Sims 4 Massive FPS Drops [ Edited ]

[Gameshark144]

I have had issues with the game randomly dropping to 15-20 fps for extended periods of time, sometimes nearly 30 minutes which makes playing difficult. I have lowered resolution and graphics settings to minimum to see if it is simply a matter of the settings in those situations but the fps drop continues to persist. I play on 3840x2160 normally on max settings and get a smooth 60 fps normally (V-sync is on because my monitor caps at 60). The drops happen completely randomly in various circumstances so I haven't been able to pinpoint it to any one thing specifically and it occurs regardless of graphical resolution and settings. However, opening the game options menu will sometimes sort the issue out though not always. I have far more than the minimum specs required to run the game and the problem occurred even with my old pc build. The issue also occurs on different lots regardless of size whether it be Brindleton Bay, Newcrest, Britechester, etc.

I own all current DLC including the most recent kits and I do play with CC though the issue did occur before any CC usage. 

Old PC 

CPU: Ryzen 7 2700

GPU: Radeon Vega 56

Ram: 16Gb 3000 Hz

Played on max settings at 1920x1080

New PC

CPU: Intel i7 11700k

GPU: Nvidia 3090 FE

Ram: 48Gb 3000 Hz

Playing on max settings at 3840x2160

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I'm inclined at this point to believe that it is simply a game engine issue given that even after my pc upgrade, I continue to have issues.

Edit: The issue also will occur in build mode as well as live mode

[roberta591]

@Gameshark144   What do you mean by massive?  Try in the Nvidia driver - manage 3D settings - global - max frame rate. If you click on it you can turn the limiter on. You can also use the limiter for just certain programs. If depends on your display.

[puzzlezaddict]

@Gameshark144  This is definitely a game engine issue.  There are a few different causes that I know of, and probably more I have no idea about, and I don't think they can be fully corrected.  Having said that, there may be a few steps you can take to at least mitigate the effects.

Please do the following in a clean user folder.  Move your entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and the game will spawn a new one the next time it launches.  Don't add anything to the new folder yet; just test in a new save, in one of the base game worlds, with no custom content or mods.

First of all, tell Windows to run Sims 4 in performance mode.  Hit Windows key-i, select System > Display > Graphics Settings, click Browse, and add TS4_x64.exe.  Then click Options and select "High performance."

Please try playing on ultra graphics settings at your monitor's native resolution and see how it goes.  If you're willing, I'd be interested to see how fps behaves with no cap, at least for a few minutes: it would naturally fluctuate somewhat, but framerates should be much higher at all times.

If you see the same significant fps drops, try playing in a clean boot:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-boot-windows-10

When you reboot, go through the Task Manager's background processes list and shut down anything that's not absolutely necessary.  Even though the entire point of a clean boot is to make that step redundant, anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be running, so you'll need to check.

[JeanVW]

@Gameshark144 Yeah I have the same issue... I bet a lot of other players too. Sometimes clicking ESC works, but not always.
It really breaks the immersion for me. Can't fully commit to a game that's broken... I always end up going back to TS3, because for as laggy it can play sometimes, it doesn't have massive frame drops like this.
Here's hoping they know (I think they do) and will fix it in an upcoming Laundry List.

[Gameshark144]

@roberta591 By massive, I mean that my fps will be at 60 frames consistently and the randomly drop to 15-20 fps and will persist at this rate.

[Gameshark144]

@puzzlezaddict I did the first step with a clean user folder. However, it will be difficult to tell really if that will cause it because like I mentioned previously, the drops are entirely random and can occur with seemingly no set specific reason. 

I have my computer set to run games in high performance by default but went ahead and did it manually just in case.

Playing on ultra settings at 3840x2160, my monitor's native resolution, in the tutorial with V-sync off I was averaging 165-170 fps but with bad screen tearing as you'd likely expect from such a drastic difference in monitor capability. It would occasionally dip down to 120 randomly and back up. When it did this, there were no noticeable changes on screen. My camera angle and zoom remained the same and sims were still in conversation on the couch. 

I did a clean boot on my pc and for good measure did a clean install of the game (I have tried a clean install before with no success but it never hurts to try again) Something worth noting is that the issue does seem to occur more often the longer I play on a save and I understand that likely has an effect but would make playing saves with more than 15 hours tedious.

Edit: Just for giggles, I decided to change the resolution to 1920x1080 and settings to low and my fps remained the same at 170 fps. Not sure if that is noteworthy

[roberta591]

@Gameshark144   Please post your computer's dxdiag and attach the txt file to the paper clip un the lower right of the forum response windows. How you set your frame rate depends on the display device (monitor). Right now I have Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 and my display is a 43" Vizio D43-D2. When I boot my gaming computer the Tv says 1920X1080p with a frame rate of 60 Hz. I have never had any over heating problems with this configuration. The Vizio spec says the TV will do 240Hz. That's what is on the spec sheet. The problem with 4K is there is a difference between watching 4K and a computer generating 4K frames. There is a point where increasing the resolution on a 13" laptop won't make any difference. But now that 65" and 70" inch screens are becoming affordable resolution specs could make a difference.

[puzzlezaddict]

@Gameshark144  Sims 4 has a max fps setting, although last I checked, it was 200.  It's interesting you say that your max is 170 though, because I've seen the same limit with a (much slower) graphics card that also doesn't get maxed out running Sims 4.  I don't know whether this is a game engine limitation or something else, but it's certainly not a limitation of your graphics card.

I'm not surprised you'd get screen tearing; the question was whether you'd get higher framerates, which you do.  Just because I'm curious, try setting vertical sync to Adaptive rather than on, and try Fast as well, both in the Nvidia Control Panel, and let me know what you see.  (Leave the in-game v-sync setting off.)  Fast should sync framerates to double the refresh rate of your monitor; Adaptive sets the upper limit but doesn't affect fps lower than the refresh rate.

[Gameshark144]

@roberta591 As requested, the dxdiag. In case it is important, my monitor is ASUS VP28UQG 28" UHD 3840x2160

[Gameshark144]

@puzzlezaddict I changed the sync option to fast but I didn't see an option for adaptive. Maybe because my monitor isn't G-sync compatible? It is Adaptive Sync/AMD FreeSync compatible though but given that I no longer have any AMD products in my computer, I'm unsure if they are helpful or even usable with my current build. I used this monitor on my old computer build which had an AMD GPU and CPU.