February 2021 - last edited April 2022
Deleted.
February 2021
That's ok. I comfort myself with the fact I'm not the only one experiencing this. The thing that baffles me, is that it's been around for some while now, but it's clearly not an easy fix. Or I'd reckon there would have been a fix from EA.
February 2021
Hello @JeanVW
The team has not been able to reproduce this issue thus far. It will be difficult to fix unless we're able to see the issue ourselves, unfortunately.
This account is no longer accepting Direct Messages. If you need to send a Direct Message, please send it to TheSimsDirect. Thank you.
April 2021
I ran into this exact issue recently. Sims 4 would run just fine without internet connection, but would drop to ridiculously low frames when connected. After some googling, I found a steam thread (sorry I couldn't find it again to link) that had several linked solutions, but the first solution was to increase adjust the Windows Temporary Internet Files settings. In my case, the Temporary Internet Files location was blank and I couldn't change it in the interface. Once I corrected the location, Sims 4 now runs like it used to. Here's the steps I took:
***WARNING: This solution requires modifying the registry. Do not perform those steps if you are unfamiliar with registry modifications***
(Windows 10)
It might have been a windows update that broke the temporary internet files. But it's Windows, so who knows. I hope this helps someone that stumbles across this post!
July 2021
Since switching out my harddrives I've got this problem again but now I can't change my cache, getting a "please select a value between 8 and 8 for how much disk space Temporary Internet Files may use".
I just want to know why Sims 4 needs Internet Explorer's cache.
August 2021
I did what you suggested. It's seems like it work but several days later massive fps randomly drop happening to me again.
My FPS randomly drop to 16 - 10 fps even playing it offline but I had noticed for several times that when FPS massively drop. The Stimulation lag will be gone, I mean all interaction gone smoothly with no stand still like it happens when I play with normal framerate so I might suggest there are somethings to do with stimulation lag.
I really have no idea when EA will gonna completely fix this issue. I want to play a game with less stimulation lag and no massive frame drop like this.
I usually play with 50-60fps+ with slightly stimulation lag.
anyway, Thanks for your suggestion @Merjanick . It might help me a bit but seems like there's nothing we can do if the issue was came out from a game itself.
August 2021
So I have been tracking this thread since 2019 on and off for a possible solution to the problem. I also have the issue of not being able to increase the Temporary Internet Files size and give me the "in between 8 - 8 mb" error. I have attempted the registry modification Merjanick suggested, but still the spot there is should say the location is just blank and still can't change the size.
I looked online for solutions to that and tried pretty much everything I could but also didn't fix it. If increasing the size of the Temporary Internet Files location is really the solution to fixing the framerate issues while connected to the internet, then I really want to attempt it but unless I got this other issue solved I can't try it.
Doesn't anyone else have any better ideas? Or how about the developers finally fix this, why would they need the Temporary Internet Folder anyways? This seems so dumb to me.
September 2021
I think i found the culprint.
Disable "share user data". fixed it for me. my guess: they record your entire game play and everything else you do or something like that so it somehow makes the game run like * even without utilizing any of the pcs visible ressources. Shady af.
Still i dont get perfect fps even though my gpu is Max at 60%, my ram still has plenty of space and my cpu is relaxed at 40-50%. But with the share user data on i got 19-20 fps. I now have 40-100 (extremely volatile). I don't trust them, there's something seriously wrong
January 2022
February 2022
I have a game that runs with an astonishingly bad 1.5 to 7 FPS without mods. It's only one specific lot and I'm willing to share.