Sims 3 Screen Tearing «12...Next Go

INDIABOL

Recently, I got a new laptop with the a 1050Ti graphics card. The issue with my game is that I have screen tearing at the top of the screen. I have turned on V-Sync and clicked the option for on the NVIDIA control panel, and I did the same for the Intel graphics card from another post I saw. So, I'm unsure on how to fix it now. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

puzzlezaddict

You might need to play with Control Panel's settings a bit to get the effect you want; try toggling between "on" and "adaptive" for vsync. Is your fps locked in at 60? CP doesn't always work (and never works in windowed mode), so you might get better results with Nvidia Inspector (free download). Here are some screenshots of the settings for each tool, under the spoilers:

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

(Also, you don't need to do anything for the Intel card. The game should automatically use your Nvidia card, especially with CP or Inspector in the picture. But you can check your deviceconfig to make sure it's doing so—the card used will be listed around 25 lines down.)

INDIABOL

@puzzleaddict Hi, thanks for helping me again

My fps is around 59-60, but then I have tearing.

I don't have adaptive, but I did put select for v-sync to be onto 'on'. I have also read through some posts of Nvidia Inspector, downloaded that and followed that post as well. I also had the Windowed Borderless program but, as you said, fps won't cap the window mode that, right?

My fps was high when I did that though so I immediately went back to full screen. However, it seems that when I did that, my game didn't have any tears. So, full screen to windowed mode back to full screen and my tears were gone. My game seemed to be a bit more slowed and crashed, but I'm assuming it was too much configuration and interactions on my part.

I'm going to try it again though. This time, I went through Inspector and selected for the fps to be 60.7 instead of 59, but I'm not sure what help that would do. I have read some things about MSI and something that can be selected through there, but I may be wrong. Still, I'll test out my game again.

INDIABOL

@puzzlezaddict So, I tried my game out and came to a conclusion that the Sims 3 is prone to crashing, but for the most part, my game runs really smoothly. The crashing only occurs when I toggle the option from windowed mode back to full screen. The tears are gone but I see that it feels unstable, but I suspect those are unrelated and that the game cannot handle the options being switched mid-game.

As for the tearing, it is only a small line on the top. Right where the black bars would be when you start the game and haven’t set up the screen resolution except there isn’t any tearing on the bottom or the sides, just one when I move the camera around for the top. Then again, it’s very faint so I’m able to play my game. Is this just something to expected with newer end machines?

puzzlezaddict

Inspector should work in windowed mode—it's Control Panel that never does—but some players do need to cap the fps slightly higher or lower than 60 to see results. Of course, if you're in windowed mode and Inspector isn't doing a thing for your frame rates, it's time to try something else. MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Statistics Server are both good options; I use RTSS for my AMD card, and it works very well.

Screen tearing is somewhat common with TS3, but you should be able to get rid of it with the right tool. It does sometimes take a bit of experimentation to find the right settings. Fussing with these tools is not really my area of expertise; you might want to ask for advice from igazor, or SimplyJen, who put together the screenshots I linked above.

I'm also not sure why your game would crash transitioning from fullscreen to windowed mode, but if that's the only issue, you could just stay in Windowed Borderless Gaming. Are you playing in a custom world again, or do you still get crashes in a world like Sunset Valley or Riverview? And how much RAM is your game using? You can check in the Task Manager; if it's showing percentages of memory, you can right-click on the Memory header to see the absolute amount. Over 3.5 GB RAM, the game is in constant danger of crashing.

INDIABOL

@igazor, hi. Would you be familiar with how to use MSI afterburner for screen tearing? I have tried most of the suggestions but the standard procedure and my laptop aren't getting along. Do you suggest anything else for the screen tearing? It's not terrible screen tearing, just a small line across the screen that shows when I move my mouse just some. It's not distracting and for the half sim week that I played, it seemed that my game handled it well. I know that something can be done, but like puzzleaddict said, I also feel that it is something that I have to mess around in until it works for my laptop.

Sorry that this is late, I wasn't able to properly sit down and figure this out. I agree. I also think that this can be solved as well, and hope that my case isn't one of those where it can't be. I played a few hours the other night and without altering my options, it stayed running longer. I'm guessing that when I go into windowed mode and my fps are sky high that it's a possibility that it could be affecting ram? I'm not sure.

I will check this, so thank you for pointing this out.

I have an Nvidia card, so would I be able to use RivaTurner Statistics Server too? Or would MSI afterburner be a better selection? I do have an MSI laptop though I'm not sure if that matters. And if so for either one, how would I go about downloading those and using them for this situation? Again, thanks so much for you guys' help.

I kinda went back on my word. No cc worlds at all! The only worlds downloaded are most of the store-bought worlds and the worlds that come with expansions.

I have cut off a small portion of CC that I had from my much larger amount of CC that I had saved on Mediafire from my previous laptop. I also bought some stuff packs as well, but unless I should delete those cache files, I didn't think too much on either one.

So, just clothing, hairs, accessories, makeup and a small selection of mods from modthesims. I currently am playing in Starlight Shores and it's been running smooth so far. I have been getting a lot of errortraps regarding puppies and kittens in the neighborhood, but errortrap cleans it up and that small little lag that was there normally goes away.

So far, the only time that I have gotten crashes have been when I didn't have an eyelash mesh in CAS, when I *impatiently* clicked too many times during a little hiccup which happened while running at three/four-speed, bird level following my Sims taxi cab through the city, and when I altered from fullscreen to window mode back to fullscreen which is when my game is noticeably, but not terribly slower. It will take a while, but for that time I can tell my game is struggling which is when I soon know I'll get the crash. It's like an impending doom that I know will happen, but I just don't know when.

The first one has been fixed and the second one I try not to push my game anymore like that, assuming the second issue also had something to do with quick loading lots as I drove by on top of everything. I do have the lot loading on number 3 although I can lower that to 2 if it means I can reduce that happening again. With the third one, I'll try windowless border gaming once more to see if I see that tear again. It's a real stubborn one!

I guess I was overestimating my computer with the game until I still got crashes. My game runs smooth so it feels like those crashes are avoidable, but I know that with even machines much more powerful, people's experience with the game varies. Though the better the machine, the less likely.

I will keep a better eye out this time. One thing I can say is that it's reminded me to save whenever I accomplish something with my Sim, and having the Saver mod is also a good reminder as well.

igazor

Both Inspector and RTSS will work in windowed mode and thus in Windowed Borderless Gaming, just in different ways. Inspector imposes its settings changes on the card in the same way as the Nvidia Control Panel only it reveals more options that the Control Panel does not, RTSS uses its own mechanism and in fact must be running the entire time that the game is in order to have any impact at all.

It is vital to cap those fps rates in windowed mode the same as in full screen one way or another if your intention is to play in windowed or both modes. The runaway frame rates will affect RAM usage but will also lead to crashes for other reasons. The game should not be causing your card to generate frame rates that are over the refresh rate of your monitor as your monitor will never be able to interpret those and they are the equivalent of digital noise.

There's nothing wrong with trying MSI Afterburner either, but my sense is that it does the same thing that RTSS does. Or rather, the other way around as RTSS was meant to be a substitute for MSI for those who don't need all of its other features. That might be the early history though, the two may have diverged from each other since then.

Yes, all of these tools work on Nvidia cards. I don't even have an Nvidia card, mine is also AMD, so am relying on what others report when it comes to the tools and their interactions with the cards.

INDIABOL

@igazor okay, so I tried using the RTSS over the MSI first, but while installing, it said that it wouldn't work on this version of windows. So, I'll try the MSI and see how that works.

Sorry if this has already been covered. Is there a way to cap fps in windowed mode? Or rather through either of the programs? Or will the settings activate once the game has been turned on?

The tearing disappears then and the game is incredibly graceful in window mode, but the fps are out of this world. I'm happy that I know this about my game now. I'm sure I had high fps for my other laptop because I didn't know back then. It's a good chance that is what hurt my laptop playing that game towards the end of lifespan of it.

puzzlezaddict

I'm not sure why your computer thinks RTSS isn't compatible with your OS. Are you running Windows 10? That's what I have, last updated in July, and RTSS version 7.1.0 works just fine. I did have trouble installing it initially, though; I went back and checked the messages from when igazor was helping me through the Bootcamp process, and I fixed the issue by trashing the installer and redownloading through Chrome instead of Firefox. On the other hand, at that moment several features had decided to all not work at the same time, so there may have been some underlying problem of which I'm not aware. (By the way, igazor has Windows 7 and RTSS 6.6, for what it's worth.)

I don't use MSI, but both it and RTSS should work the same in fullscreen and windowed modes. RTSS at least doesn't distinguish between the two—the profile you set up for TS3 applies in both. (Again, the app does need to be running while you play.)

It just occurred to me that you might have the Windows 10 Creator's Update. A year ago, it was giving TS3 players fits, although the issues seem to have been worked out now. But it could conceivably be causing your issues. You might experiment with turning off its effects, to see if it makes any difference:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/15902876#Comment_15902876

INDIABOL

Okay, so I clicked a wrong download number. I saw high numbers and assumed it was that one. Sorry about that

I downloaded the 7.1.0 one and it installed perfectly. Are there any settings that need to be checked from here? And if so, what would those be? Would I use this program with windowless border gaming in the background?

Also, this is random but with the in-game settings where it asks the screen refresh rate? Does it matter which one I have selected?

Thanks for the tips about that Creator's update. I disabled everything and when I checked the settings, it said that it had been disabled.

puzzlezaddict

When you open RTSS, you can create a profile for TS3.exe (Origin install) or TS3W.exe (with the W, for disc and Steam installs). You should then have the option to set your fps to whatever number you want. It should match your monitor's refresh rate, which is likely 60 Hz (you can find it by running another dxdiag—it should be listed under Display Devices, as "Native Mode," about twenty lines down from the header).

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

You should also see an option in RTSS to pin it to startup. Then it will be running at all times, and you won't have to remember to launch it before playing. It takes up almost no resources and doesn't require your attention once it's set up.

igazor posted a screenshot of his settings a while back, in case it helps:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16227429#Comment_16227429

Don't worry about TS3's built-in fps setting. It doesn't do anything useful. I just leave it on default.

INDIABOL

Okay, so I went into the game after getting everything we talked about to set up. The loading only took a while longer and my game was a tad bit laggier than normal. I also noticed that my fan could be heard coming from my laptop (assuming it's the fps rate). When my game loaded, I saw that my fps was 140's at it's highest and rapidly climbing and dropping.

I know that the windowed mode doesn't have that fps limit, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I followed igazor's screenshot and added the TS3.exe, made the framerate limiter to 60, made it startup with windows and minimized it. I did see the TS3W.exe but I did not add that one.

Is there anything that I could be doing wrong?

igazor

TS3.exe is for Patch 1.69 only, that would be an Origin controlled install. TS3w.exe (with the "w") is for Patches 1.67 and below, including Steam and disc installs that are not managed by Origin.

INDIABOL

igazor wrote: »

TS3.exe is for Patch 1.69 only, that would be an Origin controlled install. TS3w.exe (with the "w") is for Patches 1.67 and below, including Steam and disc installs that are not managed by Origin.

Okay, I added the right one then. I added TS3.exe for origin, not TS3w.exe. Thank you for clearing that up, igazor.

INDIABOL

Good news!

My laptop got the prompt to restart because of an update. I assume this was prompted due to the changes that I took with the creator's patch and other changes, so it was almost like a fresh start when my computer came back on. I started up my game with windowed mode enabled on the Sims 3, and for the first time, my game loaded up with normal FPS. 60 and nothing higher.

I am going to see how it works with window borderless gaming on and see if the fps remain like how it should be.

INDIABOL

Yes! I checked once more with window borderless and the highest the fps got was 60! So my fps is finally the way they should be which is so amazing. I didn't think I'd ever get that solved.

The formatting of the game once I select windowless border gaming tends to hide some of the UI (bottom of the screen/game) and makes some of the letters look mushed or distorted, for the lack of a better word.

Is there a way to fix that? If not, I could mess around with moving the game around to see if I could get an accurate enough size.

Thanks so, so much for taking the time out to help this clueless simmer Both of you are so incredibly helpful!

puzzlezaddict

I'm so glad to hear that your fps rates are locked in. Maybe all your computer needed was that update and restart. But you'll know if you ever have high rates again—the surest signs of an overworked graphics card are the excessive heat and the fan revving up to compensate.

I've never used Windowed Borderless myself, so I'm not familiar with the screen options, but I think the point of it is that it takes up the entire screen while giving you the benefits of playing in windowed mode. You can certainly move the window; the manual says you need to specify X and Y coordinates for the window:

https://westechsolutions.net/sites/WindowedBorderlessGaming/manual#Settingawindowsposition

Otherwise, you could ask around here for help from people who do use the feature. (There are at least a few.)

Anyway, it's great that you got (almost) everything working to your liking, and I hope you enjoy playing on your new system.

arellano80

Another possible solution:

Create a desktop shortcut for the TS3.exe or TS3W.exe file located where the game was installed.

Go to the desktop, select the shortcut, press the left button and then select Properties.

in the compatibility tab, select the check box:

"Disable full-screen optimizations"

Ready.

I think this can correct the tear effect on full screen, tested on Intel HD 4600 in Windows 10.

Studer5544

I just started a new account today on here, so I'm not able/can't figure out how to create threads so I'll have to post this here.

I have been having serious problems with The Sims 3 and it seems like my two options are either play smoothly with screen tearing or play a laggy mess with no screen tearing.

I just got a brand new Dell G3 laptop for Christmas with these specs:

Intel i7 8750H processor (2.20 GHz hexacore, with turbo boost up to 4.1 GHz)
8 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile GPU
Integrated Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630
48 or 60 Hz refresh rate options

The only CC and Mods I have installed are:
- cmar XCAS Full core mod
-8 tattoos
-1 beard

Only using 3 expansion packs at the moment (though I do have 5, but it's laggy when I use all 5):
-World Adventures
-Pets
-High-End Loft Stuff

Here is everything I tried:

-Installed every Dell update my laptop has notified me of
-Installed every NVIDIA update my laptop has notified me of
-With and without CC, Mods, and expansion packs/stuff packs

I have also uninstalled and reinstalled the game through Origin (No disk drive on this laptop)
I have also repaired the game through Origin

I did make 100% sure The Sims 3 is using the NVIDIA GPU and made sure that it recognizes it as well in the "DeviceConfig.log" file.

NVIDIA Inspector:
-V-sync on and off (adaptive and standard)
-Fast sync on and off
-Verticle Sync AFR behavior on and off
-Triple buffering on and off
-Threaded optimization on and off
-Frame limiter v2 (45 - 48 on 48 and 60 Hz in-game and refresh rate as well as default in-game) and (50 - 62 Hz on 48 and 60 Hz in-game and refresh rate as well as default in-game)
-Frame limiter (43.9 - 50.2 on 48 and 60 Hz in-game and refresh rate as well as default in-game) and (50.2 - 62.8 on 48 and 60 Hz in-game and refresh rate as well as default in-game)
-Power Management Mode on "Prefer Maximum Performance" and "Optimal Power"
-*Never turned GSYNC off*

I have tried with every possible combination of these settings and I've also tried as close as I can get to the same settings on MSI Afterburner as well (Still, every possible combination of these on MSI also).

I have also tried everything I can with the stock NVIDIA Control Panel as well.

Whether I choose 48 or 60 Hz in-game, it still tears and when I choose "Default" with a lower frame rate, it lags horrendously, and when I try "Default" at the correct frame rate, it still tears.

I'm seriously stumped as to what could possible be the problem, considering I've tried every possible combination. If I don't use the frame limiter, the game runs fine and decently smooth with no tearing, however, my fps runs 130 - 300 and I'm not trying to burn out my GPU, as I have a laptop and it's not replaceable.

The screen tearing, I will say, is minimal. It's really only like a 2 cm glitched line at the bottom that gets covered by the objects window in build mode, but it's still bothersome during gameplay.

I've tried installing CRU to change my laptop's screen resolution, but couldn't figure out how to use it correctly, but I hardly think that's an issue, considering my "Graphics Settings" say my monitor is at 60 Hz (not 59 like some people have had) and it still has the issue, even when I set it to 48 Hz and adjust the FPS limiter respectively.

Also keep in mind that I do also have this issue in The Sims 4 when I have V-Sync AND FPS limiter on at the same time, but NOT when I have one or the other on. With V-Sync on with NVIDIA Inspector and in-game, The Sims 4 runs great. The problem is mainly only on The Sims 3.

Does anyone have any other possible options?

Studer5544

Sorry, there were a few things I forgot to add.

I only use the Origin version of The Sims 3 (which I know is TS3.exe, TS3W.exe is for the CD-ROM version only), but NVIDIA Control Panel and NVIDIA Inspector include all .exe files attached to The Sims 3

I know it's not my GPU because like I said, The Sims 4 works just fine.

igazor

@Studer5544 - With Nivida Inspector with its explicit frame rate limit and/or MSI going, does the fps stay capped and is the screen tear any better in windowed mode vs. full-screen? Many players facing this have had success with Windowed Borderless as described and linked to just a couple of posts above. The persistent tears seem to be a very common issue with Win 10 ever since the Creators Updates started rolling out over a year ago.

Studer5544

@igazor Yes, every time I set the FPS limiter, the game was able to stay consistent, with the odd exception of edge-scrolling left, which seems to, for some reason, be more demanding than any other direction. I also set my compatibility mode to Windows XP service pack 2 and 3, as well as Windows 7 and 8 to see if that made a difference, and it did not. I have not tried Windows Borderless yet, but I will try it now and let you know.

Studer5544

@igazor Before I try, should I set GSYNC - Application Mode to "Fullscreen and Windowed"? Or keep it default at "Fullscreen"?

igazor

@Studer5544 - I would suggest undoing the compat settings. They usually tend to cause more problems than they solve with games like TS3, they are really most relevant for simpler, Office types of applications.

Afraid I have no experience with GSync, you're way ahead of me there. Logic dictates try Windowed first since Windowed Borderless is really windowed mode functionally but tricked out to kind of look like full screen.

Studer5544

I tried windowed mode and there's no tear! Unfortunately, now, since I set the resolution to 1920 x 1080 (resolution of my monitor), the game appears zoomed in. Could that be because Windows 10 recommends 125% zoom by default?

Studer5544

Nvm I think I fixed it. Thanks for all your help! It's not ideal, but Windowed Borderless mode will suffice!