The Sims 3 is unplayable due to game lag.

Hi!

So I'll go straight to the problem.

I can't play the game due to MASSIVE game lag. The game starts normally and the neighbourhood loading time isn't long but after, I would say 20 minutes of playing I get a MASSIVE lag spike that just won't go away. It gets my my whole computer stuck.

I have installed the base game and all the expansions and stuff packs according to your guides. I have the latest patch and I have done the ultimate fix. It can't be a computer problem because both of my computers are high-end and the same happens with BOTH the computers. I have also reinstalled everything three (3) times already. I'm using overwatch and game booster. I don't have any .package mods despite overwatch. I'm clueless to what might cause this problem. I previously had pirated version of the sims 3 (and all expansions + stuff packs) from a different source and had the same problem so I turned to you guys cause I had heard great stuff about you. But the game won't work.

Here's some info on my computers:

Intel core i7 3610qm
NVIDIA GTX 670M 3GB
8gb RAM
750 GB HDD
64-bit Windows 7 home premium

If anyone has anything I could try, I would appreciate it as I think I have done everything I can.. Thanks.

Make sure you have the latest Graphic Drivers, The following link should be correct.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win8-win7-winvista-64bit-306.23-whql-driver.html

Maybe also this. https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t4692-game-lag-possible-fixes



Edit: But if you had the other pirated version of The Sims 3 installed on both, might be registry error with that, but try the above first. And let us know the results.

There indeed was an update for my graphic drivers, did it and nothing changed.

The topic on game lag had nothing new as I have overwatch and I don't have mods and I don't have background software going except the game booster which should improve my gaming.

I don't get any error messages and the problem isn't while loading the game. It's when I've played for 20 minutes or so. The game's perfectly fine and then it just suddenly gets stuck.

Do you have lag when you move the camera?Cause i have this problem

Well my game doesn't crash to the desktop but still tried those and it didn't help. :/


@teliss Yes I do have lag when I move the camera but only after that 20 or so minutes. When I start playing, everything is perfectly fine, no lag whatsoever but it starts after a while and when it does I can't do anything. the lag is so massive that I can't even save the game so I never get further as I always have to start from the start. I haven't even got a family created cos I never get to the end of the family creation..

When the camera is still the game is smooth or not?

It's not. It just fundamental lag. Everything is lagging. It also gets my computer stuck, not only the game. :/

oh then you have a differend problem.Did you try reinstall the game?

3 times already, on two separate computers and I have the same problem. I've followed the instructions carefully but don't know if I've done something wrong..

I'm not to certain, but would maybe guess a registry issue, Idk what is the best way to check for it tho, and fix it, so best guess is leave it up to Admin, see if he agrees, or thinks something else is the cause.

Hi,
Edit Sim3.ini in your game folder with an editor ( like notepad++).
Look for the line: MemoryUsageLimit = 20000000 (2Gb limits of RAM for the game).
You have 8Gb of RAM like me, erase the 2 and put a 5 and your game handle 5Gb.
Do you test this tips already?
If not, try it, and say us if it's OK.

kytonderoga wrote:Hi,
Edit Sim3.ini in your game folder with an editor ( like notepad++).
Look for the line: MemoryUsageLimit = 20000000 (2Gb limits of RAM for the game).
You have 8Gb of RAM like me, erase the 2 and put a 5 and your game handle 5Gb.
Do you test this tips already?
If not, try it, and say us if it's OK.

That wouldn't be the cause of the problem tho, it might help, but it can cause issues also, would be best to fix it rather then a work-a-round without even the overall possibility to solve it.

Since the game shouldn't have a issue with the 2 GB RAM Limit, so adding more doesn't necessary mean it will fix it.

Ye, didn't help much.

I'll have to close the game by doing ctrl + alt + delete and now I realized it says that the Sims 3 doesn't respond. Dunno if it's relevant but I thought it could be.

But thank you so much everyone who's trying to help me with my problem. I already bought the the base game from an internet store. It'll take a few days to arrive, I thought if I had the official base game it would help. Kinda desperate noe so I'll try everything.

"an internet store" Does that mean it will be a official game, or maybe a copied one also?

It will be the official game.

Might need to actually do a re-install, and make sure your computer/registry is clean of the other pirated version, but I don't know where to start with that, so will need someone who has more experience to help with it, like Admin.

Your game lag after 20 min of play.
Maybe the GPU overheat?
Try to enable V-sync in Nvidia control panel for TS3W.exe file.
This tips limit fps to 60 or 75 (depend of the refreshing rate).
and limit the GPU heating without decreasing performance (670M is a good GPU).
Try Nvidia tools (or another tool) to see the temperature of your GPU after playing 20-30min.
Say us, the results.
If your game run fine before 20-30 min, i don't see another thing.

kytonderoga wrote:Your game lag after 20 min of play.
Maybe the GPU overheat?
Try to enable V-sync in Nvidia control panel for TS3W.exe file.
This tips limit fps to 60 or 75 (depend of the refreshing rate).
and limit the GPU heating without decreasing performance (670M is a good GPU).
Try Nvidia tools (or another tool) to see the temperature of your GPU after playing 20-30min.
Say us, the results.
If your game run fine before 20-30 min, i don't see another thing.

KaisuHolm wrote:3 times already, on two separate computers and I have the same problem. I've followed the instructions carefully but don't know if I've done something wrong..

So I think it's more-so a program fault then hardware, but yeah it can still be hardware.

I see this thread on a forum:FPS drop on battery usage.
Maybe a performance/battery issue?

What do you think about this, t2sink, because i never have a laptop?

Idk, don't really recommend using battery while gaming, since your battery will be shortened so kinda meh to play a game while on battery.

But, yeah that would be something to look into if someone was having a issue with being on the battery was a lot less powerful.

Yep it really is strange. But I'm not that sure about over heating because cos I'm a huge fan LOTRO (Lord of the Rings Online) and I have played it for countless hours straight and no problems with that..

//EDIT

Some progress! I tried playing only the base game and it did not get
stuck! I played for a good hour or so. So it might be the expansions
that are not working? Or maybe some crack? I don't know about these
things so just guessing..

I hope some has an idea.

Ps. After that hour the game did crash to the desktop though.. It just shut the game completely.

Hello,

Are you sure you did the DEP fix correctly, have GameBooster running when playing and have all the in-game graphic settings on low? (Lower all sliders, turn of extras like "Smooth rendering" and play the game in windowed mode)