Head Scratcher: Steam reading and writing on 2nd SSD is slow AF

[Lionheart]

Steam is making my 2nd SSD operate slow. At 5mb/s the SSD is said to be at 100% capacity, which i know is not true.

The way it's setup, Steam is operating on the SSD drive C: and there's a couple of games on that drive, which work perfectly. The rest of my games on another SSD drive, D: Those launch but throttle my SSD to 5mbs read or write.

This problem affects:
- Gaming
- Loading
- Verifying files
- Backing-up games

Things i've tried:
- Move the game to another drive - no problem.
- try another game launcher - no problems
- test SSD speed (nominal results (550mbs)
- test SSD temperature (nominal results 28C)
- test all temperatures - no related issues
- Change game settings - wasn't the issue.
- Reinstall Steam - didnt solve
- Format entire PC - didntt solve

I would appreciate the help.



Full specs:

MOBO Asus Maximus Ranger VIII

Intel i7 6700

RAM 16GB Hyperx Fury

VGA Gigabyte 2070 super

PSU Thermaltake 750W

OS: Windows 10

STORAGE: 2 SSDs and 2 HDDs
--C: |OS, and program files/application| Kingston SH103S3480G (480GB)
--D: |More storage for Steam| Kingston SA400S37960G <<< where the problem lies
--E: (storage) HDD by WD 2TB
--F: (storage) HDD by WD 1TB

[Brujeira]

One thing that you haven’t tried is to move the Steam client itself off the SSD and on to one of the HDDs as it doesn’t need the speed boost.

If the problem persists then have a word with the folks in the Hardware and OS forum.

[Iceira]

there are some old harddisk rules, you most have 50% free on where OS sytem is. or it will waste to to locate free space, but i know disk is faster today but its still there and a good rule to know the lesser space free the more time it will search for it before it can dump it. but SSD should not have this issue. but you seem to struggle with it ( and problem with SSD firmware upgrade is it require to be empty before it can do it. and thats why many cant upgrade its firmware. if bug is fixed in the firmware upgrade.

other know mortherboard fact you might want to test this move active disk to each controller so max output is reach per controller, this was know as sharecable , but with USBcable then they dont share cable but it could be a BUS issue per controller so try test if that is the issue
only people with RAID should not do this or you will brake RAID on 2 difffrent controller, i only mention this so someone dont get a cleaver idea and screw it all up.

and watchout for old saying slowest drev actual set the speed on cable if you have other older disk types. share cable to a controller

also seen before interference from 1 disk that could be a sign it for tear down untill it burnout if we even can call it that at SSD well elotronic shutdown drev fail, they all say SSD are so stable but i bet people with 24hours pc online dont seem them as stable . apox every 4years drevs die. and imo that not good enough.


ps.
MOBO Asus Maximus Ranger VIII
and ofc, you have check that all is update in driver and Bios

[Satoru]

Note that doing all the things you say you are functionally either

1) CPU bound
2) IO bound

Steam's veriffication process is single threaded so you're single core CPU bound when doing those tasks

[Lionheart]

Escrito originalmente por Brujeira:

One thing that you haven’t tried is to move the Steam client itself off the SSD and on to one of the HDDs as it doesn’t need the speed boost.

If the problem persists then have a word with the folks in the Hardware and OS forum.

Just tried it, same issue.

Escrito originalmente por Iceira:

there are some old harddisk rules, you most have 50% free on where OS sytem is. or it will waste to to locate free space, but i know disk is faster today but its still there and a good rule to know the leasse space free the more time it will search for it before it can dump it. but SSD should not have this issue. but you seem to struggle with it ( and problem with SSD firmware upgrade is it require to be empty before it can do it. and thats why many cant upgrade its firmware. if bug is fixed in the firmware upgrade.

other know mortherboard fact you might want to test this move active disk to each controller so max output is reach per controller, this was know as sharecable , but with USBcable then they dont share cable but it could be a BUS issue per controller so try test if that is the issue
only people with RAID should not do this or you will brake RAID on 2 difffrent controller, i only mention this so someone dont get a cleaver idea and screw it all up.

and watchout for old saying slowest drev actual set the speed on cable if you have other older disk types. share cable to a controller

also seen before interference from 1 disk that could be a sign it for tear down untill it burnout if we even can call it that at SSD well elotronic shutdown drev fail, they all say SSD are so stable but i bet people with 24hours pc online dont seem them as stable . apox every 4years drevs die. and imo that not good enough.


ps.
MOBO Asus Maximus Ranger VIII
and ofc, you have check that all is update in driver and Bios

not sure i understood a lot, but all tests show everything is normal, I have no problems with anything other than steam. I use this PC for heavy video editing too.
I tested the affected SSD and its fine, in fact it's a new SSD that i bough 4 months ago.

Escrito originalmente por Satoru:

Note that doing all the things you say you are functionally either

1) CPU bound
2) IO bound

Steam's veriffication process is single threaded so you're single core CPU bound when doing those tasks

Curious to know what speeds you get when verifying game files. Just use task manager to check it while you're doing the task.

Also if gaming is not working as it should what good is this design?

[Iceira]

see mortherboard manual and check port slot options per controller and if i look up right board here . see the diffrent port options but i bet the manual explan it even better then specification
and maybe it is attach correctly but right disk at right port could be a issue here.

Intel® Z170 chipset :
1 x M.2 Socket 3, , with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (both SATA & PCIE mode)*1
6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray, , 4 ports from 2 x SATA Express
2 x SATA Express port, gray
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology supports*2
Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology*2

[Lionheart]

I understand what you mean, but i don't have much knowledge in that.
Should i try switching data (which i presume are SATAIII) cables around and see if that does any difference? I have 2 HDD as well as 2SSDs. Mobo is said to handle up to 6.

[MancSoulja]

Escrito originalmente por Lionheart:

I understand what you mean, but i don't have much knowledge in that.
Should i try switching data (which i presume are SATAIII) cables around and see if that does any difference? I have 2 HDD as well as 2SSDs. Mobo is said to handle up to 6.

Make sure your SSDs are connected to the SATA ports closest to the CPU. I recently had an issue with a slow SDD and swapping the SATA port it was connected to fixed it. Even though I was using one of the 6GBs ports originally.

You might also want to post a benchmark for your slow SSD.

[Iceira]

Escrito originalmente por Lionheart:

I understand what you mean, but i don't have much knowledge in that.
Should i try switching data (which i presume are SATAIII) cables around and see if that does any difference? I have 2 HDD as well as 2SSDs. Mobo is said to handle up to 6.

as MancSoulja also point out, you need to see it on manual page or google it or check pdf at the board support side, dont forget many board look same and only you have all data that we are look at right board, have seen alot of same manual cover multi boards thats why i did not link your board pdf. but either way take your time find the page or link and i bet someone can explan this in detail. not all disk support sata6 but as i understand it many have support this for years it was boards that did not support sata6, this make it complicated to understand but as MancSoulja say he swap around and then it fix it, dont forget cable has also been caught in defect or not deliver throughput , but we assume its wrong port only and easy to fix. also check support site for driver update even that has been seen before.


as i try to explan a remote external harddisk was cable of usb3, fact is it was access usb2 speed .. and that require i dl driver myself and overwrite windows default. ( on my laptop, so yeah things can be odd. and speed test was only clue. )

[Lionheart]

I don't understand the logic behind thinking this is a hardware issue as all test results and all other applications that are not steam, work flawlessly with it. I specifically downloaded and played a game from Uplay just to test that. I was getting 100+mbs while gaming there.

Escrito originalmente por MancSoulja:

Escrito originalmente por Lionheart:

I understand what you mean, but i don't have much knowledge in that.
Should i try switching data (which i presume are SATAIII) cables around and see if that does any difference? I have 2 HDD as well as 2SSDs. Mobo is said to handle up to 6.

Make sure your SSDs are connected to the SATA ports closest to the CPU. I recently had an issue with a slow SDD and swapping the SATA port it was connected to fixed it. Even though I was using one of the 6GBs ports originally.

You might also want to post a benchmark for your slow SSD.

I reconnected them. No improvement.
This screenshot was taken while my game was struggling to load some textures and freezing
http://prntscr.com/q5o8kd

This is a benchmark i took before i launched the game
http://prntscr.com/q5o9nc

I went a step further, and i moved the steam app to the 2nd SSD as well, no improvement.

[MancSoulja]

Escrito originalmente por Lionheart:

I don't understand the logic behind thinking this is a hardware issue as all test results and all other applications that are not steam, work flawlessly with it. I specifically downloaded and played a game from Uplay just to test that. I was getting 100+mbs while gaming there.

Escrito originalmente por MancSoulja:

Make sure your SSDs are connected to the SATA ports closest to the CPU. I recently had an issue with a slow SDD and swapping the SATA port it was connected to fixed it. Even though I was using one of the 6GBs ports originally.

You might also want to post a benchmark for your slow SSD.

I reconnected them. No improvement.
This screenshot was taken while my game was struggling to load some textures and freezing
http://prntscr.com/q5o8kd

This is a benchmark i took before i launched the game
http://prntscr.com/q5o9nc

I went a step further, and i moved the steam app to the 2nd SSD as well, no improvement.

For a SATA SSD, those speeds seem fairly decent. They're not particularly slow.

[Lionheart]

Escrito originalmente por MancSoulja:

Escrito originalmente por Lionheart:

I don't understand the logic behind thinking this is a hardware issue as all test results and all other applications that are not steam, work flawlessly with it. I specifically downloaded and played a game from Uplay just to test that. I was getting 100+mbs while gaming there.



I reconnected them. No improvement.
This screenshot was taken while my game was struggling to load some textures and freezing
http://prntscr.com/q5o8kd

This is a benchmark i took before i launched the game
http://prntscr.com/q5o9nc

I went a step further, and i moved the steam app to the 2nd SSD as well, no improvement.

For a SATA SSD, those speeds seem fairly decent. They're not particularly slow.

You're looking at the benchmark. Look at the speed while being used by steam.
(like the topic of this post is not the SSD, but how steam is using it...)

However, some games don't have this issue i just noticed. Squad, and Assetto Corsa seem to run at 350mb/s if need be. Conan Exiles, GTA5, and Cities Skyline don't go above 6mb/s.
..and some games are downright unstable.
An easy way to test this is by clicking verify game integrity and watching the speeds.

[Iceira]

plasee make own copy file from one disk to other see speed test there and i bet it at maximum. see hard drev throughput, and then that confirm it then it could be or look like steam super-compressed downloads that is also possible you have a issue here same time. and problem here is all games dont have same super-compressed files so result is diffrent.

also be sure disk is idle and not being access without you know what app doing it see windows resource manager

[Lionheart]

Yes the problem could be the way they are compressed. If i move these games to another disk, there is no problem. Now we are finally at the same conclusion.

So what is the problem?

[Iceira]

Escrito originalmente por Lionheart:

Yes the problem could be the way they are compressed. If i move these games to another disk, there is no problem. Now we are finally at the same conclusion.

So what is the problem?

super-compressed downloads that require you cpu decompress sametime and download and write on disk ( controller is busy at max output ) and thats why we try explan try move other none raid SSD disk to other controller so you might get os at one controller and slave install disk at controller2 try see this a transport layer belt in factory you just make sure other diak has other controller to get max output from each own controll if that is even the case here. if both SSD disk is on same controll as i think it is then max throughput is reached and bottleneck is there. this is a best guess only, either the pc cant decompress it fast enough or transferbus is at maximum or cable is damage or not good enough for SATA6, as you see its complicate stuff to explan.

then all think they have top ace pc , problem is HARDDISK is slowest media today even in stripped raid, but as private user the fastest cheapest solutions, but i bet after this you have learn to keep eye on what thre hell is going on my disk. check apps so you dont have a app that take resoruce sametime.

but do check manual and check driver at support page, only that can confirm it and you see info on what usb to each bridge/controller as we call it.

[Lionheart]

The CPU is never working above around 40-70% capacity even during the troubles.
Also if i move the same game to another disk i dont have problems. Even if it's an HDD. I tried that with GTA5. Therefore i don't think there's a CPU issue.

The conclusion is steam has a problem decompressing some of the games on some of the SSDs?