New SSD slowing CPU-intensive tasks

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FirebrandCoding

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Dec 16, 2016
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After my previous SSD (SP S70 120GB) failed, I've decided to put a new one into my laptop (Acer Aspire ES1-311-C2N7). It used to hold an HDD (WD5000LPVX 500GB), which I used before and between the two SSDs and didn't have a problem with (outside of its HDD-slow speed).

The new SSD is Samsung 850 EVO 120GB, previously unused. I've installed and re-installed Windows 10 and a couple of Linux distros on it; currently sitting on the latest Win10. It works fine with the usual tasks of reading and writing files from/to the external HDD.

When I try to watch an H264-encoded 1080p .mkv, however, or when I launch even moderately-CPU-intensive games (TIS-100, SHENZHEN I/O, Dota 2, even Star Wars: Republic Commando), it slows down to a stutter, giving me barely 20 FPS, if that. I used to play Dota 2 on the SP SSD and on the HDD just fine with 30+ FPS, with no lag whatsoever on the low graphics, and Rogue Trooper, a 2006 TPS, without the fancy stuff like AA.

Odd thing is: whenever I watch a YouTube video in 720p, it runs just fine, with a handful of barely-noticable stutters. Whenever I download the same video with the same quality, it runs at less than 15 FPS (I've managed to up it to 20+ FPS through voodoo rituals with the player's wide array of settings). I've just temporary re-installed the HDD to make sure, and even the aforementioned H264-encoded film runs just fine.

The BIOS/UEFI runs on AHCI mode. The SSD is connected through the SATA II, even though the SSD itself supports SATA III. I've checked the speeds using Samsung Magician, and it gave me astonishing, m.2-levels of sequential read/write at ~1400 MB/s, each, so I've checked it with AS SSD Benchmark, which gave me more realistic ~240 MB/s seq. read/write and ~22/~41 MB/s 4k read/write, respectively.

Do I need a new SSD? Am I missing something to tweak? Did I mess something up?
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, FirebrandCoding.

It is a bit strange that this would happen with a new SSD. Do you have the option to give it a go with a different computer, to see if the same thing happens? I'd also recommend that you test it for errors, to see if there's anything out of the ordinary. You should also check if there's an available firmware update for that SSD model.
Other than that make sure that all the drivers for the laptop are up to date.

As for the 1400MB/s I assume you have RAPID mode enabled. This basically uses some of your RAM in order to speed up the SSD's performance. Turn it off to see if it changes anything.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD
 
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FirebrandCoding

Commendable
Dec 16, 2016
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Hey, Boogieman_WD. Thanks for the reply.

I'll see if I can check the SSD at home, with the desktop. I believe it has the same SATA II socket on the motherboard.

Just checked it for the other things you suggested. Samsung Magician says that the latest version of the firmware is already installed. There also seems to be no errors on the SSD, according to the Windows built-in checking tool. Its health is fine according to multiple pieces of software. The drivers all seem to be fine, as well.

Could it be something from the particular model of laptops that causes problems with this particular model of SSDs? A cursory research on the matter suggests that nobody seems to have that kind of a problem with Samsung SSDs or SSDs in general specifically with the laptop I'm using, however.

You were right: when I tested the speeds, RAPID mode was, indeed, enabled. Checking the speeds with it off shows far more plausible numbers of around 280 MB/s for sequential read/write. One thing I've noticed, though, is that I've already written about a terabyte of data on the SSD, which doesn't sound right. I may have been streaming quite a bit of video (it works fine in the browser) and I may have tried a couple of games on (a couple of which were over 10 GB each), but a TB of data? Is that normal for only about a month of usage?
 
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dgingeri

dgingeri

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That 1TB of writes was probably memory swapping due to the Rapid mode taking up so much memory and then running a game. With Rapid mode off, it should significantly reduce the writes to the SSD and allow for it to last longer.
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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For newly installed system's it's normal for the writes to be much more in the beginning while everything's been configured before it settles in.
As for a possible issue because of incompatibility problems between the laptop model and the SSD model, I don't think it's very likely, but you never know. You could get in touch with either the laptop or SSD manufacturer's customer support to see if something like this might be the cause for the problems.
 
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FirebrandCoding

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Dec 16, 2016
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That would explain it. Thanks for the information. I need worry much less after that.

Well, I tried testing the SSD on the desktop a few days ago, and... it didn't launch. The BIOS saw it and designated it as the main boot drive, but all I had from the system was BIOS post-welcome-screen black screen with the underline, as if for input (you get a flash of it between the welcome screen and system loading when everything's alright; I don't know what it's called). I didn't check if the SSD itself was running.

I didn't have much time to test it out more. It was connected to the motherboard with a SATA cable and a power cable, using the same port the desktop's SSD was using (I swapped it for testing purposes; this SSD works fine in its place). I will have more time to test it later, however. Would it be a good idea to try and use both SSDs in the same case (the desktop SSD holds the PC's system)? I'm going to try the desktop SSD in the laptop.

Presuming that it's some sort of read/write bottleneck, I'm going to try running an HD film off the laptop SSD when I put it into the PC. Launching local games sounds like a good idea as well. Is there anything else I should try?
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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It's normal for you not to be able to boot to Windows with the laptop's SSD and your desktop computer. I expect the same thing to happen if you try the desktop computer's SSD with the laptop. It's just that the two computers have very different configurations and the OS has already been configured for the hardware of the system you've used to install Windows.
So go ahead and connect the new SSD to the desktop computer and boot from the desktop computer's SSD as usual. The new SSD should be available as a secondary storage drive, so yes, you could try playing some videos or start a game and see if the same issues occur.
 
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dgingeri

dgingeri

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I have done that many times, going a long way back. It worked well under any OS up through Windows 98SE, but caused issues under Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Windows 8 and 10 don't mind it a bit, except it needs activation again. Even moving from an AMD based machine to an Intel based machine showed no issues at all other than activation with Windows 10.
 
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FirebrandCoding

Commendable
Dec 16, 2016
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1,510
Just checked the SSD on the desktop. It works just fine: games run smoothly, videos show no sign of a problem with replaying. Must be the laptop, then. I have no clue what it might be, just some ideas. Either it got somehow damaged when installing or through the presence of the SSD or there was an underlying problem that didn't show up before for some reason.

Seems like the problem is with CPU, though HTML5 videos on YouTube replay just fine, only slowing down on 1080p, as they always did with my laptop. What else might I want to check for? Is there anything I could do? Replacing the SSD would be beyond me in terms of budget right now, so I hope to try every free option before it comes to that.
 
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FirebrandCoding

Commendable
Dec 16, 2016
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1,510


I didn't install any drivers of my own. All of them - CPU, embedded video etc. - are of latest versions, according to the Windows Device Manager.

It isn't video streaming, either. YouTube videos work just fine at 720p, with a bit of lag when at 60 FPS. Whenever I watch the same video on the laptop (that is, saved locally), I experience a good amount of video lag that has never happened with the previous SSD or the HDD. Same lag, but for every aspect, happens to non-Windows video games (Solitaire works fine, for example).

Good thing is: I'll be able to test the SSD on the laptop of the exact same model as mine in about two weeks. I'll post the results once I manage to test it.
 
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FirebrandCoding

Commendable
Dec 16, 2016
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1,510
Okay... This is some voodoo going on.

I've just replaced the Samsung (850 EVO 128 Gb) SSD with a Kingston one (V300 128 Gb); both were bought off the shelf. Clean Windows 10 install with the latest updates. On the HDD (the stock one - WD5000LPVX - in use between the SSDs), everything worked fine: films, games, music, browsing, you name it. Here it gives massive stuttering on 1080p films (but not the smaller ones, resolution- and density-of-data-wise) and about 15 FPS on Dota 2 in main menu. For the reference, it ran Dota 2 at 30 FPS easily with the stock HDD.

I've also had the opportunity to test the Samsung SSD on a laptop of the same model as mine a few days ago. It ran with just as much problem with the same kind of stuff: YouTube and documents - fine, local video and games - not fine.

This isn't supposed to happen... So why does it? Could it be some sort of energy supply problem, with the SSD rerouting more electricity from the embedded graphics and/or CPU? It clearly isn't storage problem on its own: copying and pasting is as quick as is advertised.

I now have two very different SSDs the workings of which make no sense on my system. Any advice as to what I could do to fix that?
 
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