Fix: Sims 4 Video Card Error

The Sims 4 is not just one of the popular social simulation video games but also indicates quality life lessons on how it should be for someone in most cases. Although the game has been doing pretty well so far in the gaming community since it was released back in 2014, obviously there are a couple of bugs and issues present that we can’t deny. Meanwhile, it seems that plenty of The Sims 4 players are having the video card error notice on their PCs while startup.

Already there are several bugs and errors troubling a lot of players in The Sims 4 which are related to the game startup like crashes, graphical glitches, hiccups, stutters, etc. But this time the video card error is pretty much defining that it’s related to the graphics card that you’re using on the computer. Talking about the video card error in The Sims 4, it mostly occurs due to an incompatible GPU card that either becomes outdated or doesn’t meet the system requirements of the game.

So, ensure to check the system requirements of the game before installing it on the PC to ensure that the game will be able to run smoothly or not. Obviously, there are some other reasons applicable too. Now, if you’re also one of the victims to encounter such an issue at your end then make sure to follow this troubleshooting guide to fix it. Here we’ve shared a couple of possible workarounds that should come in handy. So, you don’t need to worry.

Fix: Sims 4 Video Card Error

If we take a quick look at the specific error message, it says “Can’t run The Sims 4 with the video card in this system. Please check that the video card meets the minimum specifications and that the latest video drivers are installed.” The chances are high that an outdated graphics driver, an outdated game version, an outdated Windows, conflicts with the corrupted or missing game files, problems with the Origin client, temporary glitches on the machine, etc trigger such an error.

As this error appears while trying to launch The Sims 4 game, it’s better to check out all the mentioned methods one by one until the problem gets fixed. Now, without wasting any more time, let’s jump into it.

1. Check the System Requirements of The Sims 4

First of all, you should check the system requirements of The Sims 4 game properly to ensure that your PC is compatible enough to run this game or not. If your PC hardware or even software is not compatible then make sure to upgrade the necessary aspects before installing or playing the game. Here we’ve shared the minimum and recommended system requirements of The Sims 4 game so that you can check the details easily.

Minimum Requirements:

• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+
• RAM: 2 GB
• OS: Windows XP
• VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or ATI Radeon X1300 or Intel GMA X4500
• PIXEL SHADER: 3.0
• VERTEX SHADER: 3.0
• SOUND CARD: Yes
• FREE DISK SPACE: 10 GB
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 128 MB

Recommended Requirements:

• CPU: Intel Core i5-750 or AMD Athlon X4
• RAM: 4 GB
• OS: 64 Bit Windows 7, 8, or 8.1
• VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 or better
• PIXEL SHADER: 5.0
• VERTEX SHADER: 5.0
• SOUND CARD: Yes
• FREE DISK SPACE: 10 GB
• DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 1024 MB

2. Run The Sims 4 as an Administrator

The second thing you should do is run The Sims 4 game on your PC as an administrator to ensure there is no issue or conflict with the game running on the Windows system due to system permissions. After giving the admin access to the specific game or program, the User Account Control (UAC) system will be able to run the application without any permission issues.

• Right-click on The Sims 4 application on your PC.
• Select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.

• Make sure to click on the Run this program as an administrator checkbox to checkmark it.
• Click on Apply and select OK to save changes.
• Once done, it’s recommended to reboot the PC to apply changes.

Note: If you’re using a client like an Origin or Epic Games Launcher then we’ll suggest you do the same steps for the specific game client as well to avoid launching and GPU errors.

3. Update The Sims 4

It’s better to always keep checking the game updates at your end manually and install the latest version to avoid potential in-game errors, bugs, glitches, and other security risks involved. Whereas an outdated game application can eventually prone to launching failures and low performance whatsoever.

For Epic Games Launcher:

• Open the Epic Games Launcher > Head over to Library.
• Now, click on the three dots icon next to The Sims 4.
• Turn On the Auto Update option.

For Origin:

• Open the Origin client > Log into the valid account.
• Now, head over to My Game Library > Right-click on The Sims 4.
• Make sure to check for updates and install the available version.
• Once done, simply close the client, and reboot the PC.

4. Verify and Repair The Sims 4 Files

Well, you should also check the integrity of the installed game files on your PC and repair them by following the steps below. It eventually scans and repairs the game files on the machine to ensure there is no issue with the game launching or other potential bugs.

For Origin:

• Launch the Origin client > Go to My Game Library.
• Right-click on The Sims 4 game > Click on Repair.
• If prompted, confirm the task > Wait for the process to complete.
• Once done, close the Origin client > Reboot your computer.
• Finally, open Origin again, and run The Sims 4 to check for the issue.

For Epic Games Launcher:

• Open the Epic Games Launcher > Click on Library.
• Now, click on the three-dots icon next to The Sims 4.
• Click on Verify > Wait for it to complete.
• Finally, restart the system, and check for the issue.

5. Check for Graphics Driver Updates

It seems that multiple issues on the PC games can appear due to the outdated GPU driver version. Make sure to check for updates and install the latest one to run video games without any lags or graphical errors on the PC. To do that:

• Press the Win+X keys to open the Quick Link Menu.
• Now, click on Device Manager from the list.
• Double-click on the Display adapters to expand the list.
• Now, right-click on the dedicated graphics card > Select Update Driver.
• Choose Search automatically for updated driver software.
• The system will automatically search for the latest drivers.
• If there is an update available, it’ll automatically download and install the update.
• Wait for some time to install the update and reboot the PC manually.
• Finally, run The Sims 4 game, and check for the issue.

Alternatively, you can directly go to the respective graphics card website and download the latest graphics driver version for your PC/Laptop. So, if you’re using the Nvidia graphics card then update the GeForce Experience app on your PC from the Nvidia official site here. But if you’re using the AMD graphics card on your system, then update the latest AMD Drivers from here. Intel graphics card users can visit here.

6. Update Windows

It’s needless to say that an outdated Windows OS build can always occur multiple system performance-related issues apart from the program launching issues. Well, such issues or conflicts may be vast at times like startup crashes, lags, FPS drops, graphical glitches, black screen, GPU errors, and more. So, you can follow the steps below to update Windows.

• Press the Win+I keys to open up the Windows Settings menu.
• Now, click on Update & Security > Click on Check for Updates under the Windows Update section.
• If there is the latest version available, it’ll automatically update the system.
• Meanwhile, you can manually click on Download and Install.
• Wait for the update process to be completed.
• Once done, restart the PC to apply changes.

7. Disable Origin in Game for The Sims 4

The Origin in-game overlay system or application on your Windows computer might ruin the gaming experience in some scenarios and mostly it happens when plenty of background tasks running on the system. Eventually, the in-game Origin overlay process will also play a major role to reduce the system performance and thus the ongoing gaming application can go through a lot of issues.

If your PC isn’t that powerful to handle plenty of background tasks, it’s better to turn off Origin in-game overlay bu following the steps below.

• Launch the Origin client on your computer.
• Go to My Game Library.
• Right-click on The Sims 4 game > Select Properties.
• Under the General tab, click on Disable Origin in Game for this game to uncheck the box.
• Then click on Apply to save changes > Now, right-click on the Origin menu from the top left corner.
• Click on Go Offline > Close the Origin client and restart the PC.
• Finally, open the Origin client, right-click on the Origin menu then select Go Online.

8. Run The Sims 4 in Windowed Mode

There are several reports claiming that running The Sims 4 game on the PC in the windowed display mode did fix the GPU-related error quite easily. If your PC isn’t powerful enough then we’ll recommend you run The Sims 4 in windowed mode to avoid graphical glitches. You can try checking this option.

Don’t worry because you can easily go back to the full-screen display mode once again after rebooting the game or directly from the in-game screen by pressing the Alt+Enter keys. Otherwise, you can follow the steps below to forcefully run The Sims 4 game in windowed display mode.

• Launch the Origin client > Go to My Game Library.
• Now, right-click on The Sims 4 game > Go to Properties.
• Click on Advanced Launch Options > Type -w in the Command line arguments field.
• Click on Save to apply changes and run The Sims 4 game again to check for the video card error.

9. Try Performing a Power Cycle Method on Router

Sometimes only rebooting the game or device or switching the internet connection may not be useful because there might be an issue with the Wi-Fi router. In that scenario, performing the power cycle on your Wi-Fi router can also fix the internet connectivity-related issues completely. To do that:

• Turn off the router first > Once the LED indicators stopped, unplug the power cable from the router.
• Now, wait for around 30 seconds, and then plug back the power cable into the router.
• Turn on the router and check for The Sims 4 video card error.

10. Run The Sims 4 in Compatibility Mode

Sometimes turning off the fullscreen optimizations by the Windows system for your specific game application file should fix the compatibility issues for some PCs. Though it comes disabled by default, you should cross-check it to ensure that the fullscreen optimization isn’t enabled. To do this:

• Go to the installed The Sims 4 directory on the PC.
• Right-click on The Sims 4 application > Click on Properties.
• Go to the Compatibility tab > Click on the Run this program in compatibility mode for checkbox to enable it.
• Select Windows 8 or Windows 7 from the list > Click on Apply and then OK to save changes.

11. Use Maximum Performance in Graphics Card Settings

Another thing you can do is simply follow the steps below to configure maximum performance mode in the Nvidia graphics card settings manually to get better performance in gaming. Some reports did mention that this specific workaround fixed the video card error temporarily. So, you can also try it out.

• Right-click on the blank desktop screen to open the context menu.
• Now, click on NVIDIA Control Panel from the list to open it.
• Click on Manage 3D Settings from the left side menu.
• Next, click on the Program Settings tab.
• Then click on Add > Select The Sims 4 application exe file. [If not available, click on Browse & add it]
• Under the Specify the settings for this program option, click on Power management mode.
• Set it to Prefer maximum performance > Click on Apply to save changes.
• Finally, reboot the PC to apply changes.

12. Adjust Nvidia Control Panel Settings

Additionally, you should try adjusting the Nvidia Control Panel Settings menu by following the steps below to ensure there is no configuration issue with the graphics card settings which leads to The Sims 4 video card error.

• Launch the Nvidia Control Panel from the Start menu by searching for it.
• Now, click on Manage 3D Settings > Go to Global Settings.
• You should adjust some of the following features that might boost performance:
  • Image Sharpening – OFF
  • Threaded Optimization – ON
  • Use Maximum Performance for Power Management
  • Low Latency Mode – OFF
  • Set Texture Filtering Quality to Performance mode

13. Try Disabling in-game Mods

It’s worth mentioning that in-game mods are quite useful for enhancing the gameplay experience and keep living the interest in specific games. Well, The Sims 4 is one of them, and adding third-party mods can be very interesting to keep playing this game for years and years. But sometimes third-party mods in the game files can become frustrating due to the performance decrease, lags, stutters, occasional crashes, other graphical glitches, and more.

You should try disabling all in-game mods and try playing the game again. You can follow the steps below to do so:

• Press the Win+E keys to open File Explorer on the PC.
• Locate The Sims 4 installation directory and open it.
• Now, locate the Sims 4 Mods folder.
• Select the Mods folder > Click on the Move to option.
• Next, select Desktop inside the Move to drop-down menu.
• Finally, reboot the PC to check for the error again.

14. Reinstall the Origin Client [EA App for Windows]

If none of the methods worked for you then make sure to uninstall the reinstall the Origin client on the PC by following the steps below. Though reinstalling the application isn’t a good idea, there is nothing you can do except for this last workaround if you’ve already tried all the above methods. However, you can wait for the game developers to release a patch fix update, there will be no estimated timeframe for that.

• Click on the Windows icon on the taskbar to open the Start menu.
• Now, search for Control Panel, and open it.
• Click on Uninstall a program > Click on Origin from the list to select it.
• Next, select Uninstall and confirm the on-screen prompts.
• Click on Uninstall again and go through the delete process.
• Again click on Uninstall from the Origin Uninstall interface.
• Wait for the client to get uninstalled and then click on Finish to close.
• Then reboot the PC to apply changes and visit this official EA webpage to download the EA App for PC.

Please Note: EA App is the official client for EA-specific games on Windows. It’s a successor to Origin.

• So, once you download the EA App on Windows, run the installer, and install the EA App.
• Open the EA App > Log in to the valid account and install The Sims 4 by following the on-screen instructions.
• You’re good to go. Enjoy!

That’s it, guys. We hope this guide was useful to you. Feel free to ask in the comment below for additional queries.