First: here are the specs for my computer.

So I have The Sims 1 with all EPs, The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection with about 5gb cc and The Sims 4 with all current add-ons and 1.3gb cc. They all work smoothly and I have no issues with them at all on my laptop. At initial startup TS4 loads in about a minute and TS2 loads in about 3-5 (TS1 is pretty much instant haha).

So then I have TS3 with all eps except Pets (I think) and 200mb of cc (all gameplay mods) and my game at initial startup takes about 20 minutes to load, it takes up to 20 minutes to load a world, CAS is so laggy its pretty much impossible, in-game is somewhat smooth though most of the time. I don't get it because if it was an issue with having a low-end computer, then why does TS4 run perfectly??? Also, if it's because of it being an old game, then how come TS2 and TS1 work basically perfectly (although I did need to download a fanmade patch to get the TS1 exe to work)???? It makes no sense to me.

So I've tried the whole deleting caches thing, I never let the caches get above around 10k somethingbites (cant remember if its mb or gb) if I can help it. Still slow. The cff file explorer thing to make the exe files use over 2gb memory. Still slow. Using low-medium graphic options. Still slow. I only have 1 save using Aurora Skies. Still slow. Does not matter if I'm playing Sunset Valley or Isla Paradiso aka Lag City. Still slow. Notice a pattern here???

TLDR I'm at my wit's end with this game. It's an awesome game and I like to play it as it has enjoyable features the other installments don't have, but I seriously cannot get it to run at any kind of manageable capacity. What really annoys me is seeing how so many people run this game so smoothly. What am I doing so wrong?? My laptop is hardly low-end and it's not even a year old. I can deal with a little bit of lag here and there or a loading screen that takes like 5 minutes or smth, that's fine. But it's barely playable it's that slow and I'm just really...... bothered.

And please try to be constructive if it is a hardware issue, just telling me to buy a new computer won't really help me. If it's a lost cause, please tell me straight :/

I know what you feel... I had full sims 1,2,3,4 with lots of cc and only TS3 was laggy... it's probably because of the game itself. Try to avoid launcher, delete your cache files and things in Downloads folder. I had 4gb RAM on my old computer and it was horrible but now I have 16gb RAM and it's better

I don't know about how everybody else deal with their TS3, but how I deal with all EPs/SPs and tons of mod installed, I don't use the original EA's worlds anymore, I use my own custom world I made or i use a completely redone EA's worlds (rerouting, destroy all the buildings roads etc and rebuild or redesign them again) to reduce the lag for my home world and my vacation worlds, and I also customized and repack all the Fullbuilds package files from TS3 installation folders with some of my mods I used in the game to make the game load faster when starting the game and when I'm in CAS mode. You might want to check this thread as it's been discussed before. Try to find some way to fit how you play the game and how it will suits your computer, use FPS limiter to protect your gpu and stay away from 1.69 version..

PS: Btw, you need to fix your laptop's link above, it's not working because it has double "http\http"

In addition to being borderline on the processor, the integrated graphics chip is an Intel Iris 6100. Those haven't been very common on Windows machines, we see much more of them on the Mac side. And TS3 has a history of hating that chip with a burning passion.

A DeviceConfig.log might help pinpoint something that can be adjusted and @Nitromon's suggestions look great. But I'm thinking that all EPs except Pets is going to be too much load for that combination to handle very well.

Here is my deviceconfig http://pastebin.com/LVy1vfpV
I'm not that good with the technical stuff w computers so I thought my laptop was powerful when I got it, but from what you are saying is it not very powerful ??? I'm kinda confused haha (probably bc i just wrote 2 huge assignments and it's super late and i need sleep but

I'll fix the link too

Something else that might help. (Since it helped me) Although my problem was not my PC.. Try merging your cc using S3PE - (There is a video on Youtube on how) and also if you don't already have them. Get familiar with the mods NRAAS/ Twallen team created to help with lag and junk from TS3. I literally could not play my game if it wasn't for "OverWatch" there are others, but if i had to pick "just one" That would be it! GOOD LUCK!! :D

Or you can use the guide i put together if videos aren't your style!

>>http://sstutler12.tumblr.com/post/1...3-package-files <<

Thank you so much for the help so far