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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 25th Mar 2019 at 7:18 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life, Island Paradise, Into the Future
Default Game freezes every five seconds, can't play
This happens sometimes sporadically but is now getting to the point it's unplayable.

It's always bad when it's snowing but this is ridiculous - it won't run for five seconds at a time before freezing. I've turned graphics settings down, installed Overwatch and Error Trap, uninstalled the Tree of Prosperity... I'm running a house with seven sims but it's not a huge lot, and I'm playing Twinbrook. I do have quite a lot of Store content and CC patterns installed - could this be the cause? I'm running on an i7 laptop so I was hoping this wouldn't be an issue anymore :/ Any advice greatly appreciated. Admittedly running with a lot of Twallan's mods too, and all expansions.

The graphics cards are an NVIDIA GeForce 940MX and a Intel UHD Graphics 620. Specs are in these screenshots here - https://imgur.com/a/IT8T2oJ
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Scholar
#2 Old 25th Mar 2019 at 7:37 PM
I'd dare to say it's routing/sim behaviour error, ErrorTrap should catch that but sometimes (as I observed a few times) - especially with service sims they become lost in infinite loop (route error/reset/behaviour trigger/route error/reset and so on) if for some reason they cannot reach desired position (for example: counter/cash machine etc.), correcting the lot in question helps; but 1st you need to find that lot.

I doubt if there's any connection with actual game visual quality.

EDIT: post/attach your C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\DeviceConfig.log file just in case, and look for files with names ScriptError_[computer_name]-[blahblah].xml - they may contain some useful info.


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#3 Old 25th Mar 2019 at 7:47 PM Last edited by the_spirit_realm : 25th Mar 2019 at 9:20 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by ElaineNualla
I'd dare to say it's routing/sim behaviour error, ErrorTrap should catch that but sometimes (as I observed a few times) - especially with service sims they become lost in infinite loop (route error/reset/behaviour trigger/route error/reset and so on) if for some reason they cannot reach desired position (for example: counter/cash machine etc.), correcting the lot in question helps; but 1st you need to find that lot.

I doubt if there's any connection with actual game visual quality.

EDIT: post/attach your C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\DeviceConfig.log file just in case, and look for files with names ScriptError_[computer_name]-[blahblah].xml - they may contain some useful info.


Hiya - here's the file:





Will this help finding the broken lots? I also did a dump alarm thing from Debig Enabler, can post that too if it helps.
Scholar
#4 Old 25th Mar 2019 at 9:16 PM
uh...
My fault - please, EDIT the post and place the copypasted content between {spoiler}{/spoiler} tags (replace { } with [ ] )

like that:


your card (GPU) is not recognised. There's buried @nitromon's post somewhere how to quickly repair that.
Besides that I cannot see anything wrong. Let's wait till someome from nraas folks show up, they may be able to lead you through step by step.*

Animals sometimes causes that too, stuck horses are famous for that kind of mayhem. Maybe dissallow animals?

* ErrorTrap usually throws an info "Sim x was reset" (or something like that), I usually looked for that individual by Master Controller show objects/sims feature and follow his/her routine until error happens. Then usually simple lot correction (wrongly placed bush, bad stairs, etc) everything work well.


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#5 Old 25th Mar 2019 at 9:25 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ElaineNualla
uh...
My fault - please, EDIT the post and place the copypasted content between {spoiler}{/spoiler} tags (replace { } with [ ] )

like that:


your card (GPU) is not recognised. There's buried @nitromon's post somewhere how to quickly repair that.
Besides that I cannot see anything wrong. Let's wait till someome from nraas folks show up, they may be able to lead you through step by step.*

Animals sometimes causes that too, stuck horses are famous for that kind of mayhem. Maybe dissallow animals?

* ErrorTrap usually throws an info "Sim x was reset" (or something like that), I usually looked for that individual by Master Controller show objects/sims feature and follow his/her routine until error happens. Then usually simple lot correction (wrongly placed bush, bad stairs, etc) everything work well.


Right, I'll try that about the GPU. Attached the dump log if that's any help, else I'll wait until nraas people show up. (:
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#7 Old 25th Mar 2019 at 10:12 PM
Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...d=1#post4782510

Lags like that is mostly routing I think. Does it only happen in this game?

Overwatch doesn't catch all the stuck sims, especially if one is traveling by boat across water. That is the one known superlag that I still get, it is a good thing it is rare. Whenever the game lags like that, pause the game and search your world around shore area if a yellow water taxi or boat is stuck there.


No, sadly this happens in most saves I play and gets worse and worse over time, to the point I end up switching files eventually ):

I've just tried this fix to no avail - http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/f...p?topic=26753.0

I'll give your suggestion a go, thank you!

EDIT - this is the fix I just tried, and my settings have been amended with no luck ):
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#9 Old 26th Mar 2019 at 11:44 PM
Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
Video lags are specific, as I've said your description is not a video lag. It looks more like a routing lag.

However, other things that can create such lag maybe related to your RAM:

Memory: 8108MB
Free memory: 4278MB

This is the amount of free ram you have when you started TS3, you are missing almost 4GB of RAM. It means you either have some RAM hogging program in the background or you are opening a lot of Chrome pages etc...

The thing is, TS3 can use up to 3.4GB of RAM, but systems typically start caching virtual RAM within the 1GB limit. It means your game is constantly swapping parts of TS3 out of the RAM with your OS virtual RAM, which is causing the lag. But also, whatever program you are using in the back that is hoggin' up those RAM may also be using a lot of your CPU cycle, say some sort of anti-virus program.

Also: Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz

I've never seen an i7 below the 2 GHz threshold before. However, I'm fairly sure i7 has a turbo boost, which would only be turned on during "maximum" performance usage in your "battery icon." (if you are using laptop) If you are on a desktop, you still have a power setting, switch it to maximum performance.

*facepalm*

I just checked your CPU: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...o-4-00-ghz.html

What a dumb design, sorry. Ok, so at turbo it is 4GHZ. That's ... trouble, especially if you don't have an SSD. But even if you have SSD, this is still trouble.

So at 1.8GHZ, it might create lag b/c it is processing too slow. CPU slowing down your system.

But at 4GHZ, it might create lag b/c it is too fast. HDD/SSD bottleneck slowing down your system.

Try them both and see if that is the case. If it is the 4GHZ speed that is causing the pulse lag, you need to create a new power plan in your power plan system - advanced mode. Use the setting for the maximum setting (high performance) as a base, but change the "Maximum Processor State" down from 100% to whatever is a good balance for your system. I suggest down to 3.5GHZ and see how it runs. If it still pulses, lower it. If it runs fine, leave it or you can increase it to find that "sweet spot."

---

Btw, I realized we skipped a lot of steps as I kinda just jumped into the middle of this. Make sure you have already tested everything in a "clean" run so we eliminate any issues with CC/mods.


So I've tried upping the battery mode to "best performance," which seems to have had negligible results - everything freezes. My sim will walk three steps, freeze for a few seconds, walk three more, freeze again... plumbobs still spinning, though. I checked all my CC/mods with Delphi's Dashboard will no ill effects. I'm not running anything at all in the background when running 3, but my Chrome is set to restore each time, could that be the issue? For the alternate plans, how can I tell what GHZ setting it's on?

I did a dump alarm test, too, is it maybe worth posting that? I'm unsure how to read it though.
Forum Resident
#11 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 5:26 AM
Quote: Originally posted by the_spirit_realm
This happens sometimes sporadically but is now getting to the point it's unplayable.

It's always bad when it's snowing but this is ridiculous - it won't run for five seconds at a time before freezing. I've turned graphics settings down, installed Overwatch and Error Trap, uninstalled the Tree of Prosperity... I'm running a house with seven sims but it's not a huge lot, and I'm playing Twinbrook. I do have quite a lot of Store content and CC patterns installed - could this be the cause? I'm running on an i7 laptop so I was hoping this wouldn't be an issue anymore :/ Any advice greatly appreciated. Admittedly running with a lot of Twallan's mods too, and all expansions.

The graphics cards are an NVIDIA GeForce 940MX and a Intel UHD Graphics 620. Specs are in these screenshots here - https://imgur.com/a/IT8T2oJ


You have: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz
TS3 minimal system requirements needs: 2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent for Vista or Windows 7
Win 8 works for TS3 as some might claim but not sure if 2.4 GHz would still be the same as that operating system came near the end of the game's lifespan. So it could be higher for the minimal requirement.
Your clock speed is too low, though, the turbo speed can match what TS3 needs. However, I don't think overworking a computer is smart unless you know what you are doing. Hence, why your computer has trouble running TS3 with everything you have installed. It cannot handle all that.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compar...7-8550U/2vs3064

You have: NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
TS3 minimal system requirement is NVidia Geforce 6 series or better, and all NVidia G, GT, GTS and GTX, etc.
However, supported cards does not necessarily mean best performance nor does it mean it can handle all EP's/SP's/The Store/CC.

Let's look at your GPU performance compared to mine. The higher the number, the better the performance. Even though, your GPU is high-end it's on the lower spectrum and would not be able to handle everything TS3 has to offer.
https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/...-660/3453vs2152

If you want the best gaming experience with TS3 or any PC game for that matter, recommended system requirements is the way to achieve that. Unfortunately, there is no such thing that exists for TS3 but there is plenty of research on the matter. Gaming laptops and gaming desktops are for a reason. Just need to do research on the hardware to be sure if it's powerful enough or more so for the kind of gaming experience you want. By the way, mods/cc can dramatically affect performance of the game as well if you don't pay attention and use responsibly.
Scholar
#12 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 2:08 PM
@deshong sorry but it's just (ehm) nonsense. OP's machine is fine (but another 8GB stick would not hurt, definitelly; that should be 1st priority hardware update). It rather cannot handle 4K beautifications but the game itself will run well.

Anyway, assuming it is not mod problem, world problem, horses on trees problem (etc) -

aside @nitromons' advice regarding latency, I'd try also to tie the game to the one core (or 1st and 2nd real ones) - programs from 32 era does not like multicore-multithreading enviroment. And this is 4 core/8threads CPU with 8th gen microcode, it may be quirky for that poor mess of S3. I would not be surprised if the game run more fluently just on the UHD 620 embedded (because of lower throughput and lower efficiency) - but it's not a solution of course.


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Forum Resident
#13 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 4:38 PM
If it is true that the computer is more than capable of running TS3 with all EP's/SP's/The Store/Mods-CC and they have followed your suggestions and are still having no luck...I wonder why they may still have issues? True, that I have basic knowledge of computers but sometimes the solution to an issue is simple and not always complicated. According to this:

"A new MacBook Air, for example, has a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 with a 2.7 GHz boost speed. This allows for the best tradeoff between performance and battery life but, as with phones, laptops have lesser cooling systems than desktop chips, meaning they can’t necessarily sustain those boosted speeds." -https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/computers/tips-and-solutions/boost-processors

It's clear to me, that the original poster's laptop is not a gaming one though it can be used as one but is not the same thing. Which is why, my educated guess, they have worsening lag with everything they have installed because their laptop cannot sustain what it needs to run the game at it's minimal 2.4 GHz. The original poster's base clock speed is 1.8 GHz with a turbo speed, when needed, of 4.0 GHz. However, because it's not a gaming laptop it cannot keep up with the demand of TS3. The best advice I think I can give is to always do your own research too than solely take any one's word for it. Go to a computer store and ask questions about your computer's hardware vs TS3 minimal system requirements and see what they say. There's also asking questions at Tom's Hardware or other computer-related sites for help on the forum. https://forums.tomshardware.com/
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#14 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 6:10 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Deshong
If it is true that the computer is more than capable of running TS3 with all EP's/SP's/The Store/Mods-CC and they have followed your suggestions and are still having no luck...I wonder why they may still have issues? True, that I have basic knowledge of computers but sometimes the solution to an issue is simple and not always complicated. According to this:

"A new MacBook Air, for example, has a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 with a 2.7 GHz boost speed. This allows for the best tradeoff between performance and battery life but, as with phones, laptops have lesser cooling systems than desktop chips, meaning they can’t necessarily sustain those boosted speeds." -https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/computers/tips-and-solutions/boost-processors

It's clear to me, that the original poster's laptop is not a gaming one though it can be used as one but is not the same thing. Which is why, my educated guess, they have worsening lag with everything they have installed because their laptop cannot sustain what it needs to run the game at it's minimal 2.4 GHz. The original poster's base clock speed is 1.8 GHz with a turbo speed, when needed, of 4.0 GHz. However, because it's not a gaming laptop it cannot keep up with the demand of TS3. The best advice I think I can give is to always do your own research too than solely take any one's word for it. Go to a computer store and ask questions about your computer's hardware vs TS3 minimal system requirements and see what they say. There's also asking questions at Tom's Hardware or other computer-related sites for help on the forum. https://forums.tomshardware.com/


That's honestly disappointing to hear - I did my research and hoped that the specs would cut it, since they exceeded the system requirements. I'm going to give the poster above you's suggestion a go regardless, in the hopes that something might work, and maybe try disabling the snow? Since that's when my game notably gets worse, and in a few years, just cut my losses and go for a desktop. Unfortunately, in the UK, we have very basic PC stores, and PC World are notoriously crap for knowing anything about actual specs and hardware. ):
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#15 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 6:13 PM
Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
Ok, let's start from the beginning.

1) Let's fix your GPU first, following the tutorial above. This needs fixing either way.

1.5) Unpark your CPU to reduce CPU latency: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=571180

2) Rename your TS3 user folder into a backup. Start the game "fresh" and it will create a new folder, no mods, no cc, etc... Play the game and see if the lag persists. If there are no lags, it is likely something to do with a bad cc or mod.

3) When you check your deviceconfig, make sure you have at least 5GB RAM in the available area. 4GB is really not enough as your OS will cache virtual RAM when it hit the 1GB cap limit. You can check "task manager" to see what programs are running in the background. In task manager, you can also see how much CPU is being used per program to see if any program is running in the background.

4) Download Core Temp and run it in the background. It is a great program to monitor your CPU temperature as well as frequency. Look at what frequency your game is running. It is either 1.8GHZ (normal) or 4GHZ (turbo). These changes reflect what power mode you are running. In "high performance" or "maximum performance" it will run at 4GHZ.

5) Now if everything is checked - GPU fixed, no mods issues, enough RAM, etc... and the game still pulse lags, it is either the CPU is too slow or too fast. Test in 1.8GHZ first and see if it runs without pulse lag then run in 4GHZ and see if there is a difference. If there is a stronger pulse lag in the 4GHZ mode, it means the CPU is running too fast for the game to catch up with the HDD/SSD. In this case you want to create a new power setting in "advance mode" in your power plan. Simply use the "high performance" setting as a model and reduce the "maximum processor state" from 100% down to something like 80% etc... you can use "Core Temp" to see what frequency it is running at.

I'll tell you right now, I have an i7 with a Nvidia 650m and a 7200 RPM HDD. When I run in 3.4GHz range, I get minor stuttering and pulse lags b/c the HDD can't keep up at this frequency. The only way I got around it is by using a RAM program called eBoostr to supplement some of the more frequently loaded files. Otherwise, I too would have to reduce the frequency.

So with your system, I recommend dropping it to at least 3.5GHz and test it. If it still pulse lags, you might want to drop it even lower to 3GHz. If you have a SSD, you can probably run it at 3.5 and above. Remember, if you have a SSD, both your game and user folder needs to be on the SSD or use a RAMdisk. (https://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=548125)


Thank you for this - I'm going to give this a thorough go over and see what works. My game files are all installed to an external 2TB hard drive, if this makes any difference? Also, is unparking my CPU safe to do?
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#16 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 6:16 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ElaineNualla
@deshong sorry but it's just (ehm) nonsense. OP's machine is fine (but another 8GB stick would not hurt, definitelly; that should be 1st priority hardware update). It rather cannot handle 4K beautifications but the game itself will run well.

Anyway, assuming it is not mod problem, world problem, horses on trees problem (etc) -

aside @nitromons' advice regarding latency, I'd try also to tie the game to the one core (or 1st and 2nd real ones) - programs from 32 era does not like multicore-multithreading enviroment. And this is 4 core/8threads CPU with 8th gen microcode, it may be quirky for that poor mess of S3. I would not be surprised if the game run more fluently just on the UHD 620 embedded (because of lower throughput and lower efficiency) - but it's not a solution of course.


Thank you for this - how would I go about tying the game to one core? Apologies, I'm not much of a PC player aside from TS3, so an ELI5 would be appreciated!
Mad Poster
#17 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 6:17 PM
At the risk of piling up yet more Disagrees every time I find myself pointing this out on this particular forum, the OP has a U-series processor. It doesn't matter that it's an i7 and no, this is not nonsense. That class of processor is not meant/designed to be run in turbo mode constantly as the game would require to achieve the needed speeds above its base of 1.8 GHz. The U- and Y-series are ultra-low power, meaning electricity here not processor strength, that are designed to conserve power and battery life. If you force them to run a game like TS3 with the heavier EPs in play, it will be expected to take years off the life of the machine (if it can even work properly, which for many it will not).

And no, the 940MX is not a suitable card on which to be running all EPs either. There is a throughput issue that the lower end cards in these series cannot handle.

This notion of any "modern" computer being able to run TS3 is what is nonsense. Sure, some will have success with less than ideal components. And some will gain success for a while until the system begins to degrade from overheating and constantly being run too hard. But I think it would serve the players better to explain these things and manage their expectations a bit than finding creative ways to force the game with all expansions to run properly short-term. These devices are meant to be used for web surfing, email, video streaming, and light office/school types of tasks, not for GPU intensive gaming even when we are talking about a game that is around 10 years old now. Some are better at their intended tasks than others, this one sounds very nice for what it was meant to do, but not for gaming beyond a certain point.


Edit: Just saw that the OP is running the game from an external hard drive? That's not helping and is never advised as the external connections no matter how good they are will tend to bottleneck everything.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#18 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 6:22 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
At the risk of piling up yet more Disagrees every time I find myself pointing this out on this particular forum, the OP has a U-series processor. It doesn't matter that it's an i7 and no, this is not nonsense. That class of processor is not meant/designed to be run in turbo mode constantly as the game would require to achieve the needed speeds above its base of 1.8 GHz. The U- and Y-series are ultra-low power, meaning electricity here not processor strength, that are designed to conserve power and battery life. If you force them to run a game like TS3 with the heavier EPs in play, it will be expected to take years off the life of the machine (if it can even work properly, which for many it will not).

And no, the 940MX is not a suitable card on which to be running all EPs either. There is a throughput issue that the lower end cards in these series cannot handle.

This notion of any "modern" computer being able to run TS3 is what is nonsense. Sure, some will have success with less than ideal components. And some will gain success for a while until the system begins to degrade from overheating and constantly being run too hard. But I think it would serve the players better to explain these things and manage their expectations a bit than finding creative ways to force the game with all expansions to run properly short-term. These devices are meant to be used for web surfing, email, video streaming, and light office/school types of tasks, not for GPU intensive gaming even when we are talking about a game that is around 10 years old now. Some are better at their intended tasks than others, this one sounds very nice for what it was meant to do, but not for gaming beyond a certain point.


Edit: Just saw that the OP is running the game from an external hard drive? That's not helping and is never advised as the external connections no matter how good they are will tend to bottleneck everything.


Unfortunately I don't think this laptop has a huge amount of memory, but if I clear some stuff out and move it to the main PC, I can see if it works better. Aside from this, what would you suggest? Unless the answer is "buy a huge desktop PC?" :P
Mad Poster
#19 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 6:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by the_spirit_realm
Unfortunately I don't think this laptop has a huge amount of memory, but if I clear some stuff out and move it to the main PC, I can see if it works better. Aside from this, what would you suggest? Unless the answer is "buy a huge desktop PC?" :P

My suggestion if this is the best or only system you have available would be to reinstall on the internal hard drive if you can manage the space for it while still leaving enough free for Windows to function properly (at least 35 GB, more would be better) but the base game only and see how it goes. If that works out then cautiously add a couple of the earliest released EPs (WA, Ambitions, Generations) and see if it still runs well. The tipping point, if there is one, might be around Late Night or the truly heavy ones like Pets and Seasons.

And of course all of the above with the NRaas mods meant to enhance performance in play, so that would be Overwatch, ErrorTrap, Traffic, Register, to an extent GoHere, and MasterController for its Reset Everything function on City Hall to be run occasionally. Sounds like you are already doing that, but it would be remiss of me not to throw these into the suggestion.

And if at all possible, play offline (not logged in at the Launcher or in-game levels), the in-game TS3 store shopping experience off, no hidden object startup game, and scrapbook memories switched off or managed by a mod.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#20 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 6:36 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
My suggestion if this is the best or only system you have available would be to reinstall on the internal hard drive if you can manage the space for it while still leaving enough free for Windows to function properly (at least 35 GB, more would be better) but the base game only and see how it goes. If that works out then cautiously add a couple of the earliest released EPs (WA, Ambitions, Generations) and see if it still runs well. The tipping point, if there is one, might be around Late Night or the truly heavy ones like Pets and Seasons.

And of course all of the above with the NRaas mods meant to enhance performance in play, so that would be Overwatch, ErrorTrap, Traffic, Register, to an extent GoHere, and MasterController for its Reset Everything function on City Hall to be run occasionally. Sounds like you are already doing that, but it would be remiss of me not to throw these into the suggestion.

And if at all possible, play offline (not logged in at the Launcher or in-game levels), the in-game TS3 store shopping experience off, no hidden object startup game, and scrapbook memories switched off or managed by a mod.


Do you know how much TS3 with all expansions needs to run? I have about 2.3 GB free at the moment, but I bet I can reduce a lot of that, and tbh I do want to play with all expansions or it doesn't feel worth it ): I've turned off memories but not the other stuff, so I'll give that a shot, and throw in the extra mods and delete some of my extraneous ones. Is any of the other advice in this thread worth taking, and is it worth uninstalling unused CC and the glut of patterns I keep installing?
Mad Poster
#21 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 7:24 PM
You can't run Windows from a drive that only has 2.3 GB of free space let alone other programs. Even web browsers will malfunction if things are that tight. How large is this internal drive to begin with? If it's 128 GB or smaller, you will have more than a challenge shoehorning the game with expansions, its user game folder (in Documents), and Windows onto it before we start talking about other programs and data that may take up space, CC, and other forms of added content. If it's 256 GB or larger, you have more of a chance of fitting things in.

I just looked up the exact HP model number on the screenshots your provided. That one I found is supposed to have a 128 GB SSD (this is for Windows and system related programs, not anything else) and a 1 TB internal standard hard drive (HDD). Are you certain that you don't have two internal drives? If you do, the game should be installed on the second, much larger internal HDD and the user Documents library redirected there using Windows to do so. I only started talking about the external drive usage because you just mentioned it, but if you have two internal drives then the external should not be necessary except for extra storage and backups. Maybe I got the model number wrong and ended up looking at a different but similar one?

But it's not all about drive space. I will renew my recommendation to not run all EPs on that device, although it may be possible short-term with the advice that others were giving here above. You run the very real risk of burning this laptop out, meaning it won't work for anything at all if this happens.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#22 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 8:36 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
You can't run Windows from a drive that only has 2.3 GB of free space let alone other programs. Even web browsers will malfunction if things are that tight. How large is this internal drive to begin with? If it's 128 GB or smaller, you will have more than a challenge shoehorning the game with expansions, its user game folder (in Documents), and Windows onto it before we start talking about other programs and data that may take up space, CC, and other forms of added content. If it's 256 GB or larger, you have more of a chance of fitting things in.

I just looked up the exact HP model number on the screenshots your provided. That one I found is supposed to have a 128 GB SSD (this is for Windows and system related programs, not anything else) and a 1 TB internal standard hard drive (HDD). Are you certain that you don't have two internal drives? If you do, the game should be installed on the second, much larger internal HDD and the user Documents library redirected there using Windows to do so. I only started talking about the external drive usage because you just mentioned it, but if you have two internal drives then the external should not be necessary except for extra storage and backups. Maybe I got the model number wrong and ended up looking at a different but similar one?

But it's not all about drive space. I will renew my recommendation to not run all EPs on that device, although it may be possible short-term with the advice that others were giving here above. You run the very real risk of burning this laptop out, meaning it won't work for anything at all if this happens.


https://imgur.com/a/hBXI32o

^ This is the C Drive space in here. And these are the specs screenshotted - don't think it has another drive? https://imgur.com/a/IT8T2oJ

If I did, where would I be looking for it? Oh, I also checked, and I am running it from the laptop's main C Drive. I used to run it from my external on my old PC, but switched over.
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retired moderator
#23 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 9:03 PM
You have a drive labelled 'Elements' which has 1.6TB free.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#24 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 9:04 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
You have a drive labelled 'Elements' which has 1.6TB free.


Hi, that's my external hard drive plugged in.
Mad Poster
#25 Old 27th Mar 2019 at 9:33 PM
Do you have a D drive in between the two that the properties window is covering up, or is that just an optical (CD/DVD) drive?

But anyway, your C drive is 256 GB (it's showing as 222 GB due to some overhead and binary math) and you have 62.3 GB free on it, not 2.3 GB. If your game is already installed on C and not E as you are now saying, then the amount of free space needs to be watched over but it's fine. None of this solves the processor and GPU problems though, there are no solutions for those on such a system I'm afraid.
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