Sudden low FPS and GPU usage in every game, failing hard drive the cause?

[DjBlades]

System Specs:
Intel i5-8600k
16GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
MSI Z370 Gaming Plus Motherboard
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
No overclocks or other tweaks applied.

As the title mentions, out of nowhere, my PC has been stuttering in every game I play. I used to get a permanent 60fps in everything, but now my FPS fluctuates wildly, even in completely 2D games like Crypt of the Necrodancer. Throughout all this, my CPU and GPU usage both remain under 30% and do not show any signs of strain, nor do they exhibit any high temperatures.
I didn't make any major changes prior to this occurring, it came out of nowhere. I've since updated my Graphics drivers and the problem has not changed.

The only obvious problem/cause I have with my system right now is that my main hard drive is failing. I'm backing up important files right now to relocate to an SSD setup, but surely a bad hard drive couldn't affect my FPS and GPU usage in such a drastic way? My load times seem mostly normal, or not so out of ordinary that I'd notice. It's just my FPS and usage that have gone through the floor.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Rohit_Ajay123]

Install HDSentinel and see if your hard drives are failing...xD.

 

[DjBlades]

It is. I said in the post that's the only other problem currently. My primary drive failed its Self Test on Seatools after only 10% progress. The question was whether it could affect the rest of my system to this degree.