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    Game not recognising graphics card

    ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
    in The Sims 3 Help & Technical Discussion
    hi,
    I got a new laptop last week and I managed to get it to recognise the graphics card (NVIDIA MX350). However the resolution changed when I logged on yesterday so I checked the DeviceConfig file and it said Found 0, Matched 1. It said intel UHD graphics but I don't even know if I have integrated graphics as well as the dedicated card. I have tried changing the card in NVIDIA control panel but nothing is working and all the tutorials online already have the right graphics card on the file but it says found 0 matched 0. Should I uninstall my game and start over? idk what happened :(((

    Comments

    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      I uninstalled but nothing changed and it still says intel UHD graphics.
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      I am going to try another tutorial and I will update how it goes :#
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      No i still can't do it because when I go on DeviceConfig it says the device number for the intel graphics which is different from the one I had the first time
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      edited February 2021
      It sounds like the only real issue here is that your computer is using the Intel integrated graphics chip to run Sims 3 rather than the MX350. You should be able to change that in the Nvidia Control Panel, something like "use the high-performance card" for this game. When setting up a profile for Sims 3, be sure to select ts3.exe for an Origin install, or ts3w.exe (with the w) for a disc or Steam install. And restart your computer after changing the settings.

      If this doesn't help, please post a screenshot of your Control Panel settings for Sims 3. Please also run a dxdiag, upload it to a third-party filesharing site (e.g. the free version of pastebin.com), and link it here. Click Windows key-R, enter "dxdiag" without quotes in the box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop.
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      Control panel:
      https://imgur.com/a/NUkraZu
      DxDiag:
      https://pastebin.com/4JQuY1vZ

      as you can see on the control panel I changed it to the nvidia card but it still doesnt show up on the deviceconfig :/
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      As it turns out, Windows now chooses the GPU to use for applications and will override the Nvidia Control Panel settings. (This is why the screenshot was so helpful—I hadn't seen the "Windows OS now manages selection..." message before, and it's apparently new as of last spring.) This guide shows how to tell Windows which card to use:

      https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5035

      It's always good to restart your computer after changing a setting like this, just in case.

      Your dxdiag does list a couple of errors with the Nvidia graphics driver. So if the above doesn't help, or you see other issues with Sims 3, you'll need to reinstall the driver. If there's a newer one available from HP, you can install that, but if you already have the newest one, you'd need to do a clean uninstall and reinstall. Here's a useful guide:

      https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/02/clean-re-install-of-graphics-drivers-with-display-driver-uninstaller-ddu.html

      You do need to use the newest driver from HP, not from Nvidia. To find it, go here:

      https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/laptops

      Enter your laptop's serial number, select your OS if necessary, and you'll land on the driver download page. Expand the "Driver - Graphics" section and look for the newest Nvidia driver. Your driver version is 27.21.14.5241, and its date is September 23, although the date on the driver download page may differ by a few days.

      The point is, if there's a newer driver version available, just download and install that one. If you already have the newest driver, use the clean uninstall and reinstall guide linked above. If you're not sure what you're looking at, link the driver download page here. That page doesn't have any info about your own computer, just the overall model.
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      thank you so much! ill update tomorrow if something happens but thanks for your help!
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      Sorry- is the executable TS3 or TS3W?
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      It's TS3 (TS3.exe) if you installed the game through Origin, or had a disc install that you patched to an Origin install. It's TS3W (with the W) if you have a Steam install or a disc install that doesn't require Origin.
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      Ok thank you. I put TS3 and restarted the laptop but it still says integrated graphics so I will look at the other things you said tomorrow. Thanks for your help!
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      edited February 2021
      Hi! I just finished reinstalling the driver following the steps from that link. It was already up to date but hopefully now it will work. What do I do now to check it worked? Do i go back on the DeviceConfig file?
      Edit: I just went back on the deviceconfig thing and it STILL said intel. What am I doing wrong :s
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      Did you tell Windows to use the Nvidia card for TS3.exe? It's the process in this article:

      https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5035

      This is a bit more detailed, if it helps:

      https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/103965-set-preferred-gpu-apps-windows-10-a.html
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      Yes I did that straight after I reinstalled the driver
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      Just checking, but did you launch the game once after changing the settings? The deviceconfig doesn't update until the game loads. And please test while the laptop is plugged in. Windows will take steps to conserve energy when a laptop is running on battery and may default to the integrated chip despite the user settings.

      If neither of those is the issue, try instructing Windows to run Sims3Launcher.exe with the high-performance card as well. It shouldn't be necessary, but it's a simple enough experiment. (As before, it's Sims3Launcher for an Origin-controlled install, and Sims3LauncherW for a disc or Steam install.)
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      Oh that will be why!!! I didn't launch the game because I thought it would stay on the integrated graphics. Give me two minutes I'll let you know if it works.
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      Ok so now it says MX350 which is a step in the right direction but it says found 0 matched 0.
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      Then you're most of the way there. The process to get your card recognized is the same as before; the reason your card is no longer found and matched is because you uninstalled and reinstalled the game. If you'd like help adding the card again, just let me know its device ID, but it sounded like you had the process figured out before you posted here.

      Out of curiosity, was it enough to launch the game and refresh the deviceconfig, or did you need to take any other steps to get your laptop to start using the Nvidia card again?
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      edited February 2021
      No I just launched the game and opened one of my households (somehow they were still there!). I will follow the tutorial from before but I was just wondering if what I typed into the graphicsrules was correct. There were no cards without a space like the MX ones so I put MX3?? but I didn't know if I should put a space like this "MX 3??" (sorry if that is a poor explanation)

      edit; actually one more question. I usually just put sim detail up but do you think I can put the resolution to 1080xwhatever? I am worried that I will break the graphics card.
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      edited February 2021
      The entry you use in graphicsrules.sgr should match what you put in graphicscards.sgr. You could actually make up a random name for your card and use that instead; what matters is that the entries in the two .sgr files match. So if you're naming your card MX350, do it in both places.

      Writing MX3?? just means "any entry that has MX3 and then any two characters after the 3," as in, it would also recognize an MX330, or an MX312 if one existed. Since you're only trying to get your own card recognized, you can just write "*MX350*" and not worry about the rest.

      I think you should see how the game runs on a lower resolution, not 1024x768 but something else with a 16:9 aspect ratio, for example 1280x720 or 1440x810. If the game runs fine, then try the higher resolution and see what happens. It's also a good idea to manually cap your in-game framerates, if you haven't already. There's no point in letting your card max itself out producing more frames per second than your screen can display. Let me know if you'd like help with this process, and if so, whether you play exclusively in fullscreen mode or want to use windowed mode as well.
      Post edited by puzzlezaddict on
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      I have already capped the fps at 60. Thank you so much for your help!
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      Actually sorry one more thing!! How do I check how much vram I have? When I try to check in settings it only shows the integrated graphics.
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      edited February 2021
      An MX350 has 2 GB of VRAM, give or take a few MB. But setting the texture memory to 1024 is more than enough to both rate your card's memory as uber and to allow the game to use all the VRAM it can, which is 800 MB. Inputting a higher value for texture memory won't make a difference in performance.

      Among the places to check your VRAM is in a dxdiag: it's listed a few lines below the name of the card. You'd want the dedicated memory value, not shared. This is from your dxdiag:

      Card name: NVIDIA GeForce MX350
      Manufacturer: NVIDIA
      Chip type: GeForce MX350
      DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
      Device Type: Render-Only Device
      Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1C96&SUBSYS_8756103C&REV_A1
      Device Status: 0180200A [DN_DRIVER_LOADED|DN_STARTED|DN_DISABLEABLE|DN_NT_ENUMERATOR|DN_NT_DRIVER]
      Device Problem Code: No Problem
      Driver Problem Code: Unknown
      Display Memory: 5961 MB
      Dedicated Memory: 1979 MB
      Shared Memory: 3981 MB

      I think you should be able to find it in Display Settings as well, but maybe your laptop only displays the specs for the card it's currently using. I don't have a dual-card setup, so I can't check myself.
    • ClaraMaria123ClaraMaria123 Posts: 211 Member
      Sorry I didn't see your last message. Thank you so much for your help!!
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