 showing TXT , the system has the extensions hidden. And you would need to unhide them.

, the system has the extensions hidden. And you would need to unhide them. If you had to save the 2 files to Desktop, copy+paste them back into the <install path>\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin folder.

Answer the UAC security window with a "Yes".

After you've tested the game in the next steps, and things are OK, and you didn't get crashings or other issues, these files on the Desktop can be deleted or if you like you can Archive (or backup) to your external drive.





Load up game

Start up the game to test!

Click the Restore Defaults button to see the difference.

button to see the difference. Here are my two before and after settings side-by-side, on EA's Default settings as per the rules in the GraphicsRules.sgr file.



And the new DeviceConfig.log file after the game is set using its default settings for the HD 7800 with uber graphic rules. So you can compare with the version at the beginning of this guide when it wasn't recognized.

=== Rating info === GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 4 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 3064 Threading: 3 Adjusted CPU: 3686 RAM: 6142 Adjusted RAM: 5630 Cores: 4 : : === Graphics device info === Number: 0 Name (driver): AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series Name (database): AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series [Found: 1, Matched: 1]

If there are no differences in the DeviceConfig.log file (you should get the Found:1 now), or the game did not refresh it. Quit the game without saving and do the clean-up steps in Windows Explorer as shown in the steps below.

now), or the game did not refresh it. Quit the game without saving and do the clean-up steps in Windows Explorer as shown in the steps below. If it still shows Found:0, do the clean up below as well. You might also want to discard your edited version and edit the files all over again from the start.





In Windows Explorer

If the images still appear "off", clean up some files as follows: refresh the cache files and thumbnails, delete the Options.ini, and delete the DeviceConfig.log

Load game to test again.





Dual graphics

If you have a processor with an integrated graphics chip and also a separate dedicated GPU, you have a dual-graphics setup. First of all, you have to ensure that Sims 3 is using the dedicated GPU instead of the integrated. Guide: Two Graphics Cards? How to make Sims stop using the integrated one has the instructions if you don't know how.

Warning: If you have dual-GPU, the deviceconfig.log report is no longer accurate. Just go by the GPU vendor's Control Panel's report when you have the game running. If that panel shows TS3W is using the dedicated GPU, then you're good to go. You can safely ignore whatever the deviceconfig.log claims.





What's Next

Well, did it work? Do you get better graphics? Yay! Case closed!

If not, and if you need help with the guide or have questions, post in Sims 3 Q&A Help Forum. Before you post in Help, please ready the answers to the questions below and then copy and paste the questions and include your response in your post.

What is the base game's patch version? Game Help:TS3 Patching Find_Gameversion Do you have dual GPUs? Have you made sure Sims 3 is using the dedicated one as shown in Guide: Two Graphics Cards? How to make Sims stop using the integrated one guide? Those with dual GPUs, do you add both of the GPUs in the sgr files or just the dedicated one? And ignoring the DeviceConfig.log file totally? Rather, you should rely on your card's Control Panel If the edits still don't change the defaults when you click on Restore defaults, tweak the Option sliders yourself and Quit. Then next time you load the game, check if the previous settings were overwritten and goes back to being low or has your tweaks been retained? If you need guidance on what strings to add where, please ready the Vendor and Device IDs by locating them from the various methods mentioned above. And include both information in your post.

Acknowledgements