[SOLVED] HDD causing really bad stutters in games?

[XPooka]

Hey guys so I recently purchased a Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3(ryzen 4600h+1650+8gb 3200mz ram) laptop, but since the 256gb ssd + hdd model was unable I got the hdd only version thinking it should give worse load times at max. But now I have noticed that in games like Genshin Impact and Watch Dogs 2 there are constant stutters whenever I'm moving in the world and it can sometimes be really distracting. This issue does not happen in closed world games like control(sometimes does but I noticed them only when the game in loading a new area) and A Plague Tale Innocence. Now since the issue only happens when the game is loading the world I came to the conclusion that its the hdd being the bottleneck and would love to know if there's any way to reduce these stutters as I'm out of budget for a ssd upgrade currently.

 

[Phaaze88]

That's a single stick of ram, isn't it?
If so, I'd be inclined to believe it's both that, and having the OS + game running off the same drive.
There isn't a simple fix for 2 hardware limitations. Save up until you can:
-get an SSD, and put only your OS on it.
-get a 2x 8GB kit of ram. While you could just add another stick, there are no guarantees it will go smoothly. Known as the Mixed Ram Lottery: If you win, great! If you don't, you lose time and money!


The most you can do is crank up the graphical eye candy and set an fps cap(lower). That way, it works the gpu a little harder, and makes things a little easier for the cpu + ram.
Careful though, as some settings do put more load on the cpu - some games do tell you in their graphics menus which settings do which.

There's nothing at all you can do about the storage until you can get another.

 

[XPooka]

That's a single stick of ram, isn't it?
If so, I'd be inclined to believe it's both that, and having the OS + game running off the same drive.
There isn't a simple fix for 2 hardware limitations. Save up until you can:
-get an SSD, and put only your OS on it.
-get a 2x 8GB kit of ram. While you could just add another stick, there are no guarantees it will go smoothly. Known as the Mixed Ram Lottery: If you win, great! If you don't, you lose time and money!


The most you can do is crank up the graphical eye candy and set an fps cap(lower). That way, it works the gpu a little harder, and makes things a little easier for the cpu + ram.
Careful though, as some settings do put more load on the cpu - some games do tell you in their graphics menus which settings do which.

There's nothing at all you can do about the storage until you can get another.

While I'll probably not have a budget for getting two ram sticks anytime soon, I hopefully will be able to get a ssd for my laptop soon. Thank you for your support, I'll try the high graphics settings trick and I'll try to get GPU work harder and cpu less. Also will loading just the os to SSD reduce stutters if the games are on hdd? And if so do you think it'll be a major difference or minor? Because if it can reduce stutters to the point it is barely noticeable, I may try save some money off a 512gb SSD and get a 256 just for windows and maybe one game.

 

[falcon291]

If you don't want to have stutters, increasing the RAM to 16 (8x2) would help more than replacing the HDD with SSD.
The reason of the stutter is not enough RAM, and your computer use HDD space as virtual memory. It is especially in first person shooters is not the game itself that loads something from the HDD, the loading takes place when the map changes.

 

[Phaaze88]

1)The purpose is to reduce disk activity, which is likely high during gameplay.
It's also more convenient to have the OS on its own drive, such as when you need to clean install Windows.

2)Couldn't possibly answer this, as it would require me to pull numbers out of thin air.
There's still the single stick of ram problem too. Ultimately, you will have to fix both the storage and ram situation.

 

[XPooka]

If you don't want to have stutters, increasing the RAM to 16 (8x2) would help more than replacing the HDD with SSD.
The reason of the stutter is not enough RAM, and your computer use HDD space as virtual memory. It is especially in first person shooters is not the game itself that loads something from the HDD, the loading takes place when the map changes.

I get your point and while my ram could be a issue I personally think the hdd is more bottlenecking here as my ram usage dosen't go above 6.5gb normally.

 

[XPooka]

1)The purpose is to reduce disk activity, which is likely high during gameplay.
It's also more convenient to have the OS on its own drive, such as when you need to clean install Windows.

2)Couldn't possibly answer this, as it would require me to pull numbers out of thin air.
There's still the single stick of ram problem too. Ultimately, you will have to fix both the storage and ram situation.

Got it, I'll keep these things in mind. Thank you again!