CPU For The Sims 3 & 4 - AMD or Intel?

[Gmr_Chick]

To make it clear, I want to keep this conversation civil. I know the whole AMD vs Intel thing is hotly debated, but I'm here for honest, helpful advice, not to hear that AMD sucks or Intel sucks. So please, keep it civil.

I'm an avid player of The Sims 3 franchise - I currently own every Expansion Pack (there are 11 of them) and 4 Stuff Packs (things that add new things like lots, clothing or objects to the main game; I own 4 of these, but there a total of 9 of these.) In addition to this, I have about 3.75 GBs worth of mods and other custom content for the game. Unfortunately, it's been a great while since I was able to play the game smoothly - after just 15 minutes of playing, I get HORRIBLE lag and stuttering, which forces me to stop playing. Granted, this game isn't very demanding with just the base Sims 3 game, but once you get to where I'm at, it becomes harder to run smoothly. Because I believe this game to be more reliant on the CPU than the GPU, I believe my CPU may have something to do with the horrible lag issues I'm dealing with. If you look at my system specs, you'll see I'm running an FX-6100. Yes, I'm running a "Faildozer" as it's so lovingly called.


I come here asking for help on a possible CPU upgrade, because for the life of me, I can't exactly find CPU benchmarks for this game (understandably so; it isn't exactly a AAA title) and I don't want to screw up on this CPU like I did with the 6100 (yes, in hindsight, I would have never gotten it, knowing what I know now.) I do play other games, but they are more GPU dependent than CPU dependent like the Sims 3 is; just got a 280X about a week or so ago, so I'm not worried about the GPU. Anyway, I'm looking at either an FX-6350 or 8320 on the AMD side, or anything from an i3 to a non-K i5 and H97 or Z87 board. What would you guys suggest? Right now I'm leaning towards the Intel choice because it offers a better upgrade path, but it would also require getting a new board. I wouldn't have to do that with the AMD obviously.

I sincerely value your opinions after you all were so helpful in helping choose a GPU upgrade from my 7790.

 

[xela333]

If your not having much success with an AMD FX6100, I don't think getting an AMD 8 core is going to make much difference. And from what I can see online, the Sims would rather a cpu with quicker single core performance than multicore.

So I'd recommend getting the cheapest i5 CPU you can with a H81 board or Z97 if you can fit one into your budget.

Memory will probably be an issue too if you only have 4GB, need 8GB ideally.

 

[RCoon]

the Sims would rather a cpu with quicker single core performance than multicore

This, basically. It's entirely single threaded, so you're better off with any processor that has some serious IPC beef behind it on single cores. Basically getting more cores isn't going to help. Overclocking singular cores will offer better performance increase. Honestly an i3 would be fine, just get the higher clocked ones. The i5 makes no difference besides for other games and software capable of using the cores. They i5's just tend to have slightly higher baseclocks, and are the baseline for K processors too. If you only play Sims, I don't see a need for an i5. If you play a number of other games, perhaps an i5.
Alternatively, overclock the live bejeesus out of your AMD processor.

 

[AhokZYashA]

I'm a sims 3 player too,
albeit only with the base game,
i usually play it on my PC (E7400 OC'd) or sometimes on my laptop (i5 4200u) without much stuttering or lag,
i have it all on high, both on PC and laptop,

so yeah, i think you really need a beefier CPU than an FX-6100

i can suggest the pentium G3258 + a small Z97 board, and overclock to atleast 4-4.2GHz
it will make a lot of differences, and an SSD will also help, because sims takes its textures (and theres a LOT of them from the disk constantly)

 

[Gmr_Chick]

This, basically. It's entirely single threaded, so you're better off with any processor that has some serious IPC beef behind it on single cores. Basically getting more cores isn't going to help. Overclocking singular cores will offer better performance increase. Honestly an i3 would be fine, just get the higher clocked ones. The i5 makes no difference besides for other games and software capable of using the cores. They i5's just tend to have slightly higher baseclocks, and are the baseline for K processors too. If you only play Sims, I don't see a need for an i5. If you play a number of other games, perhaps an i5.
Alternatively, overclock the live bejeesus out of your AMD processor.

It's funny you mention the i3 because I was actually looking at the 4360. It's currently on newegg for $129 and has a base clock of 3.7 GHz, and I think it even has Hyper Threading. However, I do play other games (Sleeping Dogs, Alien: Isolation, GTA IV, things like that. But nothing like the Battlefield series or Far Cry series or Crysis, nor do I have any desire to.) so I'm wondering if a dual core with HT would still be enough for those. I would consider OCing my FX but I don't know how and I don't believe my motherboard could handle it.

i can suggest the pentium G3258 + a small Z97 board, and overclock to atleast 4-4.2GHz
it will make a lot of differences, and an SSD will also help, because sims takes its textures (and theres a LOT of them from the disk constantly)

I was looking at that little G3258 as well. read it's a little monster, but only if OCed (still probably performs better than my FX-6100 at stock though, lol) I do have a slight interest in learning how to OC, which that little guy is made for, and I'm not looking to spend all this money on a K i5 when the little Pentium could do it just as good probably. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

And you're right about the Sims 3 textures. I have a 7200 RPM HD and it drives me crazy how much rendering the damn game does, so after the CPU upgrade, I'll definitely look into getting an SSD.

So, I think my choices are either an i3-4360 with an H97 board, or a G3258 with a Z97 board. This'll probably be my last CPU for a while, so I'm curious to know which would last me the longest.

 

[Toothless]

Could try OC'ing that 6-core before pushing more money into an upgrade. Though if OC'ing isn't your style, then a non-K i5 with a high base clock will do you properly.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

I would go with the G3258...but I like overclocking and for the cost of that chip I wouldn't even care if I burned it up. The G3258 uses same socket as an I3 do you could give OC'ing a try and if it doesn't work out you can just plug a i3/i5/i7 in there. I would suggest the z97 regardless of cpu choice.

Get a nice beefy Air Cooler and OC the snot out of that G3258.

And you need a SSD for sure.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Could try OC'ing that 6-core before pushing more money into an upgrade. Though if OC'ing isn't your style, then a non-K i5 with a high base clock will do you properly.

I would try to OC my FX, but I have this board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872

Would I still be able to OC with it?

I would go with the G3258...but I like overclocking and for the cost of that chip I wouldn't even care if I burned it up. The G3258 uses same socket as an I3 do you could give OC'ing a try and if it doesn't work out you can just plug a i3/i5/i7 in there. I would suggest the z97 regardless of cpu choice.

Get a nice beefy Air Cooler and OC the snot out of that G3258.

And you need a SSD for sure.

No need to worry about the air cooler - I got a CM Hyper 212.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

I would try to OC my FX, but I have this board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872

Would I still be able to OC with it?

Yes your board should be able to oc it moderately well. However it is a higher watt CPU and your powersupply is a 560W so you "may" run into power issues, although your PS is a great brand with a good Gold rating....You won't know until you try but from the quick search I did people have hit 4.2+ Ghz on that board with that CPU. You could always disable a few cores if you do run into power issues. Plus you will be able to push the chip further.

http://www.techspot.com/community/topics/overlock-on-asus-m5a97-r2-0-tips-anyone.185781/

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I have a 2.66 GHz Core i7 920 and it struggles with large neighborhoods (especially Paradise Isle). The game clock freezes frequently to work on crap and it is extremely annoying. I'd recommend as low of process as possible with the highest clockspeed as possible which basically means 4th generation Core i#.

I would also consider an SSD just for the game but I think processor is more important. Everytime the game freezes the way it does, a core is maxed out at 100%. SSD would fix the texture popping but texture popping is no where near as annoying as the game clock stopping.

 

[v12dock]

TS4's engine run far better than TS3. My 4770K freezes and lags with large neighborhoods as well.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

TS4 doesn't have 33.4 GiB of content nor 3 GiB saves. XD

TS3 is by far the harder of the two to run. TS4 may be more demanding on GPU by TS3 is by far more demanding on the CPU.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

I have a 2.66 GHz Core i7 920 .

How do you own this CPU and it is not overclocked?? :|

 

[Gmr_Chick]

I have a 2.66 GHz Core i7 920 and it struggles with large neighborhoods (especially Paradise Isle). The game clock freezes frequently to work on crap and it is extremely annoying. I'd recommend as low of process as possible with the highest clockspeed as possible which basically means 4th generation Core i#.

I would also consider an SSD just for the game but I think processor is more important. Everytime the game freezes the way it does, a core is maxed out at 100%. SSD would fix the texture popping but texture popping is no where near as annoying as the game clock stopping.

The game's neighborhoods are notorious for having horrible routing issues (like, if for example, you have your sim out walking somewhere, and they suddenly stop and throw a fit about not being able to get where they need to go, that's a routing issue; the only exception to this is if you're trying to make them walk up a really steep hill, which they can't do anyway. The former is related to routing.) and there are mods out there to help deal with routing issues found in the various worlds. These may help you as they have me, but it's not a cure-all. Check out a site called Mod The Sims, click on downlads>Sims3>Misc>Custom Worlds and CAS Screens and then look for a user named ellacharmed; she's fixed most of the routing issues found in the various hoods. Only thing is, to download anything, you have to join the site, but it and all the content there (which is created by other Sims players) is free.

Ahem, back on topic.

Ok. I've narrowed it down to the G3258 (3.2 GHz stock) and learning how to OC the snot out of it, the i3-4360 (3.7 GHz stock) with hyper threading but no OC potential, or the i5-4460 (3.2 GHz stock) with four cores, but no HT and no OC potential. I should have mentioned this before (D'oh!) but I'd like to keep both the CPU and mobo cost below $300. What would you guys suggest from these 3?

In the meantime, I'll dabble in OCing with my FX. Any basic info I should know so I don't accidentally bork something?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

How do you own this CPU and it is not overclocked?? :|

2.66 GHz over 10 years is better than 3.5 GHz over 5 years.

The game's neighborhoods are notorious for having horrible routing issues (like, if for example, you have your sim out walking somewhere, and they suddenly stop and throw a fit about not being able to get where they need to go, that's a routing issue; the only exception to this is if you're trying to make them walk up a really steep hill, which they can't do anyway. The former is related to routing.) and there are mods out there to help deal with routing issues found in the various worlds. These may help you as they have me, but it's not a cure-all. Check out a site called Mod The Sims, click on downlads>Sims3>Misc>Custom Worlds and CAS Screens and then look for a user named ellacharmed; she's fixed most of the routing issues found in the various hoods. Only thing is, to download anything, you have to join the site, but it and all the content there (which is created by other Sims players) is free.

That's not the problem. It's the sheer number of Sims in the neighborhood it has to calculate for and it doesn't do it in parallel. The gameclock freezes everytime there is a backlog of simulating to do. In the default neighborhood with no expansions, I seem to recall it only freezing at 4am on the game clock. In Paradise Isle with all expansions, there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it other than frequently. It is noticeably improved when your sim travels to another map (e.g. University, World Adventures) and returns when you get back to Paradise Isle.

And FYI, I have two of the most popular applications on MTS for The Sims 3.


I'd go with i3-4360 unless you play other games then I'd sacrifice Sims 3 performance for i5-4460. Most games these days that aren't made by EA make good use of multithreading. A dual-core could bottleneck them.

 

[Toothless]

The game's neighborhoods are notorious for having horrible routing issues (like, if for example, you have your sim out walking somewhere, and they suddenly stop and throw a fit about not being able to get where they need to go, that's a routing issue; the only exception to this is if you're trying to make them walk up a really steep hill, which they can't do anyway. The former is related to routing.) and there are mods out there to help deal with routing issues found in the various worlds. These may help you as they have me, but it's not a cure-all. Check out a site called Mod The Sims, click on downlads>Sims3>Misc>Custom Worlds and CAS Screens and then look for a user named ellacharmed; she's fixed most of the routing issues found in the various hoods. Only thing is, to download anything, you have to join the site, but it and all the content there (which is created by other Sims players) is free.

Ahem, back on topic.

Ok. I've narrowed it down to the G3258 (3.2 GHz stock) and learning how to OC the snot out of it, the i3-4360 (3.7 GHz stock) with hyper threading but no OC potential, or the i5-4460 (3.2 GHz stock) with four cores, but no HT and no OC potential. I should have mentioned this before (D'oh!) but I'd like to keep both the CPU and mobo cost below $300. What would you guys suggest from these 3?

In the meantime, I'll dabble in OCing with my FX. Any basic info I should know so I don't accidentally bork something?

Y'know the i5 is four solid cores and threads while the i3 is only two cores, but four threads?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116505

3.3 stock with a 3.7 turbo.

 

[Rowsol]

I bought a g3258 recently and it OC'ed to 3.8ghz by simply changing the multiplier to 38. I didn't touch any other settings. My GA-H81M-H gigabyte motherboard limits the voltage to 1.2v so 3.9ghz is unstable. With the stock cooler it peaks at 70c on Prime 95. For a budget combo h81 + g3258 can't be beat.

 

[Sempron Guy]

Since you already have the board and to avoid the hassle of changing platforms, just get an FX 8320. Although, I don't think Sims is pretty much particular to cpu performance. Your newly purchased 280x would still dictate your overall experience on the game.

 

[TRWOV]

You could give a go at overclocking but that board's VRM section is very poor (4+1 phases, D-PAK packages). so you might not get very far.

 

[Selen Bor]

1. defrag hdd using "defraggler" or buy ssd, clone using "Easeus Todo Backup Free 7.5"
2. uninstall graphics driver
3. reboot
4. download and run "ccleaner", tab registry
5. download and run "autoruns", check autostart entries
5. reboot
6. download & install newest graphics driver
7. reboot
8. delete deletable files in C:\Users\..\AppData\Local\Temp (where .. is your account name)

alternatively http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/685738.page or http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/779428/solved-game-lagging-and-stuttering-all-the-time

alternatively, try with only one graphics card installed, maybe SLI/Crossfire causes problems

great cpu is pentium g3258

 

[Toothless]

1. defrag hdd using "defraggler" or buy ssd, clone using "Easeus Todo Backup Free 7.5"
2. uninstall graphics driver
3. reboot
4. download and run "ccleaner", tab registry
5. download and run "autoruns", check autostart entries
5. reboot
6. download & install newest graphics driver
7. reboot
8. delete deletable files in C:\Users\..\AppData\Local\Temp (where .. is your account name)

alternatively http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/685738.page or http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/779428/solved-game-lagging-and-stuttering-all-the-time

alternatively, try with only one graphics card installed, maybe SLI/Crossfire causes problems

great cpu is pentium g3258

Really..? The constant rebooting won't help anything. I'd like an explanation for the 8 steps when this is clearly hardware-related.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

Ok. I've narrowed it down to the G3258 (3.2 GHz stock) and learning how to OC the snot out of it, the i3-4360 (3.7 GHz stock) with hyper threading but no OC potential, or the i5-4460 (3.2 GHz stock) with four cores, but no HT and no OC potential. I should have mentioned this before (D'oh!) but I'd like to keep both the CPU and mobo cost below $300. What would you guys suggest from these 3?

In the meantime, I'll dabble in OCing with my FX. Any basic info I should know so I don't accidentally bork something?

Sounds like you have a good plan. See what you can get out of the FX, which might be good enough. If that fails get the G3258.

The vrms are heatsinked but they are only 4+2 phases. So getting over 4ghz will be hard.. 1.39 vcore should get to around 4.2 ghz.

Make sure your BUS speed is at 200, and DRAM frequency at auto so ram doesnt get overclocked.
overclocking ram beyond its limits may cause the freezing/hanging keep it close to 1600Mhz.

With everything else at auto/stock, whatever your current settings, change the cpu multi to x20 for 4 ghz
and put the cpu vcore around 1.37 or 1.38.

Watch your temps. Run benchmarks, or play sims and see if it's better. If temps are low and stable start lowering vcore...or increase multi.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Thanks! I'll give this OCing thing a try.

 

[Toothless]

Thanks! I'll give this OCing thing a try.

If you can, put a fan over the VRM heatsink so it'll run cooler. Worked with my board but I'd be iffy on OCing with that board. Take it slow and try to keep the voltage down, and sure as hell not to 1.38 starting off. Bump the multi and see how it goes.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

I found this guide on Overclocking a bulldozer FX on the M5A97 board, but I'm assuming they're talking about the 990FX version of the board, whereas mine is on the 970 chipset.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1348623/amd-bulldozer-and-piledriver-overclocking-guide-asus-motherboard

They mention getting the CPU up to 4.0 GHz, but I think that's a bit much for me since I'm a newbie and all... It all sounds so intimidating, lol.