More Awesome Than You!

I did a search and could not find any posts that describe my problem, but if I missed it, I apologize.

I just did a fresh install of Windows 7 and Sims 3 and Sims 3 WA.  I have absolutely no mods and no custom content installed (not even store stuff) and I am fully patched.  My computer stats are below.  I took my Carmen Sandiego sim to France and about 10 minutes into the Celtic Ruins I started experiencing random freezing - about every 1-3 seconds.  It happens regardless of the size of the lot, number of sims on the lot or what the sim is doing.  I have tried rebooting, reinstalling and every voodoo chant I know.  Any ideas on how to fix this?

Intel Duo Core 6850
4.00 GB Ram
ATI Radeon 3870

Hi hi,

     Okay, I'm no computer tecchie, and I'm not that knowledgeable about various computer specs and requirements. But as no one else has replied yet, I figured I'd throw in my two cents worth. (Better than nothing?)

    You said your "Computer stats are below" Do you mean they don't all meet the minimum requirements? If so, you've kinda answered yourself what the problem was. And the answers to such a problem are as simple as upgrading your computer. (My apologies, I failed to make the connection!)

     Again, I don't know very much about specs... you said you have 4gb ram, my game plays just fine with 2, what about your video card? Does it have enough ram? and if so is it integrated? (I've learned it makes a bit of a difference) Mine was really outdated, and my game would get laggy all the time. Just bought a new one and all runs smoothly now.

     If you're thinking this is a game issue, than do you notice any patterns with the lag? i.e. do the freezes occur around midnight to 1am or so? If the answer is yes, then do a forum search on the "1am freeze" It's been a common problem people have been experiencing, and there have been many posts on the subject.

     Other than that, with the info you provided, I can't think of anything else to say that might help, other than to try lowering your graphics settings a bit.

No.  She means that she provided them below the main body of her post.

I am running P4, 2 Gb RAM, and the ATI 3870.  No serious lag so far.  Might the problem be Windoze7?
Also, Gelina, are you disabling unnecessary processes before running the game?

     Thank you for the correction, it seems so obvious now, don't know how I missed it.  Anyways, just in case it's any help, Here's a link to another thread where someone seemed to have a similar problem. Their computer appeared just fine but was still getting lag. http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=17410.0 (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=17410.0)  Gnatgosplat posted some suggestions if they might help.

I'm finding that the in-game lag is horrendous in areas other than loading the game.  I just tried to move a sim fambly into Sunset Valley and the "processing" screen was on for 10 minutes, long enough that I just shut it down from the task manager.

TS3 was using only 7% of my CPU and not even 1 GB of my 3 GB's of RAM.  My video card is ATI Radeon 4800 (Pentium Dual Core E5200 CPU at 2.5 MHz for anyone wondering about my processor); and more importantly, there were no real pre-patch speed problems outside of the common long saves-- and my save times, which at one point had been 10 minutes, had long since been 2 minutes, so even they weren't horribly slow. 

I had Error 12/13 crap and the occasional crash, but no major speed problems, which I think shows my computer should run the game and that the patch, or the interaction with it, is the problem.