check back in an hour or so—the Reliability Monitor doesn't always update right away.

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