Sims 3 crashes to background [dxdiag included]

[ApplexSims]

The highest I saw it go was to 114 and the lowest being 21, but it still seemed to run smoothly; much better after changing where the monitor was hooked up to. I was shocked with the difference. If the fps still needs to be fixed then lay it on me. Also getting it to recognize the graphics card would be great

[puzzlezaddict]

@ApplexSims  Although 114 isn't particularly high for your graphics card, limiting fps to 60 won't hurt.  The easiest way, if you play in fullscreen, is to enable v-sync in the built-in Nvidia Control Panel.  If that doesn't work, and it never works in windowed mode, you can try Nvidia Inspector (free download).  In either case, be sure to set up the profile for TS3.exe, not TS3W, which is only for disc or Steam installs.  Here are screenshots and instructions for both tools:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16540301/#Comment_16540301

You could use RivaTuner Statistics Server instead, if you already have it.  The same principle applies: create a profile for TS3.exe and manually set the fps limit to 60.  The one difference is that RTSS does have to be running while you play, so be sure not to X it out.

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 the same information from deviceconfig 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 0x1c02 "GeForce GTX 1060"

So you should now see this:

vendor "NVIDIA" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de

card 0x1c02 "GeForce GTX 1060"
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 GTX 1060.  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 three times the video memory, but TS3 can only use 800 MB anyway.  The lines should look like this:

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

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.

[ApplexSims]

Everything worked! Thank you for helping me!