Screen Blinks/Flickers Black

by Kaityrae33
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Screen Blinks/Flickers Black

[ Edited ]
★★★ Novice

My screen flickers black on the first loading screen right after the intro video (whether it's skipped or not). It's just The Sims 3 that seems to have any issues. It happens using both Origin & the beta EA App. The game doesn't even load to the "New Game, Copy Game, and Delete Game" screen. I have included my DxDiag and a link to a 30-second video of the issue. I've done a few different things to try and fix it. I took out the Mods folder, moved the "The Sims 3" folder to my desktop so it would have to create a new one, and I've uninstalled & reinstalled the game. I have never had this issue before. I believe my problem is an FPS overload. As you can see, it says 215+ FPS on the top-left corner of my screen. I tried using my AMD Software to have a max of 60 FPS & what I think is v-sync, but it still has that issue. Please help! 😫

 

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/NV34R9JU

Message 1 of 6 (1,345 Views)

Accepted Solution

Re: Screen Blinks/Flickers Black

@Kaityrae33  The one time I tested, I also couldn't get Radeon software to enforce an fps limit within Sims 3.  But you can use a tool like RivaTuner Statistics Server (free download), which will limit fps in both fullscreen and windowed modes as long as it's running.  It'll look something like this:

 

RTSS.png

 

Choose TS3.exe (without the W) from the list, since you have an Origin install; set the framerate limit, in the red box, to 59, since that's the refresh rate your monitor is currently using; then choose whether you want RTSS to start with Windows or not (yellow box).  Restart your computer before playing.  The app won't affect any other games you run unless you set a global fps limit, so it's fine to let it open with Windows, but if you don't do that, you'll need to remember to launch it before Sims 3 each time you want to play.

 

It's certainly important to set an fps limit when running Sims 3: you don't want your graphics card to overwork itself and produce hundreds or even thousands of frames per second, as it would if you left framerates uncapped.  However, I'm not at all sure this is the underlying issue.  I've seen a couple reports recently of this same problem when other players were running Razer software, perhaps Cortex but also possibly another Razer utility.  Your dxdiag also lists a number of crashes of a component of Razer Synapse.

 

Point is, this could easily be the fault of Razer software, so please try killing anything with the Razer logo in the Task Manager before playing.  (Check the background proceses list too.)  If the software restarts on its own, you may need to uninstall it entirely and then restart your computer to get rid of its effects.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.

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Message 2 of 6 (1,318 Views)

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Re: Screen Blinks/Flickers Black

@Kaityrae33  The one time I tested, I also couldn't get Radeon software to enforce an fps limit within Sims 3.  But you can use a tool like RivaTuner Statistics Server (free download), which will limit fps in both fullscreen and windowed modes as long as it's running.  It'll look something like this:

 

RTSS.png

 

Choose TS3.exe (without the W) from the list, since you have an Origin install; set the framerate limit, in the red box, to 59, since that's the refresh rate your monitor is currently using; then choose whether you want RTSS to start with Windows or not (yellow box).  Restart your computer before playing.  The app won't affect any other games you run unless you set a global fps limit, so it's fine to let it open with Windows, but if you don't do that, you'll need to remember to launch it before Sims 3 each time you want to play.

 

It's certainly important to set an fps limit when running Sims 3: you don't want your graphics card to overwork itself and produce hundreds or even thousands of frames per second, as it would if you left framerates uncapped.  However, I'm not at all sure this is the underlying issue.  I've seen a couple reports recently of this same problem when other players were running Razer software, perhaps Cortex but also possibly another Razer utility.  Your dxdiag also lists a number of crashes of a component of Razer Synapse.

 

Point is, this could easily be the fault of Razer software, so please try killing anything with the Razer logo in the Task Manager before playing.  (Check the background proceses list too.)  If the software restarts on its own, you may need to uninstall it entirely and then restart your computer to get rid of its effects.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 2 of 6 (1,319 Views)

Re: Screen Blinks/Flickers Black

★★★ Novice

Could you post a link to RivaTuner, please? I can't seem to find one that works.

Message 3 of 6 (1,276 Views)

Re: Screen Blinks/Flickers Black

@Kaityrae33  Go here:

 

https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/rtss-rivatuner-statistics-server-download.html

 

and scroll to the bottom of the page.  The page will seem to refresh, but the download should start in a few seconds.  If it doesn't, use a different browser.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 4 of 6 (1,268 Views)

Re: Screen Blinks/Flickers Black

[ Edited ]
★★★ Novice

Thank you. I did actually manage to get the RTSS working. The app just sent It straight as a hidden icon. Thanks, though!

Message 5 of 6 (1,265 Views)

Re: Screen Blinks/Flickers Black

★★★ Novice

Thank you so much! That worked!! 😁😁

Message 6 of 6 (1,253 Views)