Can a old and slow hdd cause lag in games? (Especially open world games)

[Tri910]

Well I have already searched the net about this, but I can't find anything new and updated.
Usually when I game something like gta 5 and forza horizon 3 (Especially forza) I get big stutters.
This happens no matter the graphics setting, and I do believe my system are capable of running them. This never happens in closed games like cod, bf or csgo. Frankly anything like that. I have no idea on how old my hdd are, but it saids windows xp on it, if that helps anything, and it is 5200 rpm. I have tested the hdd with some software (Can't remember what it is called, but something popular) and it came out clean with no errors.

Specs:
AMD FX-8320
Gigabyte 990fxa ud3 rev 4.0
Gigabyte geforce gtx 1060 6gb
8 gb ddr3 ram

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there Tri910,

Yes, a slow/failing drive, could affect the overall gaming performance in open world games. (textures loading)

You can test your drive once again: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility
It would be nice to provide a screenshot of the SMART report.
If there's something wrong with it, just back up your data.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

 

[Tri910]

Hi there Tri910,

Yes, a slow/failing drive, could affect the overall gaming performance in open world games. (textures loading)

You can test your drive once again: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility
It would be nice to provide a screenshot of the SMART report.
If there's something wrong with it, just back up your data.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

Thanks for the answer, do you think/know if upgrading to a 7200 rpm, solves the problem?
And can send a screenshot, just need to get home from school first

 

[D_Know_WD]

Well, a 7200 RPM drive, shouldn't have any issues with open world games.
Yet, you need to be sure that the drive is the thing that causes the stutters/lags, but not something else. Can you borrow a drive from somebody? You can install it as a secondary one to your PC, install a game and see if the issue persists.

D_Know_WD

 

[Jatheon]

Skip borrowing HDD for test, buy SSD and solve the problems.

 

[Tri910]

Well, a 7200 RPM drive, shouldn't have any issues with open world games.
Yet, you need to be sure that the drive is the thing that causes the stutters/lags, but not something else. Can you borrow a drive from somebody? You can install it as a secondary one to your PC, install a game and see if the issue persists.

D_Know_WD

Well can it be a drive with windows on it? Without deleting windows ofc

 

[Tri910]

Skip borrowing HDD for test, buy SSD and solve the problems.

As much as I would like to do that, ssd's do not come in big enough sizes, that my budget can cover.

 

[Tri910]

Hi there Tri910,

Yes, a slow/failing drive, could affect the overall gaming performance in open world games. (textures loading)

You can test your drive once again: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility
It would be nice to provide a screenshot of the SMART report.
If there's something wrong with it, just back up your data.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD

http://imgur.com/a/JeNog Here's the report

 

[D_Know_WD]

What does the Health tab show?

Yeah, it can be a drive with OS on it.

D_Know_WD

 

[Tri910]

What does the Health tab show?

Yeah, it can be a drive with OS on it.

D_Know_WD

It saids OK all the way, and nice I will see if I can borrow one, don't think I can tho :/

 

[Jatheon]

Well, a 7200 RPM drive, shouldn't have any issues with open world games.
Yet, you need to be sure that the drive is the thing that causes the stutters/lags, but not something else. Can you borrow a drive from somebody? You can install it as a secondary one to your PC, install a game and see if the issue persists.

D_Know_WD

Well can it be a drive with windows on it? Without deleting windows ofc

Skip borrowing HDD for test, buy SSD and solve the problems.

As much as I would like to do that, ssd's do not come in big enough sizes, that my budget can cover.

Take just for OS and games you play, HDD use for pictures, music or whatever, and the problem is solved. That's my setup now, and it works fine.