Significantly more stress running game after update

[lucalicatte]

Sorry if the title is vague, I couldn't find a short/concise way to describe the issue lol..

Basically, after the most recent update (the bunkbeds one I guess??), it seems like it's for some reason much more taxing for my computer to run the game?

Usually when I'm playing, the fans on my computer whir pretty quietly, and the temp is generally about 55c - 62c. This has always been the case.

But a few days ago I installed the new update, and when I tried to load the game, almost immediately the fans were WAY louder than they ever are, and the temps were getting up to 78c - 80c...??

I tried leaving it this way for like 20 minutes, thinking maybe it was just loading new things or something??, but it only got worse so I got afraid and turned it off.

I did not change any settings at all, and made sure they were all exactly the same as usual after the new update. In fact, I even reduced all the quality settings all the way to see if it would help, and it barely made any difference.

 (I did initially have the glitch where your settings (like enabling mods) don't save after re-opening the game, but I was able to fix that, and then change my settings to how they always are and have them stay that way, so that should all be normal.)

The only thing that makes the game playable (without blowing up my laptop) is to put it in 'laptop mode' (then it comes in about 52c, minimal fans) BUT, I have never had to do that before. I was literally playing the game less than 24 hours before I installed the update, NO laptop mode and medium/high settings ( I usually play in offline mode, which is why the update wasn't installed earlier). 

This is only important because I don't really actually play the game in live mode, all I like to do is build, so I prefer at least medium quality-ish (especially with light effects and stuff from sun-roofs, which don't show up in laptop mode it seems), to be able to better see what I'm building. 

I also have not changed any settings on my computer, haven't done any windows updates recently, haven't installed any new programs, everything is exactly the same. And, playing other games works perfectly fine. This is only happening with The Sims 4, and only after this update. 

Anyway, does anyone know why this could be happening or how I could fix it? It doesn't even have to be super high, I just want to be able to play the game off laptop mode with medium quality without murdering my laptop. I don't know much about tech stuff so I'm not sure why after an update all of a sudden the same exact game with the same exact settings on the same exact computer would be suddenly so much more difficult to process...??

Thank you in advance if anyone has any advice! ToT

[puzzlezaddict]

@lucalicatte  Is this CPU or GPU temperature?  If it's the processor, then reducing the in-game settings won't help and may actually raise the temps.  Lower settings means the graphics card can render more frames per second, and more frames means more draw calls handled by the CPU.  And out of curiosity, what app are you using to monitor?

Do you have vertical sync enabled in the graphics options?  It's worth trying, although you need to be in fullscreen mode for it to work.  If you play in windowed mode, there are other ways to manually cap in-game framerates; let me know if you need help with this process.

Please also run a dxdiag and attach it to a post, so I can see the overall state and components of your computer.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

[Psychotps]

What I usually do to set up a game for optimal play/lag... is this...

One thing to remember, new features, DLC, mods, game packs, will always slow down everything and increase lag. Purchasing a new DLC, updating for new features, or adding new mods, will ALWAYS slow the game down a bit. How much depends on what it is. Adding one of the Kits or new clothing CC will not slow it down much at all, however, things like Seasons, and Paranormal, slow it down a LOT.

So, pick and choose what you are willing to have in the game. If you're having a lot of problems with speed, you'll likely just have to sacrifice some things. Personally, Paranormal slowed my game down more than I was willing to accept, so I had to sacrifice it and now play without it.

Once you have what you want to play with, optimize the game for it.  Best thing to do is to turn on FPS. The game has this built-in. Just bring up the cheat window and type in "FPS ON". You'll see the FPS counter on the bottom-left.

Then, increase the graphics settings in the game as HIGH as possible while still getting at least 60fps. This may take a while. Try some settings, save, re-load, turn on FPS and play and see what you're getting for FPS. Keep going.

Once you get a good speed rating... then lower the graphics settings a little more to give it some breathing room.

It is also a very good idea to turn on FPS limiting in your video card settings. I can't tell you how to do this because every one's different. Mine is in Radeon Settings and I have a separate configuration for each game. Mine is called "Frame Rate Target Control" and I just set it to 60. This way I get a good framerate cap without overloading the CPU if it tends to get faster.

If you adjust the graphics settings too low and still get crappy FPS, then you'll just have to start sacrificing more things. Remove more mods, run without some game packs you can live without... etc.  Find that balance.

There is a VERY good video on YouTube by Carl "Making Your Game Look Better: Sims 4 Graphics Options - A Guide to What They Do" go through that to better optimize your graphics settings.

If you lower the graphics settings to the bare minimum, removed a bunch of packs, and STILL get crappy FPS... it may be time to start looking into a better computer/video card/ more ram...etc.

[lucalicatte]

Thank you for the response!

It's the CPU temperature that was getting high, though GPU could have been a little as well, I was mostly always looking at the number at the top of the page because it was the highest (which is CPU).

And I was using something called Piriform Speccy to look at this information. I don't know much about the program, I was told to download it to check something like 4 years ago when I asked a question on a computer forum lol, now I just open it every once in a while if my fans get really loud when playing games just to make sure the temperature is safe and etc.

Unfortunately I always play in windowed mode, though I could try playing in fullscreen if it made the game work correctly. I'll try to see about that and if it fixes anything - maybe I used to have it turned on and that was something I missed when checking all my settings after the update. I can try opening the game again and changing a few things when I have free time later today.

What does vertical sync do? 

I've tried to attach the dxdiag thing, though opening it looked a little different for me than what the pictures look like in the tutorial you linked, so let me know if I've sent the wrong thing or something! 

[lucalicatte]

Oh, also, thank you other person for the suggestions! I may try messing around with it more later when I can. I don't think I'm having any lag or issues like that though, it's just that the fans run super loud/the computer gets hot. The game actually looks perfectly smooth and normal like it always does lol - but I'll see if I could change a few things or etc. 

[Psychotps]

@lucalicatte Well, think of the fan like this...

The fan does what you would think it does. It keeps the CPU cool. The fact that it's running means it's doing its best to keep your processor from overheating. Hearing the fan running is a GOOD thing. It means you won't get a burned up CPU.

I'd actually be MORE worried if I was playing a game and I DIDN'T hear the fan. I'd be worried my CPU was going to melt!

[puzzlezaddict]

@lucalicatte  To be clear, 80º C is not dangerously high for your CPU.  It wouldn't be dangerous for your GPU either, although the card would throttle performance to a significant extent at that level.  But the fact that something changed suddenly is worth investigating.

The first thing to try is playing with Origin in offline mode.  You'll still be able to play normally, although the Gallery won't work.  The point is that Origin sometimes drives up the CPU's workload for no apparent reason, and that can also raise temperatures beyond where they should be.  If playing in offline mode helps, we can troubleshoot the Origin issue without having to worry about anything else.

Vertical sync makes the graphics card sync its output of frames with the refresh rate of your monitor, and also render the entire frame before sending it to the monitor.  So it both limits framerates and helps prevent screen tearing.  In your case, your screen's refresh rate is 60 Hz, which is lower than the framerates your graphics card could likely produce if allowed to max itself out.

However, you don't necessarily need to play in fullscreen and enable v-sync.  There are tools to limit framerates in windowed mode as well, including RivaTuner Statistics Server if you want to install something lightweight.  (It does need to be running in the background in order to work.)  Or you could update the driver for your Nvidia card: starting a year ago, the Nvidia Control Panel has a max frame rate setting that should also work in windowed mode.

Before you do this, it's worth finding out what kind of fps you see without any interference: bring up the cheats console (crtl-shift-C) and enter fps on, and the number will appear in the lower left corner of your screen, over the user interface.