Help with Windows Vista 64 Bit and SimCity 4

[Timofo23 0]

Good afternoon everyone, I hope this isn't already fixed somewhere and I am just shooting in the dark but I really need some help and the search didn't help much.  Here is my issue. 

I just built a killer new system:
Intel Q6600 PCU
EVGA SLI Motherboard
2 EVGA GTX 260's in SLI
8 Gigabytes of G-Skill DDR3 ram
2 Barracuda HD in RAID 0
900 Watt PSU
1680x1050 LCD Monitor

My old computer ran SimCity 4 with no performance issues until my cities got very large.  I installed the game on my new system and right away ran into issues.  SLOW performance even with no population.  It is so slow that it is pretty much not playable.  Things that I tried:  reduced resolution, set all graphics settings to LOW.  The only thing that helped was changing the rendering to Software from Hardware.  This made the game playable but I built my new system to run games like this maxed out!  The environment looks very choppy in the Software rendering mode and doesn't have the luster that it should on my system.  I am running the game as adm and in comp. modes but this doesn't change anything.   This has been one of my favorite games of all time but I can't really get into it because of the horrible performance.  Please, someone help me!

Thanks in advance for any replies and your time.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Tim 

[Randomtaskk 1]

No idea whats wrong, but considering you have 2 GTC 260's in SLI you should have at least got a 1920x1200 monitor

[Mayor Pizza30324 0]

I have a pc like yours, and smetimes the game lags for me too. Usually I keep graphics around medium, but the game still is fast. Have you tried running it in combatibility mode? Also, I noticed my game lagged a lot when I first started it, but after running the game about 10 times, it really speed up.

[manubeas 0]

I got the same problem, but with a laptop. 4 gb of RAM and 64 bit vista. Just to move the camera around I had to wait about 2 mins. I'm also looking for an answer

[tungston 19]

The solutions I have seen on the forums are:

Disable A.I.

Use the game software rendering option.

I can't verify them, as I don't have the game installed on a 64 bit system.

[Random_ben7 0]

AFAIK, New gfx cards arent supported.

[blaster123456789 0]

Try reinstalling the game in the the 64 bit programs file. Not the x86. And then run it in Windows XP compatibility mode.

I have a laptop running vista 64 bit and I had the same problems. Now it works great.

Hope that helps.

[Randomtaskk 1]

Originally posted by: blaster123456789

Try reinstalling the game in the the 64 bit programs file. Not the x86. And then run it in Windows XP compatibility mode.

I have a laptop running vista 64 bit and I had the same problems. Now it works great.

Hope that helps.quote>

I would say try this as I have a pretty similar setup to you (better hardware plus Vista Ultimate x64) and my Simctiy runs fine from the Programs (x64) folder using hardware rendering.I didn't do anything other than that so not sure if compatability mode helps here.

[Timofo23 0]

Wow, thanks a bunch guys. I have been running SimCity 4 in compatability mode with no improvement in performance. I have not tried re-installing it into the 64 bit folder set but will tonight. I have a feeling doing this will help. Thanks again for all of your feedback, I really appreciate it.

[Defecto 44]

Originally posted by: blaster123456789

Try reinstalling the game in the the 64 bit programs file. Not the x86. And then run it in Windows XP compatibility mode.

I have a laptop running vista 64 bit and I had the same problems. Now it works great.

Hope that helps.quote>

Yes! I was thinking, I had the same problem as the OP and I couldn't for the life of me remember what the problem was. Then I checked where I have my SC4, and I also installed it into my normal program files (not the x86 which is the 64bit part). And indeed, it works pretty well right now.

I've tried so many things though. I remember it also seemed to happen when I had more trees on a map, so I installed a tree mod. Not sure if that made any difference though.

[Randomtaskk 1]

Originally posted by: Defecto

normal program files (not the x86 which is the 64bit part).

quote>

x86 is *not* the 64bit part.

x86 = 32 bit, i.e "Program Files (x86)" is for 32bit programs. "Program Files" is for 64bit programs.

[Defecto 44]

My bad then, it was how it was explained to me. It did however appear to fix the problem.

[Rave_Kidd 7]

WINDOWS 7 64-Bit Fix:

During installation change the location to C:\Program Files

DO NOT install in C:\Program Files(x86)

[CaptCity 4,752]

Please don't "bump" older threads. This was over two years old, and there's many newer ones on the same topic. Closed...