Sims 3 Crashes (unless I downgrade to 9.12 OR play in Windowed Mode)

[BababooeyHTJ]

I couldn't get the Sims 3 to run with 10.10e on a 6870. Don't forget to report this issue.

Link to Catalyst Crew Feedback

And you are not running a 5xx series chip ether. 11.1a brings nothing new to the 5xxx series and not running driver sweeper is begging for additional problems.

I wouldn't agree with either statement. There are always more changes than listed in the change log and WHQL certification takes quite a while. The fact that 10.10e was newer than 10.11 should show that.

I never run driver cleaner. It has always caused me more problems than it is worth. A simple uninstall and reinstall is enough for me.

 

[TheMailMan78]

I couldn't get the Sims 3 to run with 10.10e on a 6870. Don't forget to report this issue.

Well duh. You are running a 6870. You shouldnt be running anything less then 11.1

Oh and I mean "duh" in a brotherly way. No disrespect.

 

[n-ster]

I disagree, drive sweeper has only brought me PROBLEMS unless I was uninstalling an Nvidia driver to replace it with an ATI one or Vice-versa. I had to reinstall Windows once when I tried to sweep my 1st ATI drivers to update them... to be fair, I had used it before without a problem

I've never ran driver sweeper since the 1st time I installed Catalyst 9.XX that came with my 5850... I then added another 5850, then replaced them by a 6870, all without driver sweeper.

isn't 11.1a the first CCC that has MLAA for 5XXX since 10.10e? I'm sure 11.1a has some improvements since 10.100e, especially since we are talking Crossfire here

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Well duh. You are running a 6870. You shouldnt be running anything less then 11.1

Oh and I mean "duh" in a brotherly way. No disrespect.

I haven't owned a 6870 or tried Sims 3 in weeks. My point is that he is not the only one with driver issues and this game. Well not just this game but you get my point.

I disagree, drive sweeper has only brought me PROBLEMS unless I was uninstalling an Nvidia driver to replace it with an ATI one or Vice-versa. I had to reinstall Windows once when I tried to sweep my 1st ATI drivers to update them... to be fair, I had used it before without a problem

That is the only time that I run driver sweeper.

 

[Black Panther]

I think I had to use Driver Sweeper when downgrading from 10.10e to 9.12

I installed the SB drivers now.
I also got Late Night expansion.
I will check if the game works fine with my 9.12
If it does... I might re-try 10.10e..........

 

[n-ster]

Try 11.1a instead of 10.10e

btw, Late Night is a good expansion

 

[Black Panther]

I haven't yet installed anything, still running 9.12

I installed Late Night, updated the game.

Been trying to play, after between 5 and 10 minutes I just get kicked out of the game *bam* into perfect desktop. No bsod, no warning whatsoever. Nothing shows in task-manager. It's the quickest game-exit I've ever seen.


This is just ridiculous...

 

[n-ster]

weird... try istalling 11.1a and see if it does the same or not.... I know I'm gettin repetitive, but perhaps all it takes is the newest driver

if you have Win 7 SP1 watch out Driver Sweeper, Win7 SP1 and YOU!!

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Ahh I see. Only help I have left is that the game just hates 7 64 bit!

Cant be because I can play Sims 3 on 7 x64 just fine.

 

[TheMailMan78]

weird... try istalling 11.1a and see if it does the same or not.... I know I'm gettin repetitive, but perhaps all it takes is the newest driver

if you have Win 7 SP1 watch out Driver Sweeper, Win7 SP1 and YOU!!

You just have to be sure to download the latest Driver sweaper.

 

[n-ster]

You just have to be sure to download the latest Driver sweaper.

yea it's like the 1st line of the link

Still, driver sweeper is extreme. AMD is smart enough to make sure that installing over another CCC won't make any conflicts or performance hits.

My philosophy towards Driver Sweeper is "use it only when you need it"

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I haven't yet installed anything, still running 9.12

I installed Late Night, updated the game.

Been trying to play, after between 5 and 10 minutes I just get kicked out of the game *bam* into perfect desktop. No bsod, no warning whatsoever. Nothing shows in task-manager. It's the quickest game-exit I've ever seen.


This is just ridiculous...

Run the Crash Log Analyzer to see if there are any exception files. If there are, click on "copy to clipboard" and paste it into your reply.

FYI, a new round of patches came out yesterday (1.19). If you don't already have them, again, I point you to Patch Downloader.


Edit: a crash after 5-10 minutes sounds like Data Execution Prevention crash (and that's exactly how it works: happy, happy, happy, desktop, WTF?). If it is DEP, Crash Log Analyzer will tell you outright (it has a 100% detection success rate on that one). Just click the DEP link (in Crash Log Analyzer) and follow the instructions to disable DEP for The Sims 3. Mind you, I think 90%+ of DEP crashes are related to bugs in the driver. Again, I've played The Sims 3 (all expansions except Outdoor Living Stuff) quite a bit on my 5870 with 10.11 drivers without any problems. Most DEP errors are actually on NVIDIA cards.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Bluescreen view:

http://img.techpowerup.org/110122/sims prob 3.png

Is that a third party app you have in this SS or is it a program within windows I dont know about?

 

[Black Panther]

Is that a third party app you have in this SS or is it a program within windows I dont know about?

It's a 3rd party app called Bluescreen View.

__________________________


Well this time it was partly my fault why I couldn't play. I forgot to exclude the new expansion pack I had just installed exe file from DEP (data execution prevention). Well........ this is the only game which I have to do this stuff but it's a known bug which makes the game vanish 'bang' to desktop.

And I'm still on 9.12
Well I think when I get bored I'll just forget the game and get a newer driver

 

[Black Panther]

weird... try istalling 11.1a and see if it does the same or not.... I know I'm gettin repetitive, but perhaps all it takes is the newest driver

Just tried that...

Check out what happens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfmndhU5jd4

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Did you try Crash Log Analyzer?

 

[Black Panther]

Did you try Crash Log Analyzer?

Yes. Today's crashes aren't shown there.
All I get is the crashes of 3 days ago when I had installed Late Night and forgot to disable DEP.

Oh and btw I discovered that the game runs on 10.1 too. So it runs on 9.12 and 10.1 but doesn't run on 10.10, 10.12 and 11.1

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I'm thinking your graphics card is defective. Can it stand up to 30-60 minutes of FurMark?

The crashes it did find were all DEP?

 

[Black Panther]

I'm thinking your graphics card is defective. Can it stand up to 30-60 minutes of FurMark?

I'm not very eager to stress it so much

Plus TS3 isn't a graphically demanding game (and remember it works on the older drivers). I've played more demanding games on any driver with no problem - Dirt2, Metro 2033, Fallout NV...

 

[Black Panther]

The crashes it did find were all DEP?

Yup. Today's crashes (the one in the youtube video above and some others) don't show.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

TS3 uses a lot of VRAM (and RAM for that matter) so it stresses video cards in a different way than most games.

If a card can't handle 60 minutes of FurMark, it needs to go back to the manufacturer.


Maybe try 10.11 drivers. That's what I'm using and I don't have to mess with DEP at all. Doubt that will fix anything though because the driver version shouldn't matter at all. Try FurMark first.

 

[Black Panther]

Hey didn't know you were the creator of Crash Log analyzer! Nice!



I think if the problem is the hardware wouldn't I always have the issue no matter which driver I use?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Well, we know it isn't the game because the hardware is locking up so the software can't report an error. That's indictive of a hardware issue.

Drivers manipulate how the software communicates with the hardware. Drivers can theoretically change a lot. It's not unreasonable that different drivers produce different issues on a defective card. It is difficult to be certain it is the video card, though. Perhaps, for example, it could be a dodgy PCI Express slot.

I assume you've tried disabling Crossfire to play it?

 

[Black Panther]

I assume you've tried disabling Crossfire to play it?

Isn't CF hard coded as enabled on the 5970, like the 4870X2 so it can't be disabled?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Apparently not according to some searches. The Sims 3 does not support Crossfire.

Maybe try disabling Catalyst AI too.

Some info here:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=247424