Game Performance  Need help with getting my graphics card recognized

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Cassie
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Need help with getting my graphics card recognized

Post by Cassie » September 26th, 2023, 5:52 am

After years of procrastinating, this post
CardinalSims post_id=96900 time=1695690637 user_id=22933 wrote: I'd say the one change worth always applying is getting the graphics card recognised, as the game will never quite gel with modern cards without it.
/
finally convinced me to bite the bullet and try to get my graphics card recognized.

As I feared, the brainfog I have from fibromyalgia made me unable to follow all the steps from the tutorial, so I would be very grateful for some help with this. As requested previously in similar posts, below the info from my DeviceConfig.log:

=== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 1 CPU: 2 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2304 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2672 RAM: 16021 Adjusted RAM: 15509 Cores: 8
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows 8 6.2.9200
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 6
OS minor ver: 2
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: GenuineIntel
Brand: 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-11800H @ 2.30GHz
Family: 6
Model: 13
Cores: 8
HT: 1
x64: 0
Memory: 16021MB
Free memory: 6310MB
User: Cassie
Computer: CASSIE
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
Name (database): NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU [Found: 0, Matched: 0]
Vendor: NVIDIA
Chipset: Vendor: 10de, Device: 25a0, Board: 88f9103c, Chipset: 00a1
Driver: nvldumd.dll, Version: 31.0.15.3179, GUID: D7B71E3E-66E0-11CF-E77F-F6A80EC2D235
Driver version: 3179
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 32MB <<OVERRIDE>>
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1

Best Answer by puzzlezaddict » September 26th, 2023, 6:20 am
Let me start by saying if any step doesn't make sense, feel free to ask for clarification. I don't want to write too many words overall, but it's easy to be more descriptive for any given step.

First, go into your game's install location, by default one of these, depending on the type of install:

[EA App] C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
[Origin] C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
[Steam] C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
[disc] C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin

If you're launching Sims 3 through the EA App, make sure the App is closed and it and the EABackgroundService are NOT running in the Task Manager. The latter would be under background processes. Having either one open will block changes to the .sgr files.

Open GraphicsCards.sgr (Notepad is fine, no need for anything else), and ctrl-F to search for 10de , which will take you here:

Code: Select all

vendor "NVIDIA" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de
	card 0x0fd1 "GeForce GT 650M"
	card 0x0fd2 "GeForce GT 640M"
Under that first Nvidia line, create a new line, and copy and paste this:

Code: Select all

	card 0x25a0 "GeForce RTX 3050 ti"
Make sure the indentation matches the lines below; it's one Tab from the left in my file. Save, quit, and open GraphicsRules.sgr. Search for 8800 , which will take you here:

Code: Select all

 elseif (match("${cardName}", "*8800*") or match("${cardName}", "*9500*") or match("${cardName}", "*9600 GSO*") [etc.]
Change the 8800 to 3050 , but don't change or delete anything else, not even the asterisks. This will rate your GPU as Uber, as it should be.

Scroll back to the top of the file, and find this, 8-10 lines down:

Code: Select all

if ($textureMemory == 0)
  seti textureMemory       32
  setb textureMemorySizeOK false
Change the 32 to 1024, and put a # and a space in front of setb. Your GPU has more than 1024 MB "texture memory" (VRAM), but Sims 3 can only use 800 MB. This tells the game your card has enough VRAM to be Uber as well.

Finally, it's not exactly what you asked, but your processor is underrated as well. Just below the section above, you'll see this:

Code: Select all

seti cpuLevelUber       4
seti cpuLevelHigh       3
seti cpuLevelMedium     2
seti cpuLevelLow        1
Change the 2 to a 4. Your CPU is rated as a 2 right now because of its low base clock speed; the game doesn't understand that it can turbo much higher and is much more efficient than anything that existed in 2009.

Save the changes, quit, load the game, quit, and check DeviceConfig.log again. You should see [Found: 1, Matched: 1] in the "Graphics device info" section, plus the "Rating info" section should look like this now:

GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 4 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2304 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2672 RAM: 16021 Adjusted RAM: 15509 Cores: 8

If you want to do the GraphicsRules edits one at a time, that's fine too. After the first edit and the one to GraphicsCards, you should see [Found: 1, Matched: 1]; after the second, GPU Memory in Ratings info should be a 4 instead of a 1; after the third, the CPU rating should be a 4.
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puzzlezaddict
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Need help with getting my graphics card recognized

Post by puzzlezaddict » September 26th, 2023, 6:20 am

Let me start by saying if any step doesn't make sense, feel free to ask for clarification. I don't want to write too many words overall, but it's easy to be more descriptive for any given step.

First, go into your game's install location, by default one of these, depending on the type of install:

[EA App] C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
[Origin] C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
[Steam] C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
[disc] C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin

If you're launching Sims 3 through the EA App, make sure the App is closed and it and the EABackgroundService are NOT running in the Task Manager. The latter would be under background processes. Having either one open will block changes to the .sgr files.

Open GraphicsCards.sgr (Notepad is fine, no need for anything else), and ctrl-F to search for 10de , which will take you here:

Code: Select all

vendor "NVIDIA" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de
	card 0x0fd1 "GeForce GT 650M"
	card 0x0fd2 "GeForce GT 640M"
Under that first Nvidia line, create a new line, and copy and paste this:

Code: Select all

	card 0x25a0 "GeForce RTX 3050 ti"
Make sure the indentation matches the lines below; it's one Tab from the left in my file. Save, quit, and open GraphicsRules.sgr. Search for 8800 , which will take you here:

Code: Select all

 elseif (match("${cardName}", "*8800*") or match("${cardName}", "*9500*") or match("${cardName}", "*9600 GSO*") [etc.]
Change the 8800 to 3050 , but don't change or delete anything else, not even the asterisks. This will rate your GPU as Uber, as it should be.

Scroll back to the top of the file, and find this, 8-10 lines down:

Code: Select all

if ($textureMemory == 0)
  seti textureMemory       32
  setb textureMemorySizeOK false
Change the 32 to 1024, and put a # and a space in front of setb. Your GPU has more than 1024 MB "texture memory" (VRAM), but Sims 3 can only use 800 MB. This tells the game your card has enough VRAM to be Uber as well.

Finally, it's not exactly what you asked, but your processor is underrated as well. Just below the section above, you'll see this:

Code: Select all

seti cpuLevelUber       4
seti cpuLevelHigh       3
seti cpuLevelMedium     2
seti cpuLevelLow        1
Change the 2 to a 4. Your CPU is rated as a 2 right now because of its low base clock speed; the game doesn't understand that it can turbo much higher and is much more efficient than anything that existed in 2009.

Save the changes, quit, load the game, quit, and check DeviceConfig.log again. You should see [Found: 1, Matched: 1] in the "Graphics device info" section, plus the "Rating info" section should look like this now:

GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 4 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2304 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2672 RAM: 16021 Adjusted RAM: 15509 Cores: 8

If you want to do the GraphicsRules edits one at a time, that's fine too. After the first edit and the one to GraphicsCards, you should see [Found: 1, Matched: 1]; after the second, GPU Memory in Ratings info should be a 4 instead of a 1; after the third, the CPU rating should be a 4.
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Cassie
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Need help with getting my graphics card recognized

Post by Cassie » September 26th, 2023, 6:48 am

You are amazing! Your steps were super easy to follow, and my DeviceConfig.log now looks exactly as you say. I ran a quick test and everything looks so much smoother and faster already, no longer waiting literal minutes staring at grey textures that need to load.

Thank you ever so much for your help!
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KevinL5275
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Need help with getting my graphics card recognized

Post by KevinL5275 » September 26th, 2023, 2:47 pm

I've just installed the two files from this post and it does it for me:

https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/foru ... ic=26753.0
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CardinalSims
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Need help with getting my graphics card recognized

Post by CardinalSims » September 26th, 2023, 5:40 pm

Ah, this is one of those 'things you say are real and actually influence those around you' moments :oops: There was a split second of concern that maybe I'd been totally incorrect.

Thank you puzzlezaddict, for explaining it so concisely.
I'm much relieved to hear it had a noticeable effect on OP's game!
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puzzlezaddict
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Need help with getting my graphics card recognized

Post by puzzlezaddict » September 26th, 2023, 7:43 pm

Cassie, Glad I could help and that your game is running the way you'd like.

CardinalSims, I noticed a clear difference the first time I edited the .sgr files in Windows (not so much in macOS), back in 2018, so I never doubted that it could help others. But I've definitely had that reaction too, wondering if I've simply been parroting inherited conventional wisdom rather than having any independent knowledge that the information is correct. A big part of that is that there is so much old Sims 3 knowledge floating around, often gathered by players who are long gone and whose immediate audience is mostly gone as well. But it's not a bad problem to have—after all, we can just test ourselves again whenever we have doubts, and that's easier than starting from scratch.
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