Sims 3 freeze issues

Hi,

I've been playing the Sims 3 for ages and always seem to encounter one issue after another. The latest is that my game freezes when I try and switch to an active family in every town except one save game where I already have an active family. I have run through all of the steps listed on the 'Sims 3 crashes/ freezes to desktop fix' to no avail. 

I have a desktop PC running Windows 8.

Any suggestions?

PC specs? And what version & expansions are you trying to run?

If you don't know your specs, use this:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

I'm running Ambitions, Generations, Island Paradise, Late Night, Pets, University & Seasons. As well as the High End Loft & Town Life stuff packs.
The game is patched to 1.67 (which I did through the TS3PD).

My specs are...

CPU: Intel Core i5 4440 3.10GHz
RAM: 8GB
VGA: AMD Radeon R9 200 Series
Hard disk: ST1000DM003-1CH162 with 493GB free of 931GB
OS: Windows 8
DirectX: 11.0