Weather lag + computer specs?

@4aad3afd4a94c4e9  Your graphics card is more than fine, and the speed of the SSD doesn't matter to Sims 4.  But what processor do you have?  An R3 3100 might be a bit of a problem here, but a 3300X should be okay.

This is more likely a contributing factor:

	16,0GB Single-Channel DDR4 @ 1330MHz (20-19-19-43)

Do you only have one RAM module or two?  Your motherboard only has two DIMM slots, if I'm looking at the right board, so with two modules, you should be getting dual channel rather than single.  How much this matters can vary dramatically from one application to the next, and I can't tell you whether it matters to Sims 4, but it's a useful question to ask.  And RAM is cheap too, and simple to install.

I'd also like to see a dxdiag on this computer to look for any other potential problems.  You can attach one to a post.

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

Finally, please test a thunderstorm with the in-game sound completely off, disabled in the game options.  It's possible, if not particularly likely, that the lag is due to sound rather than graphics or anything else running, and this is an easy test.

Hey!

I had a feeling it had something to do with the ram and I wasn't too sure which sticks would be good for an upgrade. I've been eyeing Crosair 32 GB DDR4-3200 for a while now and wasn't too sure if my motherboard would be compatible. Let me know what you think!

Also, you can find my Dxdiag report attached 🙂

@4aad3afd4a94c4e9  The important detail here is not the manufacturer or speed of the memory but whether it's on the motherboard's list of supported RAM.  For that, you'd need its exact product number, which is much longer and should be available on the product page where you're looking to buy.  As an example, on this page:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/corsair-vengeance-lpx-cmk32gx4m2e3200c16-32gb-2pk-x-16gb-3200mhz-ddr4-c16-dimm-desktop-memory-black/6448611.p?

the product number you want is CMK32GX4M2E3200C16.

You can find documents listing all the memory modules your board supports here:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-A320M-H-rev-1x/support#support-doc

Your CPU (Picasso) family isn't listed, so check the lists for Raven Ridge and Pinnacle Ridge, the closest to your CPU's family.  Memory that isn't on these lists might work, especially from a reputable brand like Corsair, but there's no guarantee.

Your motherboard supports RAM speeds up to 3200 MHz, but that's techically an overclock, so you'd need to enable the higher speed in the BIOS.  There should be a simple button or dropdown menu for that; it would be called something like D.O.C.P.

You also don't need 32 GB RAM, at least not for Sims 4.  The point here is to have two modules so you get dual-channel speeds.  So a 2x8 GB kit would be fine.  If it's cheaper, you can just buy one that matches what you already have installed.  That's not to say you shouldn't get new memory, or 32 GB rather than 16, only that it's not necessarily any better than working with what you have already.  And whenever you buy or build your next computer, whenever that is, you won't be reusing this RAM—current CPUs and motherboards all support DDR5, which is a lot faster and also utilizes a different slot that wouldn't take a DDR4 module.

I want to reiterate though that it's worth doing some testing before spending any money.  Playing with sound disabled is a helpful test, as would be playing in a clean boot, even though neither is a long-term solution.  It's simply helpful to know where the problem is originating.  For a clean boot:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

The one service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App needs in order to run.  Disable the rest as described.

When you reboot your computer, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down any service that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be enabled.  If you accidentally kill a critical process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.

Don't open anything other than Sims 4 and the EA App while testing, not even a browser window.

Your dxdiag shows a couple of generic Sims 4 errors and some Windows update errors, probably nothing to worry about.  Still, for the overall health of your computer, it's worth running a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:

• Hit Windows key-X
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
• Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes, 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 “Windows Terminal (Administrator)”
• Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes, and enter
• Post the message you receive here

Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates.  If any install, restart again afterwards.

Hey!

I imagine having 32 gb of ram boosts performance overall, no? I have been thinking of getting it eventually. Also my PC and game are both clean boots as I recently added a 1tb SSD to my motherboard and re-installed the game on that. 

As for my PC.

• Windows Defender found nothing.
• And I have no other app running besides my Opera browser.

As for sfc /scannow, it responded with:

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at
windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline
repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag.

• I did do a reboot afterwards so I hope that was the issue and that it's fixed now. Also uploaded the CBS.log file for you to look at if you wish 🙂

@4aad3afd4a94c4e9  Adding more RAM only improves performance if the apps in question are using most or all of the existing memory.  If your system never calls for more than, say, 12 GB, then having 16 GB installed is sufficient to avoid any performance-related issues.  I don't know how you use your computer and can't tell you whether you'd get any benefit from more memory in general.

What I can say is that Sims 4 alone won't be improved by installing another 16 GB RAM.  Even an extraordinarily complicated save can only require about 8 GB to run, at the most.  The only way for a save to use more is if it has some resource-eating bug or glitch, and in that case, the save is toast on any system; the only question is how quickly it freezes or crashes.

Still, if you want to install more memory and the prices are comparable, there's no reason not to do so.  Just understand that it's not going to help Sims 4 unless you heavily multitask while playing.

A clean boot is not a clean Install of Windows.  "Clean boot" means disabling all nonessential services and restarting the computer, so that nothing is running other than what is minimally required: Windows itself, critical drivers (graphics, sound, etc.), and whetever you choose to open in that session.  It's the best way to find out whether some other service is interfering with the app that isn't running properly, in this case Sims 4.  And even a clean Windows install will quickly accumulate a pile of random services that don't strictly need to be running at any given time.  So please try the clean boot and let me know what happens.

Thanks for the CBS log, but it's not necessary here—sfc did its job.  The only concern would be if sfc reported that it found corrupt files and was unable to repair some of them, in which case further investigation would be required.