[SOLVED] If I have a new SSD and old HDD, would keeping the HDD to store games still cause stuttering?

[ShangWang]

I have a refurbished laptop where the HDD is likely worn and faulty since it makes clicking sounds rarely. I occasionally stutter on games even that don't require too much CPU or GPU. I have gone through MANY solutions minor and extreme to fix this problem, no dice.

If I got a NVMe SSD and switched my OS to it, would downloading games on the existing HDD still cause stuttering or should I just download everything on the SSD?

Is there any difference other than startup speed if I downloaded the games on only the SSD, or would the stuttering "disappear?" Is just having the OS on the faster drive going to reduce stuttering or does everything that is used have to be downloaded there to have the same "performance?"

If my HDD is worn and I only use it for storage, is it safe to keep using it with the SSD or should I just use the SSD only? Other than startup program speeds is there any worthwhile performance difference to have 2 drives than 1 if I keep space clean?

 

[Lutfij]

If your laptop didn't come with an SSD and you taxed your laptop with the games while on the HDD, then the stutters were likely due to having more than one partition to manage off the HDD. If you got an SSD, you offload the OS duties from the HDD and perhaps your gaming duties as well, provided you won't install the games on the SSD. If the laptop has seen a number of years in service prior to reaching your hands, then I'd suggest keeping things on the HDD that can be considered expendable, in case the HDD croaks. While choosing an SSD, make sure you keep it's capacity in mind(apart from it's internal architecture) since it's a good idea to have 50% of the SSD empty in order to have it run optimally. One more thing, don't defragment your SSD, unless you want to kill it prematurely.

Make and model of your laptop? An SKU will help us two fold. What BIOS version are you currently on for your laptop's motherboard?

What sort of a budget are you looking at your storage purchase?

 

[ShangWang]

If your laptop didn't come with an SSD and you taxed your laptop with the games while on the HDD, then the stutters were likely due to having more than one partition to manage off the HDD. If you got an SSD, you offload the OS duties from the HDD and perhaps your gaming duties as well, provided you won't install the games on the SSD. If the laptop has seen a number of years in service prior to reaching your hands, then I'd suggest keeping things on the HDD that can be considered expendable, in case the HDD croaks. While choosing an SSD, make sure you keep it's capacity in mind(apart from it's internal architecture) since it's a good idea to have 50% of the SSD empty in order to have it run optimally. One more thing, don't defragment your SSD, unless you want to kill it prematurely.

Make and model of your laptop? An SKU will help us two fold. What BIOS version are you currently on for your laptop's motherboard?

What sort of a budget are you looking at your storage purchase?

Thanks for the reply! I have the Acer Nitro 5 AN515-53 with 1TB storage
HDD: MQ04ABF100 Toshiba 1TB/1000GB 5400rpm Sata 7mm 2.5" Hard Drive 128mb, 6 Gbit/s. : Amazon.ca: Electronics
I am planning on buying this NVMe SSD:
WD_Black SN750 500GB NVMe Internal Gaming SSD - Gen3 PCIe, M.2 2280, 3D NAND - WDS500G3X0C : Amazon.ca: Electronics

I can tell you the BIOS is definitely not the issue, it's
Insyde Corp. V1.28, 2019-08-05

I have only one partition on my HDD, I suspect it may be faulty since I've had lots of BSOD fail with "no bootable drive" but I want to keep it for storage. I've done a clean install many times after doing chkdsk and this time I no longer get those BSOD.

I'm still running on my single HDD and it's working fine right now, scans show no HDD issues. If I run my OS entirely on my SSD and download everything else on my HDD, would the worst that can happen is I lose some data on the HDD?

I have everything that's important backed already so I don't care about losing data, I just want to know that the OS is fine and performance will improve if I continue to use my worn HDD but only for storage.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I have a refurbished laptop where the HDD is likely worn and faulty since it makes clicking sounds rarely. I occasionally stutter on games even that don't require too much CPU or GPU.
would downloading games on the existing HDD still cause stuttering or should I just download everything on the SSD?

If HDD is faulty then yes - it will cause stutters, hiccups, freezes, lockups and all kinds of trouble.
Diagnose it properly. Replace if faulty.

 

[ShangWang]

If HDD is faulty then yes - it will cause stutters, hiccups, freezes, lockups and all kinds of trouble.
Diagnose it properly. Replace if faulty.

Even if it's just for storage? What if the HDD is just worn, will using it help with performance or does downloading games on a worn HDD still cause stutters? I thought it only affects startup time?

My situation is weird because all HDD scans I've done shown no problems but I have suspicions. Is it worth the risk to still use it for storage or is it better to just use one single 500 GB SSD? I can't afford to get another HDD.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Even if it's just for storage?
What if the HDD is just worn, will using it help with performance or does downloading games on a worn HDD still cause stutters?

Yes. Faulty hardware can do that.

My situation is weird because all HDD scans I've done shown no problems but I have suspicions.

Diagnose it. Use HDtune health.
Post screenshot (upload to imgur.com and post link).

 

[ShangWang]

Yes. Faulty hardware can do that.

Diagnose it. Use HDtune health.
Post screenshot (upload to imgur.com and post link).

I've done extensive tests on HDDscan and crystaldiskinfo as well, my HDD is COMPLETELY fine on tests but still makes clicking sounds rarely.
https://prnt.sc/1jjt1po

Would you still use this worn out HDD for storage only alongside the new SSD? I have hopes that it won't act up if it's just for downloading games.

If my HDD does act up, is the worst thing that can happen is data loss? It won't affect OS?

 

[SkyNetRising]

I've done extensive tests on HDDscan and crystaldiskinfo as well, my HDD is COMPLETELY fine on tests but still makes clicking sounds rarely.
https://prnt.sc/1jjt1po

Please show health tab from HDtune.

 

[ShangWang]

Please show health tab from HDtune.

Yep, everything ok too.
https://prnt.sc/1jk4shy

Screenshot

Captured with Lightshot

prnt.sc

 

[SkyNetRising]

HDD health is fine.
It should not be causing any issues.

Something else is probably doing that -

cpu or gpu overheating,​

system low on ram or​

something other.​

 

[ShangWang]

HDD health is fine.
It should not be causing any issues.

Something else is probably doing that -

cpu or gpu overheating,​

system low on ram or​

something other.​

I'm good on RAM and heat temperatures.
Thanks, so in this case my HDD should be safe to use for storage purposes I hope.

I stopped getting BSOD because I did a complete chkdsk which likely already removed bad partitions. Is it possible my HDD is still likely faulty even after removed partitions?

 

[ShangWang]

HDD health is fine.
It should not be causing any issues.

Something else is probably doing that -

cpu or gpu overheating,​

system low on ram or​

something other.​

Also do you think simply switching my OS to SSD will increase any gaming performance even if I have games installed on the HDD?

Does simply having 2 drives increase performance whatsoever or is this just so less space is taken up in one?