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cocoelf12's avatar
7 years ago

Unrecognized Video Card-Sims 4, New Laptop

Hi, I know this question has been posted before but I wanted to see if someone could help with my exact circumstances. I had an HP X360 convertible which broke over the weekend. I played the Sims 4 and several expansion packs without issues. I bought a new HP x360 and had issues getting Origin to download, finally got it downloaded and when I went to play the Sims 4 I got the "Unrecognized Video Card" error. I ran a diagnostic (should be attached). Do I need to return this laptop? I did essentially buy a "budget" laptop compared to most but I just don't have $1,000+ to spend on a new one and I thought this laptop was a good buy, but if I can't play the Sims 4 like I could on my old laptop then it's obviously not worth it.

17 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @LooLoo_Bloobles  Right, this shows that the game is using the integrated card rather than the much more powerful RX 560X.  You should be able to force the use of the 560X for TS4 in the AMD settings.  This guide has directions for accessing the settings:

    https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/dh-004

    This one looks like it might be a bit outdated, but hopefully it will at least give you an idea of where to look for the switchable graphics options:

    https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/dh-017

    Either way, you're looking for the option within the switchable graphics settings to specifically use the high performance card (the 560X) for Sims 4.  If you need to create a profile for the game's .exe, be sure to use TS4_x64.exe, which is the one used for the 64-bit version.  If you're not sure what you're looking at or what to change, feel free to upload a couple of screenshots for me to look at.  (I don't have the same software as you do in front of me right now, so I can't tell you what it looks like.)

    In any event, you'll know that the settings worked when these lines in the config file:

    Name (driver): AMD Radeon(TM) Vega 8 Graphics
    Name (database): [Found: 0, Supported: 1]

    mention the RX 560X instead of the Vega 8.

  • I've tried to access the switchable graphics option but everytime I click on the program, the catalyst control center pops up instead.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @LooLoo_Bloobles  I guess your GPU driver might be old enough that you still have the old interface.  Does the second article I linked help?  There should be an option in there somewhere.  I wish I could be more specific, but like I said, I don't have a system in front of me with those settings.

    The other option is to download a program like RivaTuner Statistics Server and run it beside the game.  If you set up a profile for TS4_x64.exe, it should force the use of the high performance card.  Keep in mind that if and when you update Windows to the newest build, running RTSS alongside the game may crash TS4 at the Main Menu, so this is a temporary fix at best.

  • Nothing seems to be working. Everytime I click on the AMD Catalyst Control Center, the switchable graphics option just isn't there.

  • Okay sorry for the long wait but I finally was able to get it working I think. I downloaded the AMD Radeon Settings. It told me that the driver version didn't match. I looked up how to fix that and so I did, I restarted the computer and opened up the Radeon Settings once again. The switchable graphics option was there and I changed it. Booted up the game and took less than a second to load with like a buttload of CC and one mod along with Reshade. I saved it and exited the game and then opened up the Config-log again and I think this is what it's supposed to say.

    Number: 0
    Name (driver): Radeon RX 560X
    Name (database): AMD Radeon R9 450 and 460 [Found: 1, Supported: 1]
    Vendor: ATI
    Chipset: Vendor: 1002, Device: 67ef, Board: 1eae1043, Chipset: 00e5
    Driver: aticfx64.dll, Version: 26.20.15002.61, GUID: D7B71EE2-24AF-11CF-CE73-34045EC2D735
    Driver version: 61
    Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
    Texture memory: 4077MB
    Vertex program: 3.0
    Pixel program: 3.0
    Hardware TnL: 1
    Opt. features: +sab +a8l8 +rgba16f +r32f +bc4 +bc5 -rawz +intz

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @LooLoo_Bloobles  Yup, that's perfect.  The game somehow has the wrong device ID for your card (hence the 450 and 460), but that doesn't matter to performance.  I'm glad you managed to fix it, and sorry I couldn't give more specific instructions.