Steam download / write slow to NVME C: drive but not SATA SSD E: drive

[Markaner]

Hi,

Have this really weird issue where my download starts fast but keeps dropping to 0mb/s when downloading to my superior C drive (WD SN550 1TB NVME). However, when downloading to my SATA SSD it is downloading at 100mb/s non stop. What could be the issue to this? No other game store has any problems downloading to my C drive.

[tres onze]

Originally posted by Markaner:

Originally posted by OneGram:

I don’t know if you ever got this fixed, but I had the same problem and I did find a way to fix it. By default, your system has what is called “windows write caching” enabled for your internal drives. This basically downloads things to your ram to keep your system running faster but it takes FOREVER to unpack from ram and it does it super lazily causing your write speeds to plummet. Disable windows write caching (google it, it’s easy) and it will fix these download issues

TLDR; DISABLE WINDOWS WRITE CACHING TO SPEED UP STEAM DOWNLOADS

THANK YOU! Didn't see your reply until now. This fixed it 100%. I now download at a consistent 100MB/S without dropping. Really appreciate your help.

did you disable write caching on hdd and ssd or just the ssd?

[Markaner]

Originally posted by 311:

Originally posted by Markaner:

THANK YOU! Didn't see your reply until now. This fixed it 100%. I now download at a consistent 100MB/S without dropping. Really appreciate your help.

did you disable write caching on hdd and ssd or just the ssd?

I just did it on my SSD as that is the disk that was extremely slow. However, everytime I restart the computer I have to disable the setting again.

[earthapeking]

Originally posted by OneGram:

I don’t know if you ever got this fixed, but I had the same problem and I did find a way to fix it. By default, your system has what is called “windows write caching” enabled for your internal drives. This basically downloads things to your ram to keep your system running faster but it takes FOREVER to unpack from ram and it does it super lazily causing your write speeds to plummet. Disable windows write caching (google it, it’s easy) and it will fix these download issues

TLDR; DISABLE WINDOWS WRITE CACHING TO SPEED UP STEAM DOWNLOADS

Hi You are MVP
i upgrade my old PC with M.2 drive and get this issues, and got this issues twice from 2 pc i did upgrade , test from other pc that SSD still on sata same game same download server no issues only my 2 pc which upgrade to m2 SSD

I gone through many articles , and suspect caching things either from steam or window too. but cloudn't find the right explanation until this one thank you this frustrate me for weeks . i have to download to sata drive ssd then move to m2 later for weeks

Thank again

You are few of person who understand how computer work most people just yapyap and thrown angry response that this is not possible Storage should not effect download speed blah blah blah smh :D.

ANYWAY DOES STEAM ACKNOWLEDGE THIS ISSUES ????

[Sarmoche]

Originally posted by OneGram:

I don’t know if you ever got this fixed, but I had the same problem and I did find a way to fix it. By default, your system has what is called “windows write caching” enabled for your internal drives. This basically downloads things to your ram to keep your system running faster but it takes FOREVER to unpack from ram and it does it super lazily causing your write speeds to plummet. Disable windows write caching (google it, it’s easy) and it will fix these download issues

TLDR; DISABLE WINDOWS WRITE CACHING TO SPEED UP STEAM DOWNLOADS

Life saver. thanks a lot omg it was so annoying.

[Chiquita Banana]

Originally posted by Rostov:

Originally posted by OneGram:

I don’t know if you ever got this fixed, but I had the same problem and I did find a way to fix it. By default, your system has what is called “windows write caching” enabled for your internal drives. This basically downloads things to your ram to keep your system running faster but it takes FOREVER to unpack from ram and it does it super lazily causing your write speeds to plummet. Disable windows write caching (google it, it’s easy) and it will fix these download issues

TLDR; DISABLE WINDOWS WRITE CACHING TO SPEED UP STEAM DOWNLOADS

Life saver. thanks a lot omg it was so annoying.

yeah, it is :D
But only WD NVME seems to cause problems. I got a SN570 and i got this issue.
With ma Samsung 980 Nvme, i dont have Problems, and all works fine.

[Shadowpaw]

Yea I've also had this issue and it's only WD nvme. 3 gaming pcs for the family and the 3 WD nvme all have this same issue. I ended up throttling download limit to 40MB so they can keep up when games patch on the nvme so I'm not constantly disabling write caching. It's not a fix but the drives seem to keep downloading with the limit set but when a new large game is downloaded then I'll disable the write cache and limit to get it done quicker.

[Chiquita Banana]

Originally posted by Shadowpaw:

I ended up throttling download limit to 40MB so they can keep up when games patch on the nvme so I'm not constantly disabling write caching.

How i can do it? :D in Steam?

[Elucidator]

I think it is a bug (the problem OP had at least)
I think it has something to do with the firmware or NVMe driver. Yeah, Samsung NVMe SSDs are not affected and it also seems not all WD SSDs are.. I still have no clue what the commonality is there basically.
Maybe a driver update / firmware update fixed it, but people are satisfied with the setting turned off, so-- I guess they won't bother to check.

I noticed some WD SSDs have a feature called "Predictive Loading"
perhaps that is the problem causer, no clue.
https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/western-digital/product/internal-drives/wd-black-ssd/data-sheet-wd-black-sn850x-nvme-ssd.pdf
Some WD SSDs come with their own Dash Board application. Perhaps that is influencing the download somehow as well..

Steam's download stream is something Windows sees as a Media Stream (for whatever reason).
Perhaps that gives a hint.

WD's website has Maintenance currently, so I can't look around to see if I can find Firmware Updates, a changelog or an NVMe driver.
Perhaps the software that came with your SSD has an update feature. I recommend looking at that.

[Markaner]

Originally posted by Elucidator:

I think it is a bug (the problem OP had at least)
I think it has something to do with the firmware or NVMe driver. Yeah, Samsung NVMe SSDs are not affected and it also seems not all WD SSDs are.. I still have no clue what the commonality is there basically.
Maybe a driver update / firmware update fixed it, but people are satisfied with the setting turned off, so-- I guess they won't bother to check.

I noticed some WD SSDs have a feature called "Predictive Loading"
perhaps that is the problem causer, no clue.
https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/western-digital/product/internal-drives/wd-black-ssd/data-sheet-wd-black-sn850x-nvme-ssd.pdf
Some WD SSDs come with their own Dash Board application. Perhaps that is influencing the download somehow as well..

Steam's download stream is something Windows sees as a Media Stream (for whatever reason).
Perhaps that gives a hint.

WD's website has Maintenance currently, so I can't look around to see if I can find Firmware Updates, a changelog or an NVMe driver.
Perhaps the software that came with your SSD has an update feature. I recommend looking at that.

I just downloaded the WD dashboard and checked for updates. Everything was green and it said I already have the lastest update. Crazy how this has been an issue for years on very common drives. And only Steam seems to be having this issue.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

NVMe as a boot AND storage drive?!? Good luck with that...

[KiTy]

hi i know this is old but just now my Samsung 970 Evo plus NVMe seems to be affected by it and this was solve by disabling the write caching. I want to know more what causes this thing and how problematic can they be in future or if there is a fix that would make it normal (with write cache turned on similar on my 2.5 SSD's and before this problem occurs). everything is updated as said in Samsung magician. I also notice that the problem occurs even when doing diagnostics and performance test, it hangs the drive and will only be fixed by a forced restart. I'm thinking of getting a warranty since i just bought it last Feb. Would that be a better option than disabling the write cache? Thanks!

[Elucidator]

You maybe able to get more information on the issue if you get into contact with Samsung. Also this is the first time I am hearing that other tools are also affected by the issue, but I am not surprised of that. Usually people just notice it with downloading.

You could try getting through warrantee, but its possible you get the exact same device back with the same issue (it maybe a factory problem)
I highly recommend to get into contact with Samsung anyway (or western digital about these things) since they need know and should fix it.

[Markaner]

Please everyone make sure to report this to steam. This has been an issue for years and they still have not fixed it. Also, it seems to be only steam that causes this issue so they are doing something wrong on their side.

[KiTy]

may be mine is isolated case but I found a forum saying that a failing hdd affects the nvme, and sure is. my storage hdd is in good condition when using crystaldisk but there is one parameter that notify me to be cautious of. i remove the drive then put everything back to default then bam, everything works fine. I replaced my hdd with a good one and the problem never occurs. hopes this information helps.

[Shinra92]

can confirm my issue is fixed. i tried installing to my 2tb teamgroup ssd and it was fine. it only did it on my western digital sn570 blue 500gb this lead me to google installing game to c nvme connection cutting in and out and found this post. this indeed fixed my issue after turning write cache off. i thought it was windows, my network drivers, my router, my isp i tried everything. and i do get power outages very frequently where i live so write caching is off on all drives now. i was considering downgrading back to my 100mb/s connection as this problem had been plaguing me for months. it didnt seem worth to have gig internet if steam was gonna do this.