Is not that is ok or not ok to exceed the max ram capacity, but you just can't exceed it, from motherboard's side it just seems like its exceeded from what it was written or suggested by the manufacturer.. but it's not, the one that has been confirmed by the processor capability.. it is the maximum of how much RAM it can handle, so it can't exceed its processor capability.

As long as you replaced her old DDR3 with another DDR3 rams, it won't damage her computer, but guarantee of having an issue or not that can not be guaranteed, because some of ram's chips do have some compatibility issue (though most of them are ok), that's why there's qualified vendor list for rams if you check in your motherboard's manual or her laptop's manual book.



The correct one would be the one from processor, because it's already been tested of its capability in its production process before it's been launched to the public, but to have your processor running in your computer.. you need a motherboard, otherwise any processor (even the most expensive one) would be useless hehe..

Therefore we also need to have a look from motherboard's side, motherboard has always been.. have class or rank in its line-up for its compatible processors, this class or rank are based on its chipset, and since the 2nd and 3rd gen Core i3/5/7 series are made to be fit in the same socket, it has wide range line-up of chipset, from H61 up to Z77 chipset

If your motherboard's chipset is the top end in its line-up then usually it has no problem running at the maximum ram as the processor can run it, but if your motherboard is the lowest rank in its line-up it may be can or won't run at all if you tried to put the max amount of ram its processor can handle, this sometime can be tweak with upgrading its BIOS but not all will work because it also depends on ram's chip compatibility from the RAM manufacturer as I already mentioned above, some may be able to run them at processor's maximum size of rams and some reach its limitation.

So there are few possibilities why it was recommended by your laptop manufacturer to have only installed 8gb as its maximum, maybe the motherboard's chipset don't support as much as its processor supports it, or you may likely to have some compatibility issue because of it (whether it's from the motherboard itself or from the type of chips used in the rams module), or at the time when the laptop was launched the 8gb module was not in the market yet (as it was in my case).



nope.. I just answered it at the above, and the 2nd gen i5 is surely can handle 8gb sticks maximum at 16gb (2x8gb dual channels), but you may need some BIOS update to support your motherboard and you may also need to check what chips were installed in your module, just don't use cheap rams if you're planning to max out your laptop

So I finally ordered my RAM and when I get it (it'll probably get here before this party invite screen stops loading) I plan to get it installed. So, how much of an improvement in performance should I expect to see?

@nitromon I didn't know you can do that. I don't want to sound like a noob but if you don't mind, could you please link a tutorial?

For now, I'm going to bed. Going to bed after waiting 20+ minutes for my game to save, of course, so my laptop has a nice little green piece of construction paper on the monitor so I don't have to deal with it. See why I'm updating my RAM?

@nitromon my save game wasn't so bad until I dumbly decided to let my sim go to university. Maybe for future games I ought to invest some world space and time into making an in-world college for my sims to attend.

Speaking of that, how would my specs work with create a world? My old nvidia GeForce Go 7950 GTX has this white terrain glitch that made it impossible to work in CAW and causes some graphical annoyances in the game itself, but the Intel card doesn't have that glitch. So maybe there is hope!

Unfortunately for CAW, you'll need FPS limiter for both when you editing or creating your new world and when you're in edit in game (EIG) mode, so let's say you have FPS limiter installed for CAW, it will work for CAW, but not when you're in EIG, because CAW will launch TS3 engine game, this will need a separate FPS limiter, in my own experience, I used Nvidia Inspector set up for CAW.exe, TS3.exe, TS3W.exe and all related ones like the launcher.

If you only have FPS limiter for your Intel HD to run CAW, it will work when you're in CAW, but when you're in EIG, you can check it the same way when you're playing the game itself, just hit cheat box Ctrl+Shift+C and type "FPS On" without the quotes, and you'll see the FPS number on your top right screen, without another FPS running or in my case Nvidia Inspector, it would have jumped up to more than 30 fps (30 fps is the max I used to set it up as max FPS) when in EIG.

So just as reminder since you'll be run it in your new laptop, try not to load EIG while in CAW, unless you find a way to make FPS limiter work when you need to run EIG in CAW

@PapaEmy

I don't have the "FPS limiter" program because it doesn't work with 1.69. I use a setting on the Intel drivers that forces FPS to a max of 60. So, is that safe for CAW?

I know that's what your main problem with 1.69 and that's why you started this thread, but my point above is especially for CAW as you mentioned to use CAW, regardless your CAW is 1.69 compatible or 1.67 compatible, when you're in CAW and then you launched EIG, the TS3 that ran in CAW, is running without FPS limiter, apart from the CAW itself.

I don't really know if Intel drivers can forces FPS to a max of 60 or so, in Nvidia Inspector once you make a profile, and in the profile you includes CAW.exe, TS3.exe, TS3W.exe, S3Launcher.exe, Sims3Launcher.exe and Sims3LauncherW.exe to the profile, any or all of those exe files will be run with FPS limited to the max amount of FPS you've set, regardless how the exe file(s) were launched, I don't know if the Intel drivers can do the same function as Nvidia Inspector, but to be safe.., you can always check it while you're in EIG mode by opening the cheatbox Ctrl+Shift+C and then type "FPS On", if the FPS number on top right of your screen don't go above number you've set, then it's working, otherwise just exit EIG or CAW altogether, find another way how to limit your FPS under EIG mode in CAW..

@PapaEmy

My Intel HD FPS limiter is set for the default on all programs. So CAW would be included. That's the only way I could do it at the moment since it's by forcing vSync. Also, I haven't actually installed CAS yet. Just was wondering if it would be worth it to bother.

Also I finally got my RAM updated and I don't know how I played before. Save times went down from 20+ minutes to 3-5 minutes. Of course, it'll be faster if I upgrade my SSD or put some of my files on a RamDisk. But I have a question: how would a RamDisk survive when turning the computer off if RAM is cleared after a shutdown? I don't want to use RamDisk for my sims if I have to configure it every time I play.

@nitromon

That is really helpful, thanks. You're talking about the simplified tutorial and not the customizable one, right?

EDIT: I made my ramdisk but I have some questions and statements.

1. The process used for the thumbnails folder didn't work, so j had to make the symlink in the same process that simcompositorcache.package and compositorcache.package had their symbolic links made for each individual thumbnail file.

2. Is it normal for the RAM usage by my RAMdisk to not show up in control panel?

@nitromon

Thank you. Did you see the question from my edits?

Well you can always check your FPS while in game anyway to make sure your FPS limiter is working or not, as for the CAW, I found it very useful to make permanent changes I need in editing my world, but I also heard for 1.69, you'll need a different version of CAW that compatible with 1.69, here's the link to both of CAW 1.67 and 1.69: http://www.thesims3.com/game/tools/world

As for RAMDisk, I have ROG Ramdisk installed for my RAMDisk, it's more easier for me to set it up the way I need it to run (though my laptop is not an Asus, ROG is from Asus and my laptop is Lenovo), but I'm not currently running it for TS3 at the moment, because it won't run the game under Win10, I don't know why and I'm still looking for the cause, it was ok in Win7 but somehow it just don't work for TS3 after I moved to Win 10 though it's still working for other games or programs.

@nitromon

1. I did it exactly as typed except replacing the user name and drive letter with my own. It didn't work, it gave me a "cannot create file that already exists" error. So I did it the more tedious way.

2. The RamDisk technically uses 1024 MB of ram. However, when I view my RAM usage by program in control panel, no program takes up 1024 MB of RAM. So, is control panel just not able to mention that RAM usage? If so, I need to manually take that into account when figuring how my free amount of RAM.

3. I put the thumbnails, compositor cache, and sim compositor cache in my RamDisk and have 813 MB left on it. In order of priority, which files should I move to my RamDisk first? Thanks.

@nitromon

Yes, I forgot to delete the old folder. That's what it was, lol!

So with the max size of the caches, I don't need to put any more files into the RamDisk?

@nitromon

My homeworlds vary. I am starting a family in Appaloosa Plains, I have one going in Sunset Valley, and I have a sim in Sims University. However, my uni sim's home world is Lucky Palms.

Will I still have slightly better performance if I don't move the custom world caches? I am not sure I will have room in my RamDisk once all the worlds are used. Is it ok to move just the ones with saves in them at the moment?