[SOLVED] All 4 drives are > 10x as slow on current MoBo

Apr 20, 2021
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When I was in the process of investigating an audio pop/crackle issue, I performed a system benchmark.
The results are here: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/41764053

As you can see, all my 4 drives perform in the 0th percentile. My SSD's have trouble reaching 50MB/s speeds when they should handle 550MB/s.
Even if cables were the issue (which they're not), they should still outperform those results. One of them is an M.2 as well which doesn't even use the SATA cable.

Recently I plugged the M.2 SSD (which contains my OS as well) into my laptop, and the drive performed perfectly. This leads me to believe the drives, as well as any settings or software from my OS, are fine.
I suspect something is wrong with the motherboard, but I have no idea what specifically. I think it's likely it's a hardware defect, but I'm still hoping it's a driver or compatibility issue.

Things I've tried:
  • Reinstall SATA drivers (as well as every other motherboard drivers)
  • Both remove and reinstall Intel Rapid Storage Technology
  • Clear the drives to about half-full
  • Check disk health (everything seemed fine)
  • double-check BIOS is in AHCI mode
  • disable power-management
  • reset CMOS
  • updated BIOS
I'm very suspicious about the fact that it affects all 4 drives equally (one M.2, one SSD, and two HDDs), and the M.2 worked fine in another PC.
Is there anything else I can try to do, or is my motherboard screwed?

Here's another benchmark of the M.2 SSD: the one that performed well was when it was plugged into the laptop, the others are when it is in my desktop as normal

jTpMGDz.png
 
I'm very suspicious about the fact that it affects all 4 drives equally (one M.2, one SSD, and two HDDs), and the M.2 worked fine in another PC.
Is there anything else I can try to do, or is my motherboard screwed?
Boot into safe mode and redo your benchmarks.

Userbenchmark shows high background cpu utilization. Probably it is causing additional storage activity also.

 
Apr 20, 2021
16
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Boot into safe mode and redo your benchmarks.

Userbenchmark shows high background cpu utilization. Probably it is causing additional storage activity also.


Allright, I did the benchmark again in Safe Mode, but the results are the same unfortunately.
M7u5Cdt.png

from top to bottom:
  • safe mode benchmark
  • normal benchmark
  • benchmark in different PC
 
Apr 20, 2021
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You transplanted a drive and its OS to a new system?

If so....
That is quite possibly the cause.

What do you mean?
The problem started before I did any of this.
Transplanting the drive (and its OS) to a new system FIXED the issue, because that's when it started behaving normally.
but I want to use the drives in my current system, not on my laptop
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
What do you mean?
The problem started before I did any of this.
Transplanting the drive (and its OS) to a new system FIXED the issue, because that's when it started behaving normally.
but I want to use the drives in my current system, not on my laptop
Ok...
It read like you had moved this to a new system, and then problems.

That often fails completely, or is the cause of "issues".
 
Apr 20, 2021
16
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Ok...
It read like you had moved this to a new system, and then problems.

That often fails completely, or is the cause of "issues".

I apologise for the confusion. the timeline is as follows
  • I notice extremely low speeds on all 4 drives
  • I tried everything to fix it, no dice.
  • I transplant 1 drive (M.2 with OS) to another PC, and it runs perfectly
  • I place the drive back, the issues remain
 
Are your clock speeds and temps under control in the first/problematic system? (Make sure no signs of thermal throttling, as sitting at 800 MHz will not do wonders on any assorted benchmarks, including storage.)

The OS with the SSD on it needs really 15-20% free space....and 30% is better yet.

A fresh install of the OS and drivers to your original OS SSD might clear things up. (Leave all other drives disconnected during initial testing, as often even having a failing drive connected can drag everything down to a crawl..)
 
Memory : 9GB left of 16GB.

Did you run the test while playing a game or something? If you were at idle with no programs opened that RAM should not be that high usage.

I would totally reinstall the OS to make sure that the issue is not software and test each drive individually. One bad drive can slow down everything else.
 
Apr 20, 2021
16
0
10
Are your clock speeds and temps under control in the first/problematic system? (Make sure no signs of thermal throttling, as sitting at 800 MHz will not do wonders on any assorted benchmarks, including storage.)

The OS with the SSD on it needs really 15-20% free space....and 30% is better yet.

A fresh install of the OS and drivers to your original OS SSD might clear things up. (Leave all other drives disconnected during initial testing, as often even having a failing drive connected can drag everything down to a crawl..)

I checked my temps, they're all fine and as low as I'd ever want them. I never touched my clock speeds or did any overclocking.
The M.2 drive I showed here had 26%, I figured that's enough that it's not solely responsible for the 10x lower speeds (and the same free space got a perfect benchmark in the other system). Some of the other drives are 50% free, even.
I might reinstall the OS eventually, but I'm really not looking forward to that. If I do I'll make sure to attach them 1 by 1, thanks for the tip

Memory : 9GB left of 16GB.

Did you run the test while playing a game or something? If you were at idle with no programs opened that RAM should not be that high usage.

I would totally reinstall the OS to make sure that the issue is not software and test each drive individually. One bad drive can slow down everything else.

I don't recall doing anything during the benchmark, but that's a good point. Still, should the RAM usage result in a 10x worse performance?
Do you really think the OS is the issue if the same OS install performed perfectly on another motherboard?
I might disconnect the 3 non-OS drives and run the benchmark again. that's a good idea
 
Apr 20, 2021
79
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Its just the benchmark, benchmarks are trash at reading ssd or hdd performance. Your fine. If you get the performance you are happy with just leave it.
 
Apr 20, 2021
79
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Oh never mind ha.
I had the same issue with a hdd, I fixed it by reseting windows... Just select the option to delete everything and back-up everything you want. I know it is kinda a big thing to do but if nothing else works try the reset..
 
When I was in the process of investigating an audio pop/crackle issue, I performed a system benchmark.
The results are here: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/41764053

As you can see, all my 4 drives perform in the 0th percentile. My SSD's have trouble reaching 50MB/s speeds when they should handle 550MB/s.
Even if cables were the issue (which they're not), they should still outperform those results. One of them is an M.2 as well which doesn't even use the SATA cable.

Recently I plugged the M.2 SSD (which contains my OS as well) into my laptop, and the drive performed perfectly. This leads me to believe the drives, as well as any settings or software from my OS, are fine.
I suspect something is wrong with the motherboard, but I have no idea what specifically. I think it's likely it's a hardware defect, but I'm still hoping it's a driver or compatibility issue.

Things I've tried:
  • Reinstall SATA drivers (as well as every other motherboard drivers)
  • Both remove and reinstall Intel Rapid Storage Technology
  • Clear the drives to about half-full
  • Check disk health (everything seemed fine)
  • double-check BIOS is in AHCI mode
  • disable power-management
  • reset CMOS
  • updated BIOS
I'm very suspicious about the fact that it affects all 4 drives equally (one M.2, one SSD, and two HDDs), and the M.2 worked fine in another PC.
Is there anything else I can try to do, or is my motherboard screwed?

Here's another benchmark of the M.2 SSD: the one that performed well was when it was plugged into the laptop, the others are when it is in my desktop as normal

jTpMGDz.png
The userbenchmark can get a little wonky with too much background running.
As a test reboot the machine and let it sit for 5 mins.
Run the userbenchmark and post a link.

Are you sure you have the latest bios?
I see what looks like a newer version at the mobo site.
Did you get the latest chipset drivers?
 
Apr 20, 2021
16
0
10
Its just the benchmark, benchmarks are trash at reading ssd or hdd performance. Your fine. If you get the performance you are happy with just leave it.
The userbenchmark can get a little wonky with too much background running.
As a test reboot the machine and let it sit for 5 mins.
Run the userbenchmark and post a link.

To everyone who thinks the problem is with the benchmark: it's not.
When I copy files I also get abysmal speeds of maximum 50MB/s while I should be getting 550.
That, and a whole lot of other issues. The performance is crap, not just the benchmark
This goes for all 4 drives, not just the ones I'm showing benchmarks of.

See also this CrystalDiskMark benchmark I just performed with no background apps running:

LEFT: benchmark on regular system
RIGHT: benchmark on different system (my laptop)

tdIiXdW.png
OmcVp4z.png



Are you sure you have the latest bios?
I see what looks like a newer version at the mobo site.
Did you get the latest chipset drivers?

Yes, I (re)einstalled the latest BIOS and Chipset to be sure.
Where do you see a newer one? The Asus website shows the latest BIOS update as 2017/03/31, while my userbenchmark says 20180315
 
To everyone who thinks the problem is with the benchmark: it's not.
When I copy files I also get abysmal speeds of maximum 50MB/s while I should be getting 550.
That, and a whole lot of other issues. The performance is crap, not just the benchmark
This goes for all 4 drives, not just the ones I'm showing benchmarks of.

See also this CrystalDiskMark benchmark I just performed with no background apps running:

LEFT: benchmark on regular system
RIGHT: benchmark on different system (my laptop)

tdIiXdW.png
OmcVp4z.png





Yes, I (re)einstalled the latest BIOS and Chipset to be sure.
Where do you see a newer one? The Asus website shows the latest BIOS update as 2017/03/31, while my userbenchmark says 20180315
I see the 2017/2018 issue has been solved.
Just for yuks run this.
Speccy - Free Download

Now read this and post a link to the results.
Speccy...publish
 
Apr 20, 2021
16
0
10
I seem to have caused some confusion. I've tried to provide some clarity with the following image:

9fmA7d1.png


All 4 drives perform very bad, at about 10% of their potential.
It's not just the benchmark, the drives are extremely slow in everyday tasks as well (like copying files)
Each drive has plenty of free space (25-50%).
The issue seemed fixed when I tested my C drive on another (laptop) system. (Booted from the same OS on that drive itself)
I'm now looking for a way to fix the issue in my normal (desktop) system.

I see the 2017/2018 issue has been solved.
Just for yuks run this.
Speccy - Free Download

Now read this and post a link to the results.
Speccy...publish

As you wish, see here: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/15lXdbAUyjPDDlXqgTY710h
A little weird I can't hide my full name + nationality though
 
I seem to have caused some confusion. I've tried to provide some clarity with the following image:

9fmA7d1.png


All 4 drives perform very bad, at about 10% of their potential.
It's not just the benchmark, the drives are extremely slow in everyday tasks as well (like copying files)
Each drive has plenty of free space (25-50%).
The issue seemed fixed when I tested my C drive on another (laptop) system. (Booted from the same OS on that drive itself)
I'm now looking for a way to fix the issue in my normal (desktop) system.



As you wish, see here: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/15lXdbAUyjPDDlXqgTY710h
A little weird I can't hide my full name + nationality though
What was the results when you ran the benchmark with only the m.2 connected in the desktop?

Was the install of windows done on the desktop or the laptop?

Speccy is showing you have a meatball stick of ram in the mix.