Sims 3 graphics problem

[Evie357]

Hey,

I was hoping someone could help me literally I've contacted EA 4 times and everything they've suggested hasn't worked and i'm legit ready to cry!! Basically when I play in full screen mode in The Sims 3 the screen flickers and just goes crazy even within game mode so it's impossible to play. Within windowed mode the game works fine but i prefer to play full screen.

This is everything I've tried

• Updating my drivers 
• Re-installing Origin
• Making Origin administrator 
• Changing my Sims 3 screen resolution and adjusting graphics settings within the game.

I noticed this happening after I updated my graphics driver and also Origin updated but i doubt it was Origin that caused this. If anyone can help me I'd greatly appreciate it, I've attached my dixdag also. Thank you.

[roberta591]

@Evie357  The biggest problem is there is only 112Mb of dedicated video memory. Actually there is no "dedicated" video memory as the integrated video chip is borrowing memory from main memory. The minimum requirement for this game is 128Mb dedicated video memory. This is designed into the motherboard and can not be changed. The flickering maybe because the video frame buffers (dedicated video memory) is cutting off causing distortion. Intel has a driver dated 5/4/2018 for that video chip. All-in-one computers make poor gaming computers due to upgading the hardware may require non standard components (usually the non standard power supply and no video slot). You may be able to adjust the dedicated video value in the bios but not all (very few) computers have this option in bios. There is a registry value us can adjust as the dedicated video memory is just a value of memory borrowed from main main as all video memory is borrowed from main memory with these integrate video chips. I don't recommend casual Windows user make changes to the registry as a damaged registry could cause the computer to become corrupt (there isn't usually a redo with a messed up registry) and there is a slim possibility this will correct the issue. The other thing to try is lowering the resolution. This will probably lower the requirements for frame buffers (less memory).  hth

[Evie357]

The problem isn't my computer I've been playing Sims on it perfectly fine for about 2 years until a month ago where the screen started flickering etc. When I spoke to EA they said my computer was more than capable of running the Sims. I've changed the resolutions in full screen mode yet it still continues to flicker??? I'm completely stumped on how to fix the issue  

[thesims1depot]

You said that this happened after you updated your graphics driver?Maybe try rolling back the driver to an earlier version to see if that helps any.

[Evie357]

I've updated it to the 2018 driver even that didn't fix It!! Would I have to download a previous driver??

[thesims1depot]

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@Evie357 wrote:

I've updated it to the 2018 driver even that didn't fix It!! Would I have to download a previous driver??

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Yes, you'd have to download the previous driver. 

[roberta591]

@Evie357  The problem is your computer doesn't meet minimum requirements. The game may play but with operating system updates may affect the way the game plays. This is why I say a below spec computers may play the game but may quit working at any time. The minimum requirement is 128Mb dedicated video memory. Your system has no dedicated video memory. The 112Mb is just a registry figure to make the application happy. The video memory is ALL borrowed from main memory. Parts of main memory can (and does) get paged in and out of virtual memory. A guess is the frame buffer memory is getting swapped in and out of virtual memory (because it is NOT dedicated memory) causing video frame corruption causing the video to flicker (tear). GPUs (graphics processing unit) is actually more complicated then the cpu (central processing unit). Integrated Intel video chips are known to not be gaming friendly

[Evie357]

My computer has played the game fine for years so I don't really understand why it would just stop working if you get what I'm saying? EA said my specs are more than capable of playing the game so there must be another issue. I appreciate your advice, I can't afford to just buy another computer with high gaming specs when my game should fine on the computer I have. 

[Evie357]

I tried that it didn't work

[roberta591]

@Evie357  Video device drivers are optimized for the best performance and through the process of optimizing some hardware may not work as it did before. This is very common. There is (was) competition between Nvidia and AMD (ATI) as was rated by the best frame rate. Better performance may be obtained by trimming code from the device driver and some legacy hardware may be by passed. This has been done by Nvidia, ATI, and Intel. Sims 3 has been out since 2009 and now is considered legacy by EA. Sims 3 is 32 bit code and with video hardware using more and more memory that makes the program harder to run. The reason your having issues now could (probably) be very complicated and be issues with the video driver and the fact that there is no "real" dedicated video memory. I have played this game on several mid range gaming computers with out issues - the main difference is my computers had dedicated video chips that has more then the minimum dedicated video memory. With 4K resolution really gaining ground and interest in VR finally taking hold - gaming hardware is that is compatible has become higher mid range. Your computer is an entry level gaming computer more suitable for student and/or multimedia. You could try older video drivers - they are available on the Intel support site. You may even have to regen the computer to an older version of Windows - Windows 7 is still valid until January 14, 2020. 64 bit gaming is emerging. Many operating systems are now 64 bit only and I expect 32 bit computing will slowly fade away. Sims 4 is now 64 bit when EA released Cats & Dogs expansion pack. They first thing I would do is shove a new hard drive in the computer and gen it up to Windows 7 and see how the game runs. You can always put the old hard drive back in. This would provide a stable video driver platform and run the game under DX11 - the environment the game was release under. Windows 10 was released in 2015 when Sims 3 development was pretty much over and Sims 4 taking off. The longer users wait to update to newer technology the harder the move will be. I would have to know more to do a full recommendation. My present gaming computer has a Nvidia GTX 960 with a AMD FX 6100 cpu. It's now on the old side and the only reason I haven't replaced it yet is its been running everything I've thrown at it including Fallout 4. AMD now has the Ryzen cpu which supports DDR4 and Nvidia has the GTX 10XX series out so this fall may be upgrade time. I really do understand what you are saying but Sims 3 always had issues with Intel I series integrated video chips. Some seem to work, others never worked, and yet others quit working after time. This is why I suspect it may be a video driver issue. Intel supplies very stable drivers and never really competed in the game realm as Itel probably didn't want to compete with Nvidia and ATI. I had read some articles about Intel plans but with the CEO resigning recently it will be interesting to see what direction Itel will take.