Hard Drive Causing FPS Drops

[ultimate_cloud]

System
POWER SUPPLY - EVGA 220-G2-0850-XR 80 PLUS GOLD 850W
MOTHERBOARD - ASUS Z97-A
GPU - ASUS STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5
CPU - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790K @4.00GHZ
MEMORY - 16GB Kit* (2x8GB) - DDR3 1866MHz CL10 DIMM
OS DRIVE - Kingston SSDNow V300 Series SV300S37A/120G 2.5" 120GB SSD
STORAGE DRIVE - Western Digital WD Green 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard
OS - Windows 8.1

In any game that I play, from Terraria to GTA V to Minecraft I get random fps drops down to 0 where the game freezes momentarily. I originally thought this was a GPU problem but after extensive monitoring on many games and benchmarks nothing spikes or bottoms out when these freezes happen on either my CPU or my GPU. I was stumped for a few days until today I realized that my Hard Drive activity spikes match the freezes in game perfectly. my problem is where I know what programs to use to monitor and diagnose CPU and GPU problems I never even considered that my Hard drive could cause freezes like this. SO my question is how do I diagnose for sure that my problem lies with my Hard drive (why would hard drive activity cause freezes in game?) and how do I fix the problem?

 

[N3rdR4ge]

download WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for free from western digital's website

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=612&sid=3

if the tests fail the drive needs to be replaced. you can attempt to create an image backup with paragon backup and recovery free to preserve your system for the new drive.

https://www.paragon-software.com/home/br-free/

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there ultimate_cloud,

Sorry that you are facing some issues with your WD drive. 🙁

As N3rdR4ge already suggested, it may be a good idea to test the drive with WD's DLG tool. You can perform both short and extended tests. If the tests results show that there is something wrong with the drive, you need to back up the data stored on it as soon as possible.
Another thing you can try is to attach the HDD with different power and SATA cables to a different port. In case the SSD is attached to port 0, you can attach the HDD to port one.

In case the issue persists even after changing ports/cables and the test results show that the HDD is healthy, it may be a good idea to install a game on your SSD and see whether you will get the same fps drops.
If you don't, then I guess the issue you are facing is HDD related indeed. Your WD Green could be perfectly healthy but it is not really designed to be used as a gaming drive(running games off of it). It has power efficient characteristics and it is more suitable for just keeping data stored on it(movies, pics, backups, etc.).

WD Green: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=JgxtNS

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

 

[ultimate_cloud]

Finished up the DLG tests over night last night and this morning showing all good. Tried switching cables and ports will the same problems. Installing a game on my SSD now to see if it fixes the problem. If the problem really is just drive performance can I get some recommendations on a decent hard drive for storing my steam library?

 

[N3rdR4ge]

i would recommend this drive
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex

 

[ultimate_cloud]

Installed two games on my SSD both ran perfectly smooth, it seems the problem was simply drive performance. I'll be looking into buying a new hard drive, thank you everyone for the help!

 

[D_Know_WD]

In case you decide to go with WD, you could consider the drive that N3rdR4ge already suggested. WD Blue has 7200 RMP and it is nice everyday computing drive.
You can take a look at WD Black as well. It is a performance oriented drive with 5 years of limited warranty.

More on their features:
WD Blue: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=hfu9VK
WD Black: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=qAEySo

Cheers,
D_Know_WD