simp4sims

Reduce stutters, reduce latency, increase FPS and increase responsiveness!

Added 2022-01-09 19:43:44 +0000 UTC

Sul Sul 👋

In this tutorial we’ll attempt to do several things. Reduce stutters, reduce latency, increase FPS and increase responsiveness. All done through some registry keys and a small 3rd party program.

We will mix and match the following commands:

bcdedit /set useplatformclock
bcdedit /set useplatformtick
bcdedit /set disabledynamictick
bcdedit /set tscsyncpolicy

The first 2 commands control High Precision Event Timer (HPET) and Synthetic Timers. Disabling these allows unrestricted I/O (input/output) between you and your computer. Resulting in raw data transfer to your machine! Everything feels more responsive and it will reduce micro-stuttering and screen tearing. Less delay should even afford a small FPS increase.

We’ll also disable Dynamic Tick which is a power saving feature that stops the system clock. And switch the TSCSyncPolicy (time stamp counter synchronisation policy).

The 3rd party software we’re going to install will set the desired timer resolution. It also allows us to set conditions which will purge Windows’ Standby List. The Standby List is beneficial but it can grow in size, filling up your RAM. Longer gaming sessions become laggy due to the Standby List hogging your resources. Windows should purge this list but it doesn’t. So we use this program to purge it when it meets certain conditions. More on this later!

Without any further waffling let’s get started!

Create a Restore Point! If you don’t know how, please refer to → This Article on Windows Central ← for details to enable, create and recover. There won’t be anything that goes wrong in this tutorial, but better safe than sorry. All the registry key changes have relevant commands to reset back to default. In case something still isn’t quite right, you can recover the restore point. Refer to the link again to see how to recover your Restore Point and revert the changes.

We’ll begin with the commands. Right-click on the Windows Start charm and choose Command Prompt (Admin). If you don’t see Command Prompt listed do not use PowerShell. Instead, press the Windows button on your keyboard and type “cmd”. The Best Match will be Command Prompt and you can choose “Run as administrator” on the right.

If at any point you get an error message, it likely means you are trying to set a value which is already set. Ignore the error and move onto the next step.

Disable HPET

Disabling HPET in this way will disable it within Windows, and this is the correct thing to do! But, an HPET option will exist in your BIOS which should be enabled. On a lot of newer machines this setting won’t even exist and is enabled by default, always. Even if your computer is older it’s still likely this setting is enabled by default.

Run Command Prompt as administrator
Copy the Clear Value command between the arrows
Paste the value into Command Prompt and hit Enter/Return
Quit out of Command Prompt
Restart your computer

―Clear Value―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /deletevalue useplatformclock
↑↑↑↑↑↑

If your computer stutters after restarting then it means HPET is disabled in your BIOS. In this case you need to access your BIOS and find the setting. Refer to → This Article on Windows Central ← for details. Once in there you’ll need to find the setting yourself, BIOS’s come in all shapes and sizes so it’s not demonstrable.

Disable Synthetic Timers

Run Command Prompt as administrator
Copy the Disable command between the arrows
Paste the value into Command Prompt and hit Enter/Return
Quit out of Command Prompt
Restart your computer

―Disable―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /set useplatformtick yes
↑↑↑↑↑↑

―Default―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /deletevalue useplatformtick
↑↑↑↑↑↑

Start off by disabling Synthetic Timers. If you notice stuttering after restarting then restore the default. Run the default command and restart again.

Disable Dynamic Tick

Run Command Prompt as administrator
Copy the Disable command between the arrows
Paste the value into Command Prompt and hit Enter/Return
Quit out of Command Prompt
Restart your computer

―Disable―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes
↑↑↑↑↑↑

―Default―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /deletevalue disabledynamictick
↑↑↑↑↑↑

This command is very hardware dependant. It should help the majority of people but in some cases it may do the opposite. Start off by disabling Dynamic Tick. If you notice stuttering after restarting then restore the default. Run the default command and restart again.

Time Stamp Counter Synchronisation Policy

Run Command Prompt as administrator
Copy either the Legacy or the Enhanced command between the arrows
Paste the value into Command Prompt and hit Enter/Return
Quit out of Command Prompt
Restart your computer

―Legacy―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /set tscsyncpolicy legacy
↑↑↑↑↑↑

-OR-

―Enhanced―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /set tscsyncpolicy enhanced
↑↑↑↑↑↑

―Default―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /deletevalue tscsyncpolicy
↑↑↑↑↑↑

In most cases the enhanced policy will likely see better results. Depending on the edited registry keys and your hardware, you may benefit using legacy. My advice is to try both. Try legacy first, then switch to enhanced, restart, and see if it’s better or worse.

With the right combination of keys for your setup you should notice a boost. The mouse feels snappier and more accurate and everything is quicker to respond. Note that this will affect your whole system, not only The Sims 4. Your whole experience on your computer will benefit!

Next, install that 3rd party program I mentioned. It’s called Intelligent Standby List Cleaner from the famous Wagnard! Do some Googling about the developer and the program! But to keep this short, simply → Click This Link ← and the .exe (executable) will start downloading.

The program runs as portable, which means it won’t install itself like most other programs do. We want this program to start up every time we logon so save it somewhere you won’t delete it. I recommend the Documents folder or Program Files. Best to create a folder called ISLC and save the .exe in there. Then right-click on the file and run as administrator.

A small window will appear. On the right hand side of the window click the [ Stop ] button.

At the top-right of the window you will see “Current timer resolution” and “Maximum timer resolution”. Both of these values should be set to 0.5ms after the registry edits. If not we can enforce this in the “Wanted timer resolution” field. Make sure to select “Enable custom timer resolution”.

After enabling custom timer resolution the “Wanted timer resolution” field will be editable. In the box type 0.5. Add this whether it shows 0.5ms at the top or not.

Moving over to the left hand side, at the top you will see “Total system memory” which is your available RAM. This is the raw value available to the program, not the advertised amount. The values should be similar but the discrepancy is important to point out.

What you want to do is ignore the last 3 digits. In the screenshot it shows 16343, ignoring the last 3 digits I get 16. Take this value, divide it by 2 and then multiply by 1024. This will give us half of our advertised RAM.

16 ÷ 2 = 8
8 × 1024 = 8192

4xxx will be 2048
6xxx will be 3072
8xxx will be 4096
12xxx will be 6144
16xxx will be 8192
24xxx will be 12288
32xxx will be 16384

Moving onto the conditions to purge the Standby List.
The first block should be set to [ 1024 ]
The next block should be set to the calculated value, for me [ 8192 ]

Make sure to select both the checkboxes at the bottom-left. This is why we moved the executable to Documents or Program Files earlier. So that it can start up when you logon.

Don’t forget to click the [ Start ] button on the right after changing the values. Then click the minimise icon at the top-right of the window, do not close this program!

When minimised it should appear in your task bar at the bottom-right as a green graph. Make sure this icon is there when your computer starts up. The program uses negligible system resources. Running in the background to purge the Standby List and force the Timer Resolution to 0.5

A final bonus! If your system starts to feel sluggish you can purge the Standby List manually. Open ISLC by clicking the icon in the taskbar. At the top-middle, click the [ Purge Standby list ] button. Then minimise the program again.