[SOLVED] Games stutters while downloading

[Javpc]

Hi.

Few questions here I'm hoping I can get answered. I've just noticed that when downloading I cant play a game without it stuttering. I'm sure it never used to do this. But I may be wrong. I've only ever used steam until recently and I believe steam stops downloads when playing so this may have always been the case without me knowing it.

1. Is it normal for disk usage to be around the 100% mark when downloading?

2. Is it normal for games to shutter while playing off the same HDD that I'm downloading too?

I've ran multiple different types of health checks on my computer and everything comes back normal. All drivers up to date as well.

Thanks in advance

 

[Math Geek]

a hdd can only read or write to the drive at one specific time. so yes downloading will use the drive to write what you are asking it to download. trying to read from the drive at the same time (as in loading a game) means something has to wait for its turn.

your ram will be the temp storage for the download if you are loading a game which also goes to ram. once it is done, your ram now has to send the data to the drive from the download.

all this back and forth can cause stuttering and other slowdowns. even a nice fast ssd is limited by the same ideals. though less so unless you have super fast internet to download with.

in the end, separate drives for windows and other activities is always a good idea though most people don't recognize the need until its too late. i have 4 drives in my system so i can do may things at once and not overtax a single drive so everything runs smoother.

 

[Javpc]

a hdd can only read or write to the drive at one specific time. so yes downloading will use the drive to write what you are asking it to download. trying to read from the drive at the same time (as in loading a game) means something has to wait for its turn.

your ram will be the temp storage for the download if you are loading a game which also goes to ram. once it is done, your ram now has to send the data to the drive from the download.

all this back and forth can cause stuttering and other slowdowns. even a nice fast ssd is limited by the same ideals. though less so unless you have super fast internet to download with.

in the end, separate drives for windows and other activities is always a good idea though most people don't recognize the need until its too late. i have 4 drives in my system so i can do may things at once and not overtax a single drive so everything runs smoother.

Hi.

Thanks for your reply.

I was hoping you would perhaps be prepared to help me further.

I've turned on my computer today to find the issue has completely disappeared. I can download and play games with no issues. When I posted the original question that was the second time it has done it.

Any ideas why it may do that every now and then?

Thanks

 

[Math Geek]

more than likely this seemingly random issue is related to win 10 and it's spyware operation. whenever it feels like and no matter what you are doing, win 10 likes to scan all your drives for anything it can upload to its servers. this data mining usually pegs out the drive making it impossible to much anything else at the same time.

my guess is this is where you are seeing the slowdown. you can block the telemetry which helps a lot but often it still scans the drives so it has the data ready to upload if it ever can.

try spybot anti-beacon to block the telemetry and see if that helps. i rarely use win 10 but have it installed and i don't see my drives running flat out like i did before installing it.

 

[Javpc]

more than likely this seemingly random issue is related to win 10 and it's spyware operation. whenever it feels like and no matter what you are doing, win 10 likes to scan all your drives for anything it can upload to its servers. this data mining usually pegs out the drive making it impossible to much anything else at the same time.

my guess is this is where you are seeing the slowdown. you can block the telemetry which helps a lot but often it still scans the drives so it has the data ready to upload if it ever can.

try spybot anti-beacon to block the telemetry and see if that helps. i rarely use win 10 but have it installed and i don't see my drives running flat out like i did before installing it.

Great will try that.

Thanks for your input