I had the slow problem for a while, and I thought getting a new graphics card would help. I went from an Nvidia 8600GT to a ATI Radeon HD 5770. Now it is still slow, if not even slower, and the screen goes dark. In the loading screen i see a flash of it being light but it stays dark for the game. I uninstalled for a while and reinstalled and still have the same issue. All of my other games have improved and worked beautifully except the sims 3 which has gone downhill. (Other games include Fallout New Vegas, Mass effect 2, Dragon age 2).

My other computer specs are

Memory: 2GB
Processor: Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz
Windows XP service pack 2

I've done this http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php..._3_Game_Problem and nothing changed. Any suggestions?

Oh also, the expansions I have are World Adventures and Ambitions, but currently only have ambitions installed

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  Please post the game version for each game that you have,
  (i.e. 1.12.70.006001 or 2.12.8.009017)
  • Base Game =
  • World Adventures =
  • High End Loft =
  • Ambitions =
  • Fast Lane =
  • Late Night =
  • Outdoor Living =
  • Generations =

The being dark is sometimes due to outdated CC.
Hmm, but you'd done step#3 and it is still dark & lag? On a new game?
And is this lag during gameplay or at loading times? Or when you switch modes - Live to Buy or to CAS, etc?

And after a full uninstall+reinstall since swapping GPUs? Uninstalled old driver in safe mode? Reinstalled/updated DirectX?
Did you remove the options.ini? Oh! Duh! You had done step#3, so this file would be refreshed...

The slowness I can attribute to the dual-core and low RAM, but the dark...can you post a pic to see what exactly we're dealing with?

Windows XP is on SP3, by now. So you may want to run Windows Updates.

Please post the game version for each game that you have,
(i.e. 1.12.70.006001 or 2.12.8.009017)
Base Game = 1.22.9.011002
World Adventures = N/A
High End Loft = N/A
Ambitions = 4.10.1.011031
Fast Lane = N/A
Late Night = N/A
Outdoor Living =N/a
Generations =N/A

Loading times are slow, but that wouldn't worry me so much if the game from then on wasn't laggy. Sometimes places are really slow to load, like going from home to another part of the town. Usually on a lot isn't too bad for lag, but its generally when I move the mouse I will get some lag, or sometimes if I try to increase the speed of things to move through an action it will have a big lag and the time will stop or skip for a bit. Switching between live and buy is a bit of lag but not the biggest issue I have noticed. Lag is on a totally new game, just installed again yesterday after uninstalling for a month or so.

I had someone else put in the new card for me, so I am not 100% sure of what they did, but it has worked really well with other reasonably graphically demanding games and looked lovely. DirectX is the correct version for XP as far as I can tell, 9.0c. Should I reinstall it? Can I reinstall it without having to download it again?

Oh and my bad, I am on service pack 3, must have missed that one.

Hopefully the pics work

Oh and this part

==System==
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home edition (5.1, build 2600)
System Manufacturer Unknown
System Model Unknown
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 1716 MB used 2226MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.00.0000.0904)
==Display==
Name: ATI Radeon HD 5700 series
Manufacturer: ATI technologies inc.
Chip Type: ati radeon graphics processor (0x68B8)
Approx. Total Memory: 1024.0MB
Main Driver: ati2dvag.dll
Version: 6.14.0010.7200 (english)
Driver Date: 25/5/2011 14:55:58
==Sound==
Description: Realtek HD audio output
Driver Name: rtkhdaud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5324 (english)
Date: 16/11/2006
==Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives==
Drive: C:
Free Space: 19.3 GB
Total Space: 128.0 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD3200AAJS-55RYA0

Drive: D:
Free Space: 24.5 GB
Total Space: 177.2 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD3200AAJS-55RYA0

The sims 3 is installed on drive d, but saves to drive c. Also as an extra note in case this has any significance, they are the same drive but partitioned.

Oh, Twinbrook is generally like that. Plus if you took pictures in fullscreen mode, they do tend to appear darker than during gameplay.
I'll grab some pics for comparison.

OK, with the CPU+RAM combo, and that amount of HDD space, I believe the slowness is just the amount of time the machine is taking to process it all.
If I recall Windows XP needs upwards of 20% free space to function well (I might be off with the numbers, though). And freespace is even more critical when you have a low amount of RAM.

Did you know if the person who swap out the card for you also changed the PSU? If it was, do you know what wattage the old one has and what the current one is?

I'm afraid that kind of slowness is not going to be helped by changing graphics card.

Hmmm mine still looks a lot darker than those pics though. I can actually see what things look like in your pics! looks like late afternoon at midday i find. i'll try another area for comparison later though.

I've been thinking of getting some more RAM and a new CPU but haven't managed to save enough cash to sort that out yet, also a new HDD. So much money to spend...

I had the PSU changed a month or 2 before I got the new graphics card because my old one died. No idea what the old one was like, but new one is 550W.

Oh and wow, things actually do really lighten up when i put it in windowed mode. but windowed mode seems like it would be annoying to play in.. is there any way to get the lovely look from windowed mode into fullscreen? guess not.

Even with a new HDD+more RAM, you still have a slow CPU and a 32-bit OS.

If you want to upgrade CPU, might as well get a new build.
I think with that new-ish PSU+GPU, you'd be better off recycling them into a new build than trying to upgrade a CPU on a motherboard that may not have CPUs to fit anymore. Or due to its availability in the retail market (a working one, still in its original sealed box, I mean), it may well cost as much as a new generation CPU, albeit a low-end one. Plus if it is already EOL'd by the manufacturers, support for them may just be 6mths or less, or no longer even supported if you get one off eBay or refurbished.

it seems to play a lot better and look a lot better in windowed mode. so its cheaper to just buy a whole new pc than to just replace/add parts that I need? (I really love my case is all) I guess I'll have to do some investigating!

Yeah - research the motherboard model and what kind of CPUs and RAMs it can support.
Then compare with current generations' offerings.

I just helped a guy out to purchase new instead of upgrade his dual-core. That thread in Computer Tech section may be of interest to you. Don't forget the stickies!
Back in a jiff with the link! eta: Upgrade?

If it is a generic casing, that can be re-use from build-to-build.