Sims 3 Graphics Card Help

[Dannii_Clough]

Hello,

I have a new laptop and want to make the sims 3 run without crashing- the graphics card is not recognised. Is someone able to make the two files for me please?

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce RTX 2060

Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x1F15

So I need the GraphicsRules and GraphicsCard editing to have the card recognised. If you need anything else or advise on anything else I need to do to make it run.

Thank you!

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@Dannii_Clough  The easiest way is through the Nvidia Control Panel.  Right-click on your desktop, select the CP, then Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings.  Choose ts3.exe for an Origin install of Sims 3, or ts3w.exe (with the W) for a disc or Steam install.  (You may see both, but you need to apply the settings to the correct one for your type of install.)  Scroll down to the vertical sync setting and set it to On; enabling triple buffering can help performance too.

While you're there, it's worth setting the Max Frame Rate to the refresh rate of your laptop's screen; you can see that under Advanced Display Settings.  It shouldn't matter in fullscreen, but this way you won't have to worry if you switch to windowed mode.

To make sure the setting is working in-game, bring up the cheats console (crtl-shift-C) and enter "fps on" without quotes.  A number will appear in the upper right corner, and it should never go above the refresh rate of your screen.  If it's consistently higher in spite of the above settings, you'll need to use an outside tool instead.  This one works well with Sims 3 and other DX9 games:

https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/84-d3doverrider/?changelog=32

It's an add-on for RivaTuner Statistics Server but functions on its own, specifically forcing vertical sync in cases where the above steps don't help.

[mate54]

@Dannii_CloughYou should be able to add them to your existing graphics files. Remember to back them up first.

To add your card to the game's database:

1. Find the GraphicsCards.sgr in your game's installation folder. If you installed The Sims 3 in the default location, the file should be in:

    - C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin (Origin)

    - C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin (CD)

2. Scroll until you find vendor "NVIDIA" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de and add a line under it. In the new line, add:

    card 0x1f15 "GeForce RTX 2060"

3. Save the file.

To get the game to recognize the card:

1. Open the GraphicsRules.sgr file and look for this entry:

   match("${cardName}", "*GTX 6??*")

2. Replace GTX 6?? with RTX. Leave everything else untouched, including the quotation marks and the asterisks.

3. Save the file.

You might want to increase your game's texture memory as well, since your card can handle it.

1. At the top of the GraphicsRules.sgr file, find:

   seti textureMemory 32

2. You can increase that number to the memory you want the game to use. 1024 or 2048 should be fine in most cases.

3. Find the line under it, the one that says setb textureMemorySizeOK false, and add # before it.

4. Save the file.

If the changes won't save, move the files to your desktop temporarily, and edit them there.

The game should now recognize your graphics card and be able to utilize it a bit more efficiently.

If you want to do other adjustments to improve performance, you can start with this guide.

[puzzlezaddict]

@Dannii_Clough  To get the GPU recognized, you'll need to edit a two files called graphicscards.sgr and graphicsrules.sgr, which are both located in the Sims 3 program files.  For an Origin install, the default file path is:

Program files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin

Note:  These instructions only apply to and will only work for the original poster's graphics card.  If you'd like help getting your own card recognized, please post your graphics card's device ID and ask for help.

Spoiler

Open graphicscards.sgr (Notepad works fine), and crtl-F to search for 10de.  That will take you to these lines:

vendor "NVIDIA" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de
card 0x0fd1 "GeForce GT 650M"
card 0x0fd2 "GeForce GT 640M"

Create a new line under the "Nvidia" line, copy this text, and paste it in the new line:

    card 0x1f15 "GeForce RTX 2060"

So you should now see this:

vendor "NVIDIA" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de

card 0x1f15 "GeForce RTX 2060"
card 0x0fd1 "GeForce GT 650M"
card 0x0fd2 "GeForce GT 640M"

(with indents from spaces that this site isn't displaying properly).  Save, quit, and open graphicsrules.sgr.  Crtl-F and search for 8800, which will take you here:

 elseif (match("${cardName}", "*8800*") or match("${cardName}", "*9500*") or match("${cardName}", "*9600 GSO*") or match("${cardName}", [etc.]

Change the bolded 8800 to RTX 2060.  Don't change anything else, not even the asterisks.  This will classify your card as uber.

Finally, scroll back to the top of graphicsrules, and look for this, 8-10 lines down:

if ($textureMemory == 0)
seti textureMemory 32
setb textureMemorySizeOK false

change the 32 to 1024, and add a # and a space in front of setb.  Your card has more VRAM than that, but TS3 can only use 800 MB anyway.  The lines should look like this:

if ($textureMemory == 0)
seti textureMemory 1024
# setb textureMemorySizeOK false

Launch the game at least once to refresh the deviceconfig.log.  You'll know it worked if you see a [Found: 1, Matched: 1] next to the card name in deviceconfig, and texture memory listed as 1024 instead of the current 32 MB override.  If either tweak doesn't work, please paste that same section of deviceconfig here, and we can tweak the edits. 

The single most important step in getting the game to run smoothly, and protecting your graphics card from overwork and overheating, is to manually cap your in-game framerates.  If you'd like help with this process, let me know whether you intend to play in fullscreen mode, windowed mode, or both.

[Alamiracle]

@puzzlezaddict Thank you soo much for your help <3

[Dannii_Clough]

Hello,

Thank you for all of your help. please can you let me know how to cap the frame rates? I play full screen. Thank for your help.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@Dannii_Clough  The easiest way is through the Nvidia Control Panel.  Right-click on your desktop, select the CP, then Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings.  Choose ts3.exe for an Origin install of Sims 3, or ts3w.exe (with the W) for a disc or Steam install.  (You may see both, but you need to apply the settings to the correct one for your type of install.)  Scroll down to the vertical sync setting and set it to On; enabling triple buffering can help performance too.

While you're there, it's worth setting the Max Frame Rate to the refresh rate of your laptop's screen; you can see that under Advanced Display Settings.  It shouldn't matter in fullscreen, but this way you won't have to worry if you switch to windowed mode.

To make sure the setting is working in-game, bring up the cheats console (crtl-shift-C) and enter "fps on" without quotes.  A number will appear in the upper right corner, and it should never go above the refresh rate of your screen.  If it's consistently higher in spite of the above settings, you'll need to use an outside tool instead.  This one works well with Sims 3 and other DX9 games:

https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/84-d3doverrider/?changelog=32

It's an add-on for RivaTuner Statistics Server but functions on its own, specifically forcing vertical sync in cases where the above steps don't help.

[Dannii_Clough]

Thank you for the quick reply! I may sound silly, but, I updated the settings. My screen is 120.002 Hz. I set it to 120 in the FPS in settings. I looked at the FPS in game it went above 120? Do I need to install the extra step? Thanks again. Danielle

[puzzlezaddict]

@Dannii_Clough  Yes, if your screen's refresh rate is 120 Hz, you should never see fps go above 120, or perhaps hit 122 or so for a split second and come back down.  The issue is that many but not all laptops' graphics are controlled in a way that the Nvidia Control Panel can't force vertical sync, so an outside tool is necessary.  I wasn't sure that was true with yours, and since using the CP didn't require installing anything else, it was worth trying first.

D3DOverrider is safe to use and works with Sims 3, but if you prefer, you can instead install RivaTuner Statistics Server and manually set an fps limit of 120, again for TS3.exe (Origin) or TS3W.exe (disc or Steam).  Either way works, but the advantage of D3DOverrider is that you get the other benefits of vertical sync as well, namely the prevention of screen tearing and other small graphics glitches.

[Dannii_Clough]

Thank you, it was exceeding 120, however, I have just gone back on with my laptop charger unplugged and the frame rates dropped and ran well. How can I change the settings so when I am charging the laptop the frame rates don't shoot up?! So bizzare, thank you.

[Dannii_Clough]

I may have resolved it! Thank you for all of your help!

@puzzlezaddict