The Sims 3 Slow Choppy Performance on high end PC?!

jasondm4 · 08-21-2009, 11:46 PM

I can run games like crysis bioshock far cry 2 etc with great framerates but the sims 3 is just terrible textures take forver to load and every time i move the camera the game lags. Ive updated everything from chipset driver to the graphics drivers ive called EA ATI and nobody has been able to fix this problem for me and its driving me crazy i even tried an FPS limiter that limits the frame rates to 30 which is the maximum for the game so ive heard. I also installed xp on another hard drive and ran the game on xp with barley any processes running since that game was pretty much the only app installed on there. I have tested each of my 4870's individually and with crossfire and get the same horrible performance. Anyway ive got to get to the bottom of this so please give me some advice as to what i should do here are my specs which exceed the requirments for this game.

Motherboard: Asus Maximus Formula X38
RAM: corsair xms2 ddr2 4gb
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 3.0 Ghz 12mb of cache Q9650
PSU: Zalman 850 watt ZM850-HP
Graphics Card: 2 Sapphire ATI HD 4870 1gb toxic edition in crossfire mode

**RockmasteR** · 08-22-2009, 12:24 AM

Hello and welcome to TSF
ATI has released a hotfix for some 3d games that includes a fix for Sims 3
here is the link:
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles...or3DGames.aspx

jasondm4 · 08-22-2009, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockmasteR

Hello and welcome to TSF
ATI has released a hotfix for some 3d games that includes a fix for Sims 3
here is the link:
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles...or3DGames.aspx

Yeah ive already installed that and it didnt help

**RockmasteR** · 08-22-2009, 09:26 AM

try to see if you can disable one card and keep the other from your ATI control panel, some games are just not to friendly with two video cards

jasondm4 · 08-22-2009, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockmasteR

try to see if you can disable one card and keep the other from your ATI control panel, some games are just not to friendly with two video cards

ive already tried that also i even took out the other card completly and tested each card seperatly and got the same performance

Sanc7ified · 08-22-2009, 01:47 PM

Yeah, I let my girlfriend install sim city 4 on my pc, and it ran like complete crap. With the set-up i have, i should beable to run about 10 windows of it, no problem =/

Mcninjaguy · 08-22-2009, 11:49 PM

Your PSU has 6 12v rails at 128amps and they don't seem to lend power to each other very well with max combined rail's amperage at 87amps. That total was taken from its max continuous peak wattage output of 1050w. They seem to only lend around 70% power to each rail.
Source

This leads me to believe that your PSU can't supply high end video cards properly with sufficient power needed.

I would recommend this PSU
Corsair 850w
$140
after rebate $120
free shipping

I would also try running Simcity 4 with one CPU enabled.

start the game
alt tab out of it
Open task manager (right click on task bar and select task manager)
go to Processes
find Simcity4.exe
right click on it and go to affinity
make sure only CPU is enabled.

08-21-2009, 11:46 PM	#1 (permalink)
jasondm4 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3 OS: Windows Vist Home Premium SP2 32bit	The Sims 3 Slow Choppy Performance on high end PC?! I can run games like crysis bioshock far cry 2 etc with great framerates but the sims 3 is just terrible textures take forver to load and every time i move the camera the game lags. Ive updated everything from chipset driver to the graphics drivers ive called EA ATI and nobody has been able to fix this problem for me and its driving me crazy i even tried an FPS limiter that limits the frame rates to 30 which is the maximum for the game so ive heard. I also installed xp on another hard drive and ran the game on xp with barley any processes running since that game was pretty much the only app installed on there. I have tested each of my 4870's individually and with crossfire and get the same horrible performance. Anyway ive got to get to the bottom of this so please give me some advice as to what i should do here are my specs which exceed the requirments for this game. Motherboard: Asus Maximus Formula X38 RAM: corsair xms2 ddr2 4gb CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 3.0 Ghz 12mb of cache Q9650 PSU: Zalman 850 watt ZM850-HP Graphics Card: 2 Sapphire ATI HD 4870 1gb toxic edition in crossfire mode

08-22-2009, 12:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
RockmasteR Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lebanon Posts: 3,171 OS: Vista Ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: The Sims 3 Slow Choppy Performance on high end PC?! Hello and welcome to TSF ATI has released a hotfix for some 3d games that includes a fix for Sims 3 here is the link: http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles...or3DGames.aspx __________________ CPUz GPUz Nvidia Drivers ATI Drivers System Information for Windows (SIW) Revo Uninstaller RivaTuner ATITOOL Directx 9.0C !!Please don't PM me for Tech Support!!

08-22-2009, 09:26 AM	#4 (permalink)
RockmasteR Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lebanon Posts: 3,171 OS: Vista Ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: The Sims 3 Slow Choppy Performance on high end PC?! try to see if you can disable one card and keep the other from your ATI control panel, some games are just not to friendly with two video cards __________________ CPUz GPUz Nvidia Drivers ATI Drivers System Information for Windows (SIW) Revo Uninstaller RivaTuner ATITOOL Directx 9.0C !!Please don't PM me for Tech Support!!

08-22-2009, 01:47 PM	#6 (permalink)
Sanc7ified Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 4 OS: XP	Re: The Sims 3 Slow Choppy Performance on high end PC?! Yeah, I let my girlfriend install sim city 4 on my pc, and it ran like complete crap. With the set-up i have, i should beable to run about 10 windows of it, no problem =/

08-22-2009, 11:49 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: The Sims 3 Slow Choppy Performance on high end PC?! Your PSU has 6 12v rails at 128amps and they don't seem to lend power to each other very well with max combined rail's amperage at 87amps. That total was taken from its max continuous peak wattage output of 1050w. They seem to only lend around 70% power to each rail. Source This leads me to believe that your PSU can't supply high end video cards properly with sufficient power needed. I would recommend this PSU Corsair 850w $140 after rebate $120 free shipping I would also try running Simcity 4 with one CPU enabled. start the game alt tab out of it Open task manager (right click on task bar and select task manager) go to Processes find Simcity4.exe right click on it and go to affinity make sure only CPU is enabled.