Choppy download on steam only

[TreyUwU]

It happened randomly since a month and I can't figure out wtf is going on with this.

I have a 860QVO 1to that I use for games
5700x3d
16 gigs ram 3200
6700xt

For some reason when I download any big game from steam, the disk usage ramps up to 100% and the download speed becomes very choppy, stopping and restarting every 10-20 seconds while the disk writing speed goes down to the same speed as my HDD.

It's exclusively related to steam as Ubisoft Connect or any other game on GoG are downloading perfecly fine at 100mo/s without any hiccups.

When it takes 15 minutes+- for Ubisoft Connect to download 100go, steam takes more than 2 hours just because it keeps stopping and restarting while taking the whole disk.


Disk writing cache isn't the culprit as it did not work disabling it.
Only steam is using the disk at the time of download, nothing else is using it.
Windows install is fresh, reinstalled it today.
Reinstalled steam.

The issue seems to be between my SSD and steam since my NVMe doesn't have any issues downloading, but it's not there for games.
My SSD also only have an issue with steam.

Does anyone have any clues as to what's going on ? I'm losing my mind.

[ˢᵈˣ FatCat]

When this Anomaly start happening?
Try Restart your Router first,
I know you think but other platform is working fine.
but maybe the route to Steam server is whacky, so usually turn off and wait 5 minutes would work
Check health your SSD,

[_I_]

disk at 100%
was the ssd ever near full, over 90%

[Little Sparrow]

I am using a brand new pc and having the same issue. Very confused

[_I_]

specs?

post a cpuz validation link
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
cpuz -> validate button -> submit button
it will open a browser, copy the url (address) and paste it here


steam download compressed files that need to be saved to disk, decompressed and copied
much more disk activity than just downloading and dumping like speedtests do, and may be less efficient than others that download larger decompressed files

in bios if the drive controller is set to legacy mode, it will take a huge performance hit also

[TreyUwU]

Originally posted by _I_:

disk at 100%
was the ssd ever near full, over 90%

SSD is never filled more than 90%, I always leave at least 150go free.
I'll post a cpuz when I have the time.

Specs are in the post, windows 11

[C1REX]

Steam has substantially faster download speeds than most other stores.
Not sure if possible but it sounds like your SSD is overheating when downloading from steam. Try limiting download speed in steam settings and see if it makes any difference. Not too much - just to keep your SSD below 100% utilisation.

[Andrius227]

Steam downloads are also compressed, and require more work to uncompress. Maybe that is the difference. Dont know if its the same on other stores.

Unpacking files is not limited by internet connection and could easily max out a sata ssd.

[ˢᵈˣ FatCat]

But as you can see, his rig is more than enough, hell i even download game using my HDD, so before we say his SSD is broken and stuff, it's cheaper to see the network first

[Ontrix_Kitsune]

Originally posted by TreyUwU:

I have a 860QVO 1to that I use for games

That's your problem right there. The QVO line of samsung SSD's all use QLC memory. QLC memory is the slowest out of all possible options for SSD's in terms of read/write performance. Your SSD is getting overwhelmed when you Install games from steam.

Do note I said Install, not download. Steam is misleading in that it is not just downloading your games when it says it is "downloading". Steam expands/installs your games while downloading. Which can overload cheaper, slower SSD's and cause slow downs.

[C1REX]

Originally posted by ˢᵈˣ FatCat:

But as you can see, his rig is more than enough, hell i even download game using my HDD, so before we say his SSD is broken and stuff, it's cheaper to see the network first

I agree. Fiber broadband can be demanding. I have slightly similar experience to his where downloading from steam really put pressure on my relatively strong PC when there were absolutely no difference between shops when I was on a standard, copper based broadband.

[Elucidator]

What does reinstall windows mean in your case, because people have been indirect about it in the past.
Did you format your drive and installed windows freshly on this , did you simply restore the windows installation to how it was (to an extend) before updates or did you do something else?

How different is your registry from a clean install and before the reinstall?
in other words: what else did you change, what did you install on top of windows, specifically changes which are related to your network?
(I assume the problem didn't exist before the reinstall)

Glance through anything that saves power when downloading through steam:
- Power Management plan settings
- including Core Parking (use third party software or enable it)
- Driver settings

Take a glance at the individual cpu cores processing the download (by default, downloads are offloaded to the cpu, consider disabling this maybe.)

Try to look at what else becomes active during download and see if you can adjust that; maybe its your antivirus finding steam suspicious and is scanning everything as Steam downloads.

[TreyUwU]

Originally posted by Elucidator:

What does reinstall windows mean in your case, because people have been indirect about it in the past.
Did you format your drive and installed windows freshly on this , did you simply restore the windows installation to how it was (to an extend) before updates or did you do something else?

How different is your registry from a clean install and before the reinstall?
in other words: what else did you change, what did you install on top of windows, specifically changes which are related to your network?
(I assume the problem didn't exist before the reinstall)

Glance through anything that saves power when downloading through steam:
- Power Management plan settings
- including Core Parking (use third party software or enable it)
- Driver settings

Take a glance at the individual cpu cores processing the download (by default, downloads are offloaded to the cpu, consider disabling this maybe.)

Try to look at what else becomes active during download and see if you can adjust that; maybe its your antivirus finding steam suspicious and is scanning everything as Steam downloads.

I cleaned the NVMe from the bios (SecureErase), unplugged all other disks and installed windows back into the NVMe with a USB boot that I downloaded before cleaning the drive.

Originally posted by Ontrix_Kitsune:

That's your problem right there. The QVO line of samsung SSD's all use QLC memory. QLC memory is the slowest out of all possible options for SSD's in terms of read/write performance. Your SSD is getting overwhelmed when you Install games from steam.

Do note I said Install, not download. Steam is misleading in that it is not just downloading your games when it says it is "downloading". Steam expands/installs your games while downloading. Which can overload cheaper, slower SSD's and cause slow downs.

Okay, well it makes sense.

Ubi connect or any other launcher really can download max speed without any problems, even if steam does that differently, I can't understand why it keeps doing it the way it does when it fails to be effective for a lot of users.

I just don't understand why it's only a steam issue because as I said, on Ubisoft Connect I can download steadily at max speed without any problems. This launcher also enables you to play games when the important files are done (not recommended but still) which means that it also installs it same time as it downloads. Ubi launcher might not compress the files prior to download, that I don't know.

Also while it's going at max speed, the SSD usage never get past the 30-40%, unlike steam where it just saturate the SSD completely.

I'll try to find a good SATA SSD then.

Maybe swapping to an EVO ?

Originally posted by C1REX:

Steam has substantially faster download speeds than most other stores.
Not sure if possible but it sounds like your SSD is overheating when downloading from steam. Try limiting download speed in steam settings and see if it makes any difference. Not too much - just to keep your SSD below 100% utilisation.

My SSD averages 15° (I have a very cold room) when Idle, 25 when playing games or downloading. It's on the very front of the tower behing a 240mm fan.
Based on Samsung Magician.

My NVMe runs way hotter (up to 45°) and doesn't have any issues. Both are same age (2 years old)

I did extended SMART test on the SSD, no errors, health on crystal disk is at 99% without any errors.

Read/Write tests on SSD with Samsung Mag show no issues too.

Truly, I just don't know at all.

No matter what I set as the limit, the SSD will fluctuate between 80 mo/s and 20 mo/s, in both case it's sitting at 100% on the task manager.
It usually can go way faster than that, it's just steam for some reason.

Originally posted by ˢᵈˣ FatCat:

But as you can see, his rig is more than enough, hell i even download game using my HDD, so before we say his SSD is broken and stuff, it's cheaper to see the network first

My network is completely fine, it goes up to 150 mo/s on ubi connect without any interruptions.
On steam it's just hiccups and saturates the drive until it's done.

No matter the speed, on steam it fluctuates between

A 100go game is done in 10-15 minutes on ubi connect, on steam it's up to 1 hour or more.

I'm just going to look out for a new SSD at this point, I can't solve this issue it seems. It must be hardware related.

I'll just do a bios update before doing that lol. Anything goes.

Originally posted by _I_:

specs?

post a cpuz validation link
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
cpuz -> validate button -> submit button
it will open a browser, copy the url (address) and paste it here

This is what you asked.
https://valid.x86.fr/ui8wqt


Thanks for taking the time to answer/help !

[Ontrix_Kitsune]

Originally posted by TreyUwU:

I just don't understand why it's only a steam issue because as I said, on Ubisoft Connect I can download steadily at max speed without any problems.

It's like this because (as you are starting to learn) not all apps on PC behave the same way even though they may appear (on the surface) to perform the same function. Steam, Ubisoft, GOG Galaxy, Rockstar games launcher, Blizzard's launcher, etc. All of them install, download, and unpack games in a different way. Each and every one of them will have a different impact on our hardware (faster or slower). Just because your computer runs well in app A does not mean it should also be expected to run fast in App B, or App C, even though all 3 apps install and download games.

The same thing applies to computer games too: Just because you get 200 FPS in 1 game does not mean that you should also expect 200 FPS in all other games. Every single game (even those made by the same developer) will all behave differently on our computers. Even if you get 200 FPS in Game A you might get 20 FPS in Game B. That doesn't mean that anything is wrong with your computer. It's just not fast enough to get the same performance in Game B that it could in Game A.

Unfortunately this is the nature of computers.

[Corona Scurrae]

steam is sensitive to how good your ssd is. I have no problem on my evo or wd black but as soon as I try to download a game on my sn570 ( got 2x 2TB for like 35 quid each ) it slows down considerably.
but that only happens on steam and nowhere else.