The Sims 3 Not Recognizing GPU

[Kazus]

Hey everyone, I think I'm having an issue with The Sims 3 not recognizing my GTX 550 Ti. I looked in DeviceConfig.log and it says that the card is matched, but that it is not found. I assume that the game is instead using the integrated graphics card on my CPU, is there any way that I can change this?

 

[Dorosh]

Is your monitor plugged into the GTX card or the motherboard video output? Depending on what you're plugged into is what the computer will default to for which video card to use.

 

[Kazus]

Is your monitor plugged into the GTX card or the motherboard video output? Depending on what you're plugged into is what the computer will default to for which video card to use.

I do have it plugged into the GTX card. Is it not possible for it to use the integrated graphics in that case?

 

[Dorosh]

Is your monitor plugged into the GTX card or the motherboard video output? Depending on what you're plugged into is what the computer will default to for which video card to use.

I do have it plugged into the GTX card. Is it not possible for it to use the integrated graphics in that case?

Correct. There is no way for the PC to send the video signal all the way from the integrated card through to the output of the GTX card. So basically, you're certain you're using the GTX and not the integrated.
I never "trust" or take those config files literally. In fact I never look at them unless I have to for some reason like a bug fix or modification.
For peace of mind and something for you to do if you want, try using GPU-Z: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/
This software will detect you video card(s) and in the monitor tab of the software will show you all kinds of stats. Play the game for a while and switch back to this software and it will show you the % GPU usage.

 

[Kazus]

Is your monitor plugged into the GTX card or the motherboard video output? Depending on what you're plugged into is what the computer will default to for which video card to use.

I do have it plugged into the GTX card. Is it not possible for it to use the integrated graphics in that case?

Correct. There is no way for the PC to send the video signal all the way from the integrated card through to the output of the GTX card. So basically, you're certain you're using the GTX and not the integrated.
I never "trust" or take those config files literally. In fact I never look at them unless I have to for some reason like a bug fix or modification.
For peace of mind and something for you to do if you want, try using GPU-Z: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/
This software will detect you video card(s) and in the monitor tab of the software will show you all kinds of stats. Play the game for a while and switch back to this software and it will show you the % GPU usage.

Ok thanks a bunch I kind of figured that that would be the case, I should have assumed the integrated graphics couldn't handle the game at all really. I'm just having some very odd issues with the game. It runs pretty much perfectly when I'm not moving the camera, but as soon as I do that it starts "skipping". Just dropping to very low frames for a fraction of a second as I am moving. I'm done extensive searching on this issue and it seems that I am not alone, but I can't seem to find a solution. Very confused as to why it performs like this, as I am sure that my computer exceeds the game's requirements by quite a bit.

 

[Dorosh]

Have you tried turning some of the graphics settings down? That video card isn't very fast. It meets requirements, sure, but as soon as a lot starts happening in the game you'll slow down. Minimum requirements for a game are for the lowest graphics settings in the game options.
Things that affect performance the most is the resolution (lower number, less power required) and anti-aliasing.

 

[cklaubur]

The Sims 3 seems to be just a laggy game. I'm not sure what the rest of your computer's specs are, but my desktop (specs in sig at bottom) lags when moving the camera, like your computer does.

Casey

 

[Kazus]

Have you tried turning some of the graphics settings down? That video card isn't very fast. It meets requirements, sure, but as soon as a lot starts happening in the game you'll slow down. Minimum requirements for a game are for the lowest graphics settings in the game options.
Things that affect performance the most is the resolution (lower number, less power required) and anti-aliasing.

I've tried messing around with all of the settings, it unfortunately does not help. Like I said it's very strange, I can have the game maxed out or on the lowest settings and I still get 60+ fps (all that I need) as long as I am not moving the camera. A bunch of things can be happening on screen and it's still fine, but then as soon as I start to move the camera it skips quite a bit. The only thing lowering the graphics settings does for me is give me more unneeded frames, the stuttering remains no matter what.

 

[Kazus]

The Sims 3 seems to be just a laggy game. I'm not sure what the rest of your computer's specs are, but my desktop (specs in sig at bottom) lags when moving the camera, like your computer does.

Casey

That's a shame, it seems to be the conclusion I'm coming to. I run other games with similar or even higher requirements just fine, so I really don't think it's my hardware.

 

[cklaubur]

The Sims 3 seems to be just a laggy game. I'm not sure what the rest of your computer's specs are, but my desktop (specs in sig at bottom) lags when moving the camera, like your computer does.

Casey

That's a shame, it seems to be the conclusion I'm coming to. I run other games with similar or even higher requirements just fine, so I really don't think it's my hardware.

How does your CPU usage look? The Sims 3 doesn't seem to be optimized for multiple cores, so it is probably maxing out one core.

Casey

 

[Kazus]

The Sims 3 seems to be just a laggy game. I'm not sure what the rest of your computer's specs are, but my desktop (specs in sig at bottom) lags when moving the camera, like your computer does.

Casey

That's a shame, it seems to be the conclusion I'm coming to. I run other games with similar or even higher requirements just fine, so I really don't think it's my hardware.

How does your CPU usage look? The Sims 3 doesn't seem to be optimized for multiple cores, so it is probably maxing out one core.

Casey

I do have a quad core processor, so that could be it. Is there any way that I can monitor or record that information while running the game?

 

[cklaubur]

On my computer, I have a couple of Windows gadgets that show CPU and GPU usage and temperatures. I just run the Sims 3 in windowed mode and make sure I can see the gadgets.

Casey

 

[Dorosh]

The Sims 3 seems to be just a laggy game. I'm not sure what the rest of your computer's specs are, but my desktop (specs in sig at bottom) lags when moving the camera, like your computer does.

Casey

That's a shame, it seems to be the conclusion I'm coming to. I run other games with similar or even higher requirements just fine, so I really don't think it's my hardware.

How does your CPU usage look? The Sims 3 doesn't seem to be optimized for multiple cores, so it is probably maxing out one core.

Casey

I do have a quad core processor, so that could be it. Is there any way that I can monitor or record that information while running the game?

You can use the Windows Task Manager to monitor this. Right click on the windows menu bar, choose task manager. Under the performance tab you'll see your processors. If you make the window really big, the default graphs will show core usage over time. To get more detailed, you can use the resource monitor (button at the bottom).

 

[mylinuxbookmarks]

...

 

[Kazus]

Well I see that my CPU cores are spiking to 100% occasionally. I'm guessing that's the issue, is there anything I can do about it? My CPU is an i5-3570 @3.40GHz.

 

[cklaubur]

Do you have any mods installed?

My CPU's cores (I5-3570K @ 3.4 GHz, same as yours) show the same thing. I do have some mods installed (updated versions of the worlds from expansion packs with routing issues fixed).

Casey

 

[Kazus]

Do you have any mods installed?

My CPU's cores (I5-3570K @ 3.4 GHz, same as yours) show the same thing. I do have some mods installed (updated versions of the worlds from expansion packs with routing issues fixed).

Casey

I do, but it's only a few hair mods and the stuttering was there in the vanilla game as well. I also installed Overwatch the other day because I heard it helps a lot, but unfortunately it did not fix the stuttering.

 

[Sofonisba_7]

Regarding your mods, I have a mass quantity of Twallan's Mods installed, along with AwesomeMod. There's only one core mod that Twallan released, which I do not have installed in conjunction with AwesomeMod, but I use Twallan's ErrorTrap (a must-have for debugging game glitches), Master Controller, a slew of the WooHooer mods, along with a few simple item mods. I don't have Story Progression installed (not sure if that's core or not), but there are over 20 mods in my Mods folder, and I've had no conflicts with those and AwesomeMod. Check nraas for the descriptions of each - it states which of Twallan's mods is a core mod. So long as you don't install that with AwesomeMod, you should be fine, and I'll just bet that, if nothing else, ErrorTrap will fix your herky-jerky gameplay issues...

Good luck!