FPS Limiter

[warr2098]

place the 4 files in the sims 3 folder, found in "My computer> Vista> Program Files> Sims 3 (for me) then create a shortcut from the booter to the desktop, then play the game from there

[ErinIsNice]

My fps is 50-60 all the time, it never goes higher than 60.

Do I need a fps limiter to make it even lower?

[warr2098]

50-60 is ok, ideally it's 30, which the FPS limiter makes it to be, before I had it mine went past 180! Because I got a really good graphics card 

[NonaMena]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with 60 fps. That is why, if you do not play in windowed mode, you don't need an FPS Limiter. You can use the VSync option in game. Unfortunately, Vsync doesn't work in windowed mode, so then you do need a third party FPS Limiter.

[JudesSims]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with 60 fps. That is why, if you do not play in windowed mode, you don't need an FPS Limiter. You can use the VSync option in game. Unfortunately, Vsync doesn't work in windowed mode, so then you do need a third party FPS Limiter.

Where is the Vsync option? I didn't see it in game options. Thanks.

[jeanamariex3]

Vsync is an option for Nvidia users. I have Nvidia and I turned it off. I have a GT 520, which is more ideal for casual gaming, which I do anyways. Personally, I think the open neighborhood and story progression is causing the bugs and glitches, and I hope we return to closed neighborhoods. I'm on a desktop, and I'm hoping to get a gaming rig. I shouldn't have to, though, because I only play Maxis/Sim games, and they never really required much in the first place. It's not like I'm a heavy gamer anyways.

[NonaMena]

Vsync is an option for Nvidia users. I have Nvidia and I turned it off.

Nah, I am talking about the Vsync option in game, not via the Nvidia drivers. But I do think you're right about the open neighborhood and SP. They take up a lot resources. However, The Sims 3, while a "casual" game, is really heavy on the computing requirements in general. Even without SP mods and the like, the game is just a resource hog.

Where is the Vsync option? I didn't see it in game options. Thanks.

Vsync in the game options is called the Screen Refresh Rate. Open the options menu in game (click "..." and go to Options), and in the Graphics tab go to the "Screen Refresh Rate" pull down menu. Set it to 60 and you're good to go.

[JudesSims]

Great, thank you! It was already set at 60.

[jeanamariex3]

Yeah, I'm hoping Sims 4 returns to the old playing style. Maybe an open neighborhood will work for more hardcore games, like Battlefield and such, but not Sims!

[Enchanted81]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with 60 fps. That is why, if you do not play in windowed mode, you don't need an FPS Limiter. You can use the VSync option in game. Unfortunately, Vsync doesn't work in windowed mode, so then you do need a third party FPS Limiter.

That is actually not completely true, the screen refresh rate is a totally different thing than fps which is frames per second. If you go to this link it explains it in depth between the two types of monitors there are.

http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_7.html

On top of that, The Sims 3 does not have an in game vsync option, that is completely dependent upon your video card and if it has that option available.

http://www.hardmodegaming.com/optimizing-game-performance/

And just to show an in game reference to it, this is a screenshot I just took of my game without vsync and triple buffering forced on through my video card with the screen refresh rate set at 60 but I'm getting 88 in game with it paused, during game play letting it go I was getting spikes close to 100. With the refresh rate set to default, my max fps was 300+. On the other hand, if your video card does support vsync and you have vsync forced on, triple buffering turned on and the refresh rate set to 60, then your fps will stay around 60. The default setting for those options is not always turned on, this is something you have to do on your own, again if your video card supports those options.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c276/Kalma81/Sims/Testfps1.jpg

[NonaMena]

Thanks, I do know the difference between fps & screen refresh rate. Also, I did instruct jeanamarie to check her fps by using the fps on cheat to see how high her fps is going.

For most players, setting the screen refresh rate to 60 is enough. In fact, I have a very nice graphics card and when I play full screen, my FPS is never above 60 when I have screen refresh rate set to 60. I don't play in Full screen though, especially because most of the time I am actually testing mods and not playing, so I use my Nvidia driver + EVGA Precision X to limit my frame rate, as Vsync does not work in windowed-mode.

To be honest, I don't entirely trust FPS Limiter with more recent graphics cards because the program is old. There was talk on a German forum about six months ago that it is not working in all cases, and high-end cards were burning out while using the program. I never actually had a problem with FPS Limiter, but I decided to switch to using Precision X anyhow. In general, I prefer not to recommend third party tools when possible (but I won't hesitate if the bets option a 3rd party tool).

[Enchanted81]

There's more than one version of the program out there and it's used for many games, not just Sims. The one I use has 3booter and I've been using it about a year with a newer video card and had no problems.  My old video card did not have the options that the one I have now does, the game ended up frying my card and that's when I went looking for a limiter to stop that from happening again.

I always have fps on so I can monitor it and make sure it's always working. I have it setup on three computers in my house as well as a relative and a close friends computer, just because each setup with the exception of one in my house is completely different and only two have Nvidia cards with the options needed. The only reason I continue to use the limiter is because it caps it down so low that it's better safe than sorry.

The problem is that not everyone has a Nvidia video card that has the Vsync option, not everyone has the same type of setup with their computer. As technology changes, so does the way we do things but, it does take a while for everyone to catch up. If EA would have thrown an internal cap on the games ability to render, then everything would be a non-issue, but screen refresh rate only works with the right conditions due to how they built the game mechanics.

If you do have everything needed to go the refresh rate way then that's great and works fine. For those that don't, it's not a fun boat to be in and video cards aren't cheap enough to replace multiple times a year. I don't go about recommending anything to anyone unless they ask for help and/or approach me about it.

[simfulicious]

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I wanted to say that I just fried my second video card in two years.  My husband bought me a new one yesterday, and I tried all of the in game methods of lowering my fps and it was still at about 90.  Then I changed the vsync settings on my actual Nvidia card...no change.  I normally play in full screen mode, so I thought maybe it would lower in windowed mode...no, it didn't.  The only thing that worked for me is the fps limiter program that is also mentioned here.  Now I am at 30 fps.  So thank you all for your great knowledge, and hopefully another card will not fry.

[Fluffy Puff]

I tried maty's limiter, but 3booter would not work at all. The program wouldn't run. Anyone know of another fps limiter?

[simfulicious]

Are you sure you put the files in the correct location?  It needs to go in the Sims 3 folder found under program files, not your documents folder.  I followed the directions, step by step, both here and on the maty thread and it works for me.  I would try again, making sure you didn't forget something.


If that doesn't work for you, I do not know of another limiter program.