Help Please! Ok, so here's the problem, my game will run smoothly and great after I just start up my computer after It's been off for awhile but then after I've been playing the game for about one sim day It will slow down to unplayable proportions and then if I just wait about ten-fifteen minutes it will unfreeze and work fine until it does it again. It seems to only happen in a family of three or larger. Also, when I feel the top of the hard drive it feels very warm. Here are my specs: Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519) System Manufacturer: eMachines, Inc. System Model: L7VMM Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2000+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.7GHz Memory: 512MB RAM Page File: 149MB used, 1100MB available DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Manufacturer: NVIDIA Chip type: GeForce FX 5200 I'm not sure what's needed, but there it is. Please give me advice
It sounds like your system may be losing ability due to heat problems. If your computer (especially your CPU, Video card and hard drive) isoverheating, you'll notice that it loses efficiency fairly quickly. You can also get more crashing if your system is overheating. (Which would explain why your game plays for a while, then freezes, but after sitting a bit starts to be playable again.) The more Sims you have on a lot, the more work your computer has to do, which results in more heat production. I still remember when computers (which was a major problem which probably kept PCs from being developed sooner) had to be in a freezing cold room. And one of the reasons why they can't get the CPUs to function at faster than 3.8 or so is because of heat issues. (If the CPU is kept below 0 degrees, you can get it to go faster, but at room temperature, even with heat sinks and fans, you can't get even the best CPU to go faster than 3.8 or so. And those are the CPUs which are the best that can be made currently.) So, you should either check your bios yourself, or if you don't know how, have your computer technician do it, and see if your system temperature (especially your CPU temperatures) are staying in the proper range for good function. (Explaining how to do this if you don't know how is beyond the scope of this website, as messing with the Bios when you don't know what you are doing can ruin your system.) Some things that can help if they are over heating is making sure that all air vents in your system are unblocked. (Ie. make sure that you don't have it in a corner, against a wall, have things on top or laying on the sides, etc. which might be decreasing your computer's cooling ability. They shouldn't be boxed in.) Also make sure that the cooling units (fans) are working properly.
