Unrecognized Graphics Card

@ahnah122  Whatever card you have installed, it doesn't have a proper driver, or else the driver isn't being read.  So Windows is using the Basic Display Driver, hence the unrecognized card message and the extreme slowness.

Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.  That will show your exact card and whether there's still a GPU driver installed, among other things.

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

Thank you for the reply!  I have attached the file below, hopefully I did it correctly LOL.

@ahnah122  Yes, you did it right.  And your laptop does in fact have a proper GPU driver installed.  I'm not sure why the game hasn't been using it.

First though, you have a number of system errors unrelated to Sims 4 (at least directly) that nonetheless should be addressed.  It's simple enough to run a couple of checks on your Windows system files.  Here's how:

• 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

Once you're done, restart your computer, launch Sims 4 a couple of times, and see how it runs.  Check config.log again and see whether it lists a graphics card or the same "Microsoft Basic Render Driver"—no screenshot necessary, just let me know.  If your card still isn't showing up, run another dxdiag and attach it.

Please also check the Reliability Monitor for TS4-related entries.  Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes.  You'll see a list of entries for each day going back a couple of weeks, but you only need to pay attention to the last day or two.  Look for any entry that lists Sims 4 or Origin, or any entry that has a timestamp from when you were playing the game.  For each one, click "View technical details." then copy the information into a text document (Notepad is fine).  You can attach the .txt file to a post as well.

I'll be around some tomorrow... or, today, by now... but it might take a bit of time to get back to you, especially if I see something I have to research a bit.

Hii! So sorry for the super late reply but I hope you've have a Merry Christmas (or if you dont celebrate it, happy holidays). I've done as you asked and I've run into a couple of problems.

First of, after doing the “sfc /scannow” on the powershell admin. I got the message: Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

Afterward, I restarted my laptop but my sims game has returned to it's original problem: I open the game and the loading screen loads up but then the screen minizimes until only the close, minimize, and restore button show and when I try to open the window it's just a blank screen.

Checked the config.log and it says that my card is found & supported. I couldn't find the Microsoft Basic Render.

I also did the reliability monitor, but since Ive not been able to play the sims 4, there were no entries directly stating ''the sims 4'' but I did get a couple of OriginWebHelperService ''critical events'' and I had 5 of those last night (!!) I've listed the earliest and latest ones I have.

Also ran another dxdiag.

All these issues just making me want to get a new laptop even more, any recommendations on a laptop that can run the sims 4 nicely but wont break the bank? haha thanks

@ahnah122  With no budget, it's difficult to know what to recommend.  So I'll just drop a couple of examples here that I found yesterday and today for other people, and you can use them to get an idea of what's out there.

This MSI has a graphics card that's overkill for Sims 4, and a processor that's reasonably strong (plenty for the game).  It also has a 512 GB solid state drive, which will be fast and also large enough to hold Sims 4 plus all your schoolwork.  It's $1,000, but there's a promo code for $250 off.

https://www.newegg.com/black-msi-gf-series-gf65-thin-9sd-008-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16834155337?Item=N82E16834155337

This has the same hardware, except for the graphics card, which is the next one down.  (The card is still more than capable of running TS4, all packs included, on ultra settings.)  It's $800 but with a promo code for $100 off.

https://www.newegg.com/black-msi-gf-series-gf63-thin-9sc-614-gaming-entertainment/p/1TS-0016-00N92?Item=1TS-0016-00N92

Sims 4 will run much better on at least a mid-range dedicated graphics card, although integrated cards can of course handle lower settings just fine.  The cheapest of the decent dedicated cards are the Nvidia 1050 and the AMD RX 560.  I've seen laptops with one of those cards and a small hard drive offered for as low as $500 during sales.  The cheapest price I saw today was this one, for $600.  It has a weaker processor and card than the others, but it should still run Sims 4 on ultra or a mix of high and ultra settings.

https://www.amazon.com/Vivobook-IPS-Level-GeForce-Graphics-Fingerprint/dp/B07SXST6P9/

If that's still more than you want to spend, I can probably find a couple of models with good integrated cards (capable of medium or medium-high settings) in the $400 range.  Any lower than that, and there's not much point in upgrading from your current system.

And if you're not ready to buy now, it would be better to ask when you are, since prices can change quickly, and inventory changes over time too.