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Can we talk about The Sims 4 and frame rate?

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TisklyTiskly Posts: 41 Member
Hi guys, sorry if this is another rehash or twin of another post. I looked through a few pages but I wanted to post my own, just to better explain my issue better with my PC and The Sims 4. I feel like this game runs well with the right settings, for your pc, on medium to low end PCs. That's great! But I recently got a brand new PC with high end specs, and this game just hates it.

My last PC had the following specs;
Intel i7 4790 3.60Ghz
Nvidia GTX 750ti
8GB Ram

A decent PC, at least for The Sims 4. I'd play uncapped FPS, to see how high it could go, I was reaching 200 FPS if uncapped with this setup, on maximum settings. It ran like a dream, and I'm talking with a mods folder of 3,000+ items.

Cut to today, my specs are;

Intel i7 7700 4.20 Ghz
Nvidia GTX 1070
16 GB Ram

An improvement on the previous on every aspect. When the camera moves, the fps will never, and I mean never stay 60. It's capped at 60+70 due to my monitor hard capping it like this, regardless of if I cap it in game, or use V-sync. The game can't stick 60. It will fly down to mid 50s and 40s. You name it, I've done it:
No CC or mods
Clean Save
Repair Game
Clear Cache
Factory Reset Desktop
Put in more spacious D drive instead of C: Drive
Update GPU Drivers
Update Windows
All combined.

This game hates it. The frame rate will drop even if I turn the graphic settings to lowest. I thought this game was more CPU heavy rather than GPU heavy, if you can call it heavy, adding to my confusion, although maybe I'm wrong.

For comparison on other, much more demanding games, my PC runs The Witcher 3 on Max without Nvidia Hairworks at solid 60, just because it's capped. All other AAA titles I can play on max, with maybe a drop to 50 if the game is stunning, GPU heavy and in a crowded area (forests.) I'm talking games that are extremely GPU and CPU heavy, much more so than The Sims 4.

Am I doing something wrong, has anyone else with a good PC had FPS issues with this game?

Comments

  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    edited June 2018
    Tiskly wrote: »
    Hi guys, sorry if this is another rehash or twin of another post. I looked through a few pages but I wanted to post my own, just to better explain my issue better with my PC and The Sims 4. I feel like this game runs well with the right settings, for your pc, on medium to low end PCs. That's great! But I recently got a brand new PC with high end specs, and this game just hates it.

    My last PC had the following specs;
    Intel i7 4790 3.60Ghz
    Nvidia GTX 750ti
    8GB Ram

    A decent PC, at least for The Sims 4. I'd play uncapped FPS, to see how high it could go, I was reaching 200 FPS if uncapped with this setup, on maximum settings. It ran like a dream, and I'm talking with a mods folder of 3,000+ items.

    Cut to today, my specs are;

    Intel i7 7700 4.20 Ghz
    Nvidia GTX 1070
    16 GB Ram

    An improvement on the previous on every aspect. When the camera moves, the fps will never, and I mean never stay 60. It's capped at 60+70 due to my monitor hard capping it like this, regardless of if I cap it in game, or use V-sync. The game can't stick 60. It will fly down to mid 50s and 40s. You name it, I've done it:
    No CC or mods
    Clean Save
    Repair Game
    Clear Cache
    Factory Reset Desktop
    Put in more spacious D drive instead of C: Drive
    Update GPU Drivers
    Update Windows
    All combined.

    This game hates it. The frame rate will drop even if I turn the graphic settings to lowest. I thought this game was more CPU heavy rather than GPU heavy, if you can call it heavy, adding to my confusion, although maybe I'm wrong.

    For comparison on other, much more demanding games, my PC runs The Witcher 3 on Max without Nvidia Hairworks at solid 60, just because it's capped. All other AAA titles I can play on max, with maybe a drop to 50 if the game is stunning, GPU heavy and in a crowded area (forests.) I'm talking games that are extremely GPU and CPU heavy, much more so than The Sims 4.

    Am I doing something wrong, has anyone else with a good PC had FPS issues with this game?

    You have an nice system and I would say it possibly the game and not your system, just make sure all drivers are up to date. Sims 4 may not be optimized and even with my specs I get some lag when zooming in and out and some in game but not so bad I use an 6700K and an 1070 8 GB 16 GB.
    Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
  • TisklyTiskly Posts: 41 Member
    Yeah, I had a big feeling it was the game too. They've done well (from what I've heard) making the game accessible to laptops and lower end PCs, shame I'm not getting a smooth experience with this kind of setup yet. Hopefully it will improve as time goes on. I don't notice too often regardless, it's just a bit annoying. Thanks for the reply!
  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    Tiskly wrote: »
    Yeah, I had a big feeling it was the game too. They've done well (from what I've heard) making the game accessible to laptops and lower end PCs, shame I'm not getting a smooth experience with this kind of setup yet. Hopefully it will improve as time goes on. I don't notice too often regardless, it's just a bit annoying. Thanks for the reply!

    I hope it improves as well and the state this game is in I barely play it anymore and just play other games. :)
    Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
  • AmiutzaAmiutza Posts: 1,796 Member
    The game just does that when you move the camera, I don’t even notice it anymore. I have almost the same specs and 12 gb of ram and I’m pretty happy with the games performance. Unless I’m moving the camera like a maniac or zooming all the way out I don’t even notice the drop anymore.

    I do hope for better optimization too, but I’m glad the game still feels very smooth overall.
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  • TisklyTiskly Posts: 41 Member
    Yeah, I get you completely, I've grown used to it too. I just think it's ridiculous that the frame rate can be that unstable with just moving the camera, I don't feel like the game is demanding enough or even near it to explain drops like that, so fingers crossed for all of us it's fixed somewhat soon.
  • jooxisjooxis Posts: 515 Member
    This game and all its previous iterations are extremely badly optimized. It's not you or your computer.
  • chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
    It's the game, just try to ignore the issue as there will never be a fix. I have the i7 6700k and GTX 1080 and get the same fps drops.
    i7 6700K
    16GB hyper X fury
    MSI GTX 1080
    MSI gaming M5 mobo
    Evga 750 supernova
    Corsair hydro h110i GT
    Corsair obsidian 750D
    500GB SSD
    6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
    LG 34" ultra wide


  • TisklyTiskly Posts: 41 Member
    edited June 2018
    Really sad that we're kind of all left with a game engine so terribly optimized that still feels like sometimes it's in Beta, lol. Thanks for any help from everyone anyway!
  • sikasika18sikasika18 Posts: 343 Member
    Perfect way to describe this game lol, nothing more than a beta product without optimization. We as a fanbase should be more vocal about this problem otherwise the next game will be as bad as this. We should demand a better product imo.
  • TisklyTiskly Posts: 41 Member
    The problem is that the Sims has no real competition, no real similar game from a different company that we could all go buy instead of Sims, to show we don't appreciate/like what they are doing with the franchise. Because of no competition, they can just get away with making the game not optimized, run badly, anything really. We are all probably still going to buy it, because no other game offers the experience, which is a real shame.
  • chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
    sikasika18 wrote: »
    Perfect way to describe this game lol, nothing more than a beta product without optimization. We as a fanbase should be more vocal about this problem otherwise the next game will be as bad as this. We should demand a better product imo.

    This problem has been brought to their attention many times and not even 64bit was able to help. Fps and stutter was also a issue for many many people playing ts3 but again nothing was changed in ts4, the more that gets added the worse it gets. I think it has something to do with how the game utilizes the cpu because for a lot people this game maxes out their cpu or games close to maxing it out, this issue was brought to their attention also.
    i7 6700K
    16GB hyper X fury
    MSI GTX 1080
    MSI gaming M5 mobo
    Evga 750 supernova
    Corsair hydro h110i GT
    Corsair obsidian 750D
    500GB SSD
    6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
    LG 34" ultra wide


  • sikasika18sikasika18 Posts: 343 Member
    edited July 2018
    sikasika18 wrote: »
    Perfect way to describe this game lol, nothing more than a beta product without optimization. We as a fanbase should be more vocal about this problem otherwise the next game will be as bad as this. We should demand a better product imo.

    This problem has been brought to their attention many times and not even 64bit was able to help. Fps and stutter was also a issue for many many people playing ts3 but again nothing was changed in ts4, the more that gets added the worse it gets. I think it has something to do with how the game utilizes the cpu because for a lot people this game maxes out their cpu or games close to maxing it out, this issue was brought to their attention also.
    It is because of the API the game is built on, which is dx9. No matter what beast of a cpu you throw at it, it wont get rid of the fps drops and stutter. I can't wrap my head around why they built a game on dx9 in 2014! Are they THAT cheap? Lmao
    If the next game is built on dx12 or even 11 the chance of a better product is greater.
    As for the sims 4, I only use/play build mode because there the fps is stable.
  • chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
    edited July 2018
    sikasika18 wrote: »
    sikasika18 wrote: »
    Perfect way to describe this game lol, nothing more than a beta product without optimization. We as a fanbase should be more vocal about this problem otherwise the next game will be as bad as this. We should demand a better product imo.

    This problem has been brought to their attention many times and not even 64bit was able to help. Fps and stutter was also a issue for many many people playing ts3 but again nothing was changed in ts4, the more that gets added the worse it gets. I think it has something to do with how the game utilizes the cpu because for a lot people this game maxes out their cpu or games close to maxing it out, this issue was brought to their attention also.
    It is because of the API the game is built on, which is dx9. No matter what beast of a cpu you throw at it, it wont get rid of the fps drops and stutter. I can't wrap my head around why they built a game on dx9 in 2014! Are they THAT cheap? Lmao
    If the next game is built on dx12 or even 11 the chance of a better product is greater.
    As for the sims 4, I only use/play build mode because there the fps is stable.

    That's true Dx9 is very old by today's standards.
    I actually stopped playing ts3 for the stutter fps drops and i also stopped playing ts4 for the same reason.. that and now i find it boring LOL
    Even the added loading screens were not enough to help the performance issues, which some blamed on the open world in ts3.


    i7 6700K
    16GB hyper X fury
    MSI GTX 1080
    MSI gaming M5 mobo
    Evga 750 supernova
    Corsair hydro h110i GT
    Corsair obsidian 750D
    500GB SSD
    6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
    LG 34" ultra wide


  • sikasika18sikasika18 Posts: 343 Member
    edited July 2018
    sikasika18 wrote: »
    sikasika18 wrote: »
    Perfect way to describe this game lol, nothing more than a beta product without optimization. We as a fanbase should be more vocal about this problem otherwise the next game will be as bad as this. We should demand a better product imo.

    This problem has been brought to their attention many times and not even 64bit was able to help. Fps and stutter was also a issue for many many people playing ts3 but again nothing was changed in ts4, the more that gets added the worse it gets. I think it has something to do with how the game utilizes the cpu because for a lot people this game maxes out their cpu or games close to maxing it out, this issue was brought to their attention also.
    It is because of the API the game is built on, which is dx9. No matter what beast of a cpu you throw at it, it wont get rid of the fps drops and stutter. I can't wrap my head around why they built a game on dx9 in 2014! Are they THAT cheap? Lmao
    If the next game is built on dx12 or even 11 the chance of a better product is greater.
    As for the sims 4, I only use/play build mode because there the fps is stable.

    That's true Dx9 is very old by today's standards.
    I actually stopped playing ts3 for the stutter fps drops and i also stopped playing ts4 for the same reason.. that and now i find it boring LOL
    Even the added loading screens were not enough to help the performance issues, which some blamed on the open world in ts3.


    It is sad that they blame the open world for the performance problems of the sims 3 when it has always been a problem of draw calls and an outdated API. The reason why the fps drops in 4 when zoomed out is because ALL the furniture and 3d objects are loaded at all times in the neighbor lots, draw call limit due to API and so on.... remove the furniture from all neighbors and the fps drops almost dissapears. Remove all neighbor houses and build a HUGE palace and you would not have fps problems either. This game would perform ALOT better if it was a single lot and the rest just set dressing just because it was built on dx9.
  • DeKayDeKay Posts: 81,472 Member
    Well hopefully they will learn something from this and don't make the same mistake for TS5. XD
    My Top Song of the Day: Fancy Footwork by Chromeo
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  • WiggleyTuffWiggleyTuff Posts: 600 Member
    Honestly i dont really notice the FPS drops at all, i got the same specs as chesterbird but i dont consider Sims 4 poorly optimized. Not after i play a mess of a game called ARK LOL thats one poorly optimized game haha
  • sikasika18sikasika18 Posts: 343 Member
    If a game isn't able to scale according to our hardware I wouldn't consider that to be an optimized game. I wish I was a person that don't notice fluctuating fps but to me and alot of others it is an eyesore that *in my case* causes slight headaches. There is a difference between low fps that are consistent and fluctuating between high fps to low wildly. Anyway, wether someone notice it or not, fact is the game isn't scaling to hardware and that is what unoptimized means.
  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    sikasika18 wrote: »
    If a game isn't able to scale according to our hardware I wouldn't consider that to be an optimized game. I wish I was a person that don't notice fluctuating fps but to me and alot of others it is an eyesore that *in my case* causes slight headaches. There is a difference between low fps that are consistent and fluctuating between high fps to low wildly. Anyway, wether someone notice it or not, fact is the game isn't scaling to hardware and that is what unoptimized means.

    I agree especially if it is geared to play on one tier which is low end to some mid end systems. Imho Sims 4 is not more advanced than Sims 3 however, if they were to tweak Sims 4 with all the features from Sims 3 and also new features than I would reconsider.
    Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
  • JPsimmerJPsimmer Posts: 109 Member
    This is so disappointing to read after I just ordered a Corsair One Pro Plus gaming rig. :(

    As long as it runs better than it did on my 2011 iMac I’ll be happy but I know if I experience FPS drops on i7 8700k (6 core) with GTX 1080i (11gb) then I might throw a slight tantrum!
  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    edited July 2018
    JPsimmer wrote: »
    This is so disappointing to read after I just ordered a Corsair One Pro Plus gaming rig. :(

    As long as it runs better than it did on my 2011 iMac I’ll be happy but I know if I experience FPS drops on i7 8700k (6 core) with GTX 1080i (11gb) then I might throw a slight tantrum!

    If you play other games besides the SIms Series you did not waste your money. Sims 4 is what it is and will be that way until the last pack. Sims 4 is gimped for various reasons. I never buy or put together an system just for one game and I future proof my systems as well. Enjoy your system and look elsewhere to exploit that system for Sims 4 will not.
    Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
  • JPsimmerJPsimmer Posts: 109 Member
    Goldmoldar wrote: »
    JPsimmer wrote: »
    This is so disappointing to read after I just ordered a Corsair One Pro Plus gaming rig. :(

    As long as it runs better than it did on my 2011 iMac I’ll be happy but I know if I experience FPS drops on i7 8700k (6 core) with GTX 1080i (11gb) then I might throw a slight tantrum!

    If you play other games besides the SIms Series you did not waste your money. Sims 4 is what it is and will be that way until the last pack. Sims 4 is gimped for various reasons. I never buy or put together an system just for one game and I future proof my systems as well. Enjoy your system and look elsewhere to exploit that system for Sims 4 will not.

    I got this system for more than just TS4 :) it’s just a shame that this game wasn’t optimised for anything more than “Grandma’s laptop”.
  • SimburianSimburian Posts: 6,907 Member
    I have a new option with my HP Omen laptop to choose 120FPS (out of 3 choices) but have no idea what is the ideal FPS for Sims4 as my last only went up to 60FPS. I have the NVidia GTX1060.
    I've chosen 60FPS as I haven't got the faintest idea if going higher would be any advantage or not.

    The game runs beautifully though --at the moment.
  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    edited July 2018
    JPsimmer wrote: »
    Goldmoldar wrote: »
    JPsimmer wrote: »
    This is so disappointing to read after I just ordered a Corsair One Pro Plus gaming rig. :(

    As long as it runs better than it did on my 2011 iMac I’ll be happy but I know if I experience FPS drops on i7 8700k (6 core) with GTX 1080i (11gb) then I might throw a slight tantrum!

    If you play other games besides the SIms Series you did not waste your money. Sims 4 is what it is and will be that way until the last pack. Sims 4 is gimped for various reasons. I never buy or put together an system just for one game and I future proof my systems as well. Enjoy your system and look elsewhere to exploit that system for Sims 4 will not.

    I got this system for more than just TS4 :) it’s just a shame that this game wasn’t optimised for anything more than “Grandma’s laptop”.

    I agree with you for while Sims4 is nice it is not mind blowing. :)
    Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
  • chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
    Simburian wrote: »
    I have a new option with my HP Omen laptop to choose 120FPS (out of 3 choices) but have no idea what is the ideal FPS for Sims4 as my last only went up to 60FPS. I have the NVidia GTX1060.
    I've chosen 60FPS as I haven't got the faintest idea if going higher would be any advantage or not.

    The game runs beautifully though --at the moment.

    Your fps should be the same as your screens refresh rate, If that's 120Hz then your fps should be 120FPS (although you may not actually get that.) If it's 60Hz then your fps should be 60FPS. I recommend 60Hz for this game as it has troubles keeping a steady fps. Generally if you play racing sims or shooters then that's when the 120Hz might be better then 60.. depending on your system.
    i7 6700K
    16GB hyper X fury
    MSI GTX 1080
    MSI gaming M5 mobo
    Evga 750 supernova
    Corsair hydro h110i GT
    Corsair obsidian 750D
    500GB SSD
    6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
    LG 34" ultra wide


  • sikasika18sikasika18 Posts: 343 Member
    JPsimmer wrote: »
    This is so disappointing to read after I just ordered a Corsair One Pro Plus gaming rig. :(

    As long as it runs better than it did on my 2011 iMac I’ll be happy but I know if I experience FPS drops on i7 8700k (6 core) with GTX 1080i (11gb) then I might throw a slight tantrum!

    I totally get you, it is such a shame they seem to think their fanbase is nothing but a bunch of stupid people who don't know how a game is supposed to work and that we accept anything.
    I have increased the resolution to 4k and fiddled with the graphicsrules file to increase the graphics beyond ultra to even out the inconsistent frame rate and so far it feels smoother, lower but smoother.
    I think that is the best I am gonna get out of this game. Before it was 35-60 with vsync, now it's 35-40 with vsync and this feels a lot smoother and easier on the eyes.
    Sometimes I wonder where they found their programmers and coders, in the bottom of a trashcan i assume.
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