Slow SSD speed on Windows

[TsukiMarisa]

Hello guys,

I've been trying to fix an issue for quite some time now but no success.

So, whenever I want to download something (mostly games), my download starts correctly at ~100MB/s for like 15 seconds. After that, the downloading becomes very slow, stop and restart itself frequently.

https://imgur.com/a/AMbpv1J

The issue looks like it comes from my SSD. It looks saturated, blocks itself at 100% with a high response time and slow writing speed.

But here's the thing, it only happens on Windows. I've tested the same SSD, on the same PC on Debian, on steam with the same game and my download is fast and smooth.

Also, crystaldisk shows 100% health, and the same problem occured to my second SSD, which never had problems before. It happens everywhere, mostly Steam, Rockstar game Launcher, Ubisoft launcher, Epic.

I've tested some solutions I saw before, but no success.

Any chances someone could explain why and how Windows makes my downloads THAT slow?

[Necramonium™]

Sounds more like a internet issue, no SSD would make a download stop to a halt. If you have a router, restart it or use the reset button to get everything back to working settings.

[TsukiMarisa]

Originally posted by Necramonium:

Sounds more like a internet issue, no SSD would make a download stop to a halt. If you have a router, restart it or use the reset button to get everything back to working settings.

Nope, not an Internet issue. Since it's fine on Linux, it has to be fine on Windows. Also, it happened out of nowhere and my network is fine.
Even after a Windows re-install, it's still doing it.

[nullable]

What SSD are you using?

[Cathulhu]

According to the screenshot provided by OP it's a very low performance SSD without any DRAM Cache.
When a 240GB model is sold for about 20 bucks, you know you're buying cheap.

There are also reports of SSDs failing less than half a year after purchase.

[TsukiMarisa]

Originally posted by nullable:

What SSD are you using?

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

According to the screenshot provided by OP it's a very low performance SSD without any DRAM Cache.
When a 240GB model is sold for about 20 bucks, you know you're buying cheap.

There are also reports of SSDs failing less than half a year after purchase.

It's cheap chinese SSD, I know what you're gonna say, "that's the cause". But no, that can't be the cause, especially when my second SSD (PNY) has the exact problem that doesn't happen on linux. Both of my SSD used for gaming were tested on linux with the same method.
Install a game and see if it blocks, that doesn't happen on linux.
The cause is somewhere between Windows and my SSD (technically, both), but where?

For the DRAM, if you know any software that could help me see if i have any, I'm all ears

[Cathulhu]

What PNY SSD do you have? They have models with and without DRAM Cache.

[TsukiMarisa]

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

What PNY SSD do you have? They have models with and without DRAM Cache.

It's PNY CS900 SSD 1TB and yes, this one is DRAM-less. I do not know for the cheap chinese one
But a question still remains for me (if DRAM was the issue). Why would it happen on Windows only?

[Silicon Vampire]

I've seen controller fails that cause errors on any drive connected and are very hard to pin down in Windows.

In this case, it might be the difference in the way the OSes interface with hardware.

[nullable]

Originally posted by TsukiMarisa:

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

What PNY SSD do you have? They have models with and without DRAM Cache.

It's PNY CS900 SSD 1TB and yes, this one is DRAM-less. I do not know for the cheap chinese one
But a question still remains for me (if DRAM was the issue). Why would it happen on Windows only?

Different OS'es may handle storage differently would be one obvious possibility. If you can show that every setting and feature is configured and functions identically between linux and windows, then that's something. If you're just assuming it's all the same and it's not, well obvious flaw with the assumption.

[Satoru]

Originally posted by TsukiMarisa:

Hello guys,

I've been trying to fix an issue for quite some time now but no success.

So, whenever I want to download something (mostly games), my download starts correctly at ~100MB/s for like 15 seconds. After that, the downloading becomes very slow, stop and restart itself frequently.

https://imgur.com/a/AMbpv1J

The issue looks like it comes from my SSD. It looks saturated, blocks itself at 100% with a high response time and slow writing speed.

But here's the thing, it only happens on Windows. I've tested the same SSD, on the same PC on Debian, on steam with the same game and my download is fast and smooth.

Also, crystaldisk shows 100% health, and the same problem occured to my second SSD, which never had problems before. It happens everywhere, mostly Steam, Rockstar game Launcher, Ubisoft launcher, Epic.

I've tested some solutions I saw before, but no success.

Any chances someone could explain why and how Windows makes my downloads THAT slow?

Your screenshot literally shows the issue. Your disk is 100% utilized. It has no IO left to download things.

The reason is becuase as steam patches files it is both cpu and disk IO intensive. As such steam stops downloading patch files while a file is being patched. Because, as your screenshot shows, the disk can become IO saturated. If yout ry to download files in this state, it just takes longer for everything to complete.

[TsukiMarisa]

Originally posted by Satoru:

Originally posted by TsukiMarisa:

Hello guys,

I've been trying to fix an issue for quite some time now but no success.

So, whenever I want to download something (mostly games), my download starts correctly at ~100MB/s for like 15 seconds. After that, the downloading becomes very slow, stop and restart itself frequently.

https://imgur.com/a/AMbpv1J

The issue looks like it comes from my SSD. It looks saturated, blocks itself at 100% with a high response time and slow writing speed.

But here's the thing, it only happens on Windows. I've tested the same SSD, on the same PC on Debian, on steam with the same game and my download is fast and smooth.

Also, crystaldisk shows 100% health, and the same problem occured to my second SSD, which never had problems before. It happens everywhere, mostly Steam, Rockstar game Launcher, Ubisoft launcher, Epic.

I've tested some solutions I saw before, but no success.

Any chances someone could explain why and how Windows makes my downloads THAT slow?

Your screenshot literally shows the issue. Your disk is 100% utilized. It has no IO left to download things.

The reason is becuase as steam patches files it is both cpu and disk IO intensive. As such steam stops downloading patch files while a file is being patched. Because, as your screenshot shows, the disk can become IO saturated. If yout ry to download files in this state, it just takes longer for everything to complete.

Why would it behave this way tho?
My two options are:

- DRAM-less SSD so less performance. Could be the issue since since Windows and Linux don't handle files the same way.
- Faulty SSD, tho I don't really believe it.

Originally posted by Silicon Vampire:

I've seen controller fails that cause errors on any drive connected and are very hard to pin down in Windows.

In this case, it might be the difference in the way the OSes interface with hardware.

There is also this issue, but as he said, it's hard to see what's wrong. And I also have zero knowledge on that

[Cathulhu]

You bought cheap and got burned. That's what happened.

[TsukiMarisa]

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

You bought cheap and got burned. That's what happened.

A faulty SSD could still run "fine"? Because that's the only issue I have. If it was burned, it would completely stop, no?

[TsukiMarisa]

Also, if DRAM is the issue. What are the best SATA SSD in the market with DRAM? Also, what's the difference between SLC, MLC and QLC ?