Constant Lag & Freezing, Game Not Working Properly

[iRetr0]

Hi Sims Community,

I've been dealing with these problems for months and I've been doing my best to attempt to investigate and resolve the issues myself, to no avail. I'm starting to get incredibly frustrated that The Sims 4 isn't functioning properly lately; it's gotten to the point where I only play for an hour at a time because the issues are ridiculously frustrating. I think it's high time I ask for help, but I've tried everything I can think of, so I'm not going to hold my breath.

Yes, my computer exceeds system requirements for TS4.

Issues I'm Facing

• Constant lag and idling Sims; I haven't had my Sims dine out at restaurants because it literally becomes an all day affair with the lag and idling. It's unacceptable. Just yesterday, my Sim arrived at the vet clinic at 9am and with the lag and idling, didn't get his cat's illness fixed until 7pm.
• Crashing at random intervals; my game will CTD randomly without any kind of Windows error or anything of the sort. Any Last Exception files the crash produces offers zero information about what caused the crash. It usually happens when going to Manage Worlds or travelling from one lot to another. It once happened this week when my Sim went to wash dishes.

Troubleshooting I've Done

• Complete uninstall of The Sims 4 and Origin, followed by reinstalling Origin and then The Sims 4 and its expansion/game/stuff packs.
• Testing current saves without any mods after a fresh installation
• Testing fresh saves without any mods after a fresh installation
• Recreating my Sims 4 folder (removing it and letting the game create a new one)
• Emptying my Gallery Tray, screenshots, and recorded videos folders
• Testing current and fresh saves with certain mods, one at a time, to try and isolate any issues
• Update all drivers, graphics cards, operating system, etc.

I've attached my DxDiag report for reference. I'm literally at a loss here. I've done everything I could possibly think of and nothing has fixed the problem. I wasn't experiencing these issues a couple of years ago, but they started and increased with each expansion pack I've installed, notably with Pets and even worse with Seasons.

I'm not expecting a miracle, I'm not expecting anyone to have a solution, and I'm not expecting Maxis/Sims Studio/EA to ever fix these problems, but it's worth trying at least.

[jpkarlsen]

Your graphics drivers are a bit old (6 months). Visit Nvidia.com to upgrade to the latest.

[iRetr0]

Every time I try, it tells me my drivers already have the latest update.

[kreatora]

@iRetr0
I have a slightly worse computer than you have and I do not have these problems.
The only difference I see is that I have all the Windows updates done correctly - yours are not.

[iRetr0]

@kreatora

I'm not sure how it's possible that my Windows updates are incorrect. I update each time my computer prompts me to. Could you explain further?

[kreatora]

In your DXdiag is there is mention of three Windows failed updates

[iRetr0]

@kreatora

When I go into Windows Update, it says I'm all up to date, so I don't know what that's about...

I have no other issues running any other games, especially ones much more demanding than The Sims 4.

[jpkarlsen]

@iRetr0

On the Drivers download page first select Geforce in the next dropdown select Geforce 900 series. In the next select Geforce GTX 970 and click search. In the results there are one from this month.

[iRetr0]

@kreatora,

My response was marked as spam and idk why. I replied saying that all of my updates are fine; when I go to update, my computer says Windows is up to date.

@jpkarlsen

Got it. Not sure why my GeForce Experience didn't pick that up and update.

Although it's worth mentioning that I am able to play plenty of other games, much more demanding than The Sims 4, without issue.

[Phantomlover1717]

@iRetr0 how does it run with the new driver?

@jpkarlsen