[SOLVED] Help me understand the iops influence on cpu usage with NVMe

[HeartOfAdel]

I have two sata drives currently and want to upgrade to an NVMe ssd but I don't want my cpu usage to raise in videogames.

There's a couple of drives I'm considering. One of them has around 1600mbs read write with 350000-400000 iops, the other one has around 2000mb and 170000iops. Which one will go harder on the cpu? Would there even be a difference in cpu usage in applications and videogames as they probably have a limit of iops they can request, don't they? So the usage should be the same..?
I don't know exactly what I'm gonna end up buying, can you just explain how iops affect the cpu during videogames?

 

[SkyNetRising]

So - you're worrying, your SSD will be too fast and will overwhelm cpu and cause extreme CPU utilization?
LOL no. It doesn't work like that.

I have never heard anyone worrying about their SSD being too fast. That's nonsense.

 

[HeartOfAdel]

So - you're worrying, your SSD will be too fast and will overwhelm cpu and cause extreme CPU utilization?
LOL no. It doesn't work like that.

I have never heard anyone worrying about their SSD being too fast. That's nonsense.

It's not nonsense. Every percent is important when you're reaching cpu limits with a fast gpu.
I don't worry about it being too fast, I worry about the balance, efficiency and at what cost.

 

[kanewolf]

It's not nonsense. Every percent is important when you're reaching cpu limits with a fast gpu.
I don't worry about it being too fast, I worry about the balance, efficiency and at what cost.

I quite agree. It is nonsense. IOPS are only relevant if your software is doing random disk reads -- Think database.
And disk performance in general is only relevant for gaming when loading.
You are concentrating on the wrong specs.

 

[HeartOfAdel]

I quite agree. It is nonsense. IOPS are only relevant if your software is doing random disk reads -- Think database.
And disk performance in general is only relevant for gaming when loading.
You are concentrating on the wrong specs.

That's a much better and understandable explanation than the previous one.
Can you also tell me if the motherboard was released before the release of nvme 1.3 (before 2017), will it support 1.3 drives?

 

[kanewolf]

That's a much better and understandable explanation than the previous one.
Can you also tell me if the motherboard was released before the release of nvme 1.3 (before 2017), will it support 1.3 drives?

I can't see anything in the specs about guaranteed backward compatibility.
I haven't seen any specific compatibility issues with NVMe drives and recent motherboards. The 100 series Intel boards were released in 2015. So a 2017 motherboard would probably be a 200 series Intel motherboard. Probably a 400 series AMD.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Can you also tell me if the motherboard was released before the release of nvme 1.3 (before 2017), will it support 1.3 drives?

Whether or not the computer can use an NVMe drive is mostly if the OS has driver support for it.

It's like Windows 7 doesn't natively support USB 3.0, but you can still use USB 3.0 if you install a driver.

 

[USAFRet]

What CPU and motherboard do you have, and we can likely tell you what drives might be compatible.

 

[mdd1963]

It's not nonsense. Every percent is important when you're reaching cpu limits with a fast gpu.
I don't worry about it being too fast, I worry about the balance, efficiency and at what cost.

Sorry, but, I have to agree...; it is indeed nonsense.

(The storage normally only comes into play launching the game, loading the game level anyway, it's not as if a CPU stays busy constantly with faster storage. A faster GPU at 1080P will indeed cause CPU usage to go up , however. (Are you dealing with a 4c/4t or 6c/6t CPU?)

 

[USAFRet]

If NVMe drives were "too fast" and overwhelmed the CPU, we wouldn't have NVMe drives that are much faster than the ones you're considering.

Like the Samsung 980 Pro in my system

 

[HeartOfAdel]

Sorry, but, I have to agree...; it is indeed nonsense.

(The storage normally only comes into play launching the game, loading the game level anyway, it's not as if a CPU stays busy constantly with faster storage. A faster GPU at 1080P will indeed cause CPU usage to go up , however. (Are you dealing with a 4c/4t or 6c/6t CPU?)

Alright, I didn't know all the details. And I'm not sure your obsession with calling it "nonsense" makes anyone's day better, only advice does. Just stop it.
I'm still trying to understand if an nvme drive can at least slightly change (maybe for better) the cpu load even after loading times, because it's frequently emphasized how efficient nvme is.
I'm dealing with a 4/8 i7-5775C.
In conclusion, ssd with more iops should be a better go.

 

[USAFRet]

Alright, I didn't know all the details. And I'm not sure your obsession with calling it "nonsense" makes anyone's day better, only advice does. Just stop it.
I'm still trying to understand if an nvme drive can at least slightly change (maybe for better) the cpu load even after loading times, because it's frequently emphasized how efficient nvme is.
I'm dealing with a 4/8 i7-5775C.
In conclusion, ssd with more iops should be a better go.

No, it won't affect the CPU.

When an application or game needs some new resource, it doesn't ask the storage device, it asks the CPU.
The CPU then gets it from wherever. NVMe, HDD, pagefile, RAM...or all at the same time.

And seeing as RAM is monumentally faster than an NVMe drive, and the CPU is not overwhelmed by that interaction...we have NO problem here.

In conclusion, ssd with more iops should be a better go.

A drive that is compatible with the rest of your system and use case is the better thing.
It would do no good to put that 980 Pro into my old i7-4790k system. It does not have the proper interfaces to take advantage of that drive speed.