Games freeze for ~1 second whenever a new asset is loaded

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izoughe

Commendable
Jan 30, 2017
2
0
1,510
When playing some games that otherwise have no performance issues, the game will frequently freeze for approximately 1 second.

Games that freeze:
-Smite
-Terraria (singleplayer and multiplayer)
-Counter Strike: Global Offensive (much less frequently than the other two)

Games that do not seem to have an issue:
-Binding of Isaac
-Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
-FTL: Faster than Light

I think these freezes have something to do with loading new assets, because the freezes happen when an enemy uses an ability they haven't used in a while in Smite, when I kill an enemy after a few minutes of not fighting in Terraria, and the (occasionally) first time I shoot a weapon each life in Counter Strike.

I am using a Lenovo Ideapad Y700 laptop, and the specifications are as follows:
Windows 10 Home Edition 64-bit
Intel Core i7-6700HQ, 4 cores @ 2.6 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
256 GB SSD
1 TB HDD: 5400 rpm, 16mb cache

I have my operating system and school-related software (CAD-modeling software, Microsoft Visual Studio, etc.) on my SSD and the games on the HDD.

I moved Terraria to the SSD and that seemed to fix the issue. However, I would rather avoid storing games on the SSD. Does anyone have any suggestions to fix (or lessen) this issue without moving games off the HDD?
 
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Well, that's some good news about the tests. And yes, your guess is correct about the tests.
The actual time vs estimated time remaining on the extended test is an interesting observation. Thanks for the info.

If it's not a drive it could be caused by something simpler, like a corrupted driver. So I'd suggest that you make sure that you update all the drivers for the laptop's components, or at least reinstall them, to see if that changes anything.

You could also try running a memory test as freezing/hanging of your system while gaming can often be related to faulty RAM as well.
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Hey there, izoughe.

If you used to play those games without any issues while installed on the HDD and these problems started recently, then we might be looking at a faulty drive. However, you'll need to do some tests before we're completely sure about that.
First, start by backing up any important data which you might have on that HDD. This is just a cautionary measure in case there's really something wrong with the drive. When you're done with that, go ahead and download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool in order to run the tests and see what's the situation with the drive. If you don't know the manufacturer of the HDD or you want to double-check, you could go with a 3rd party diagnostic tool from this article: https://www.lifewire.com/free-hard-drive-testing-programs-2626183.

By the way, cheers for playing Binding of Isaac! It's one of my most favorite games. :D

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD
 
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I

izoughe

Commendable
Jan 30, 2017
2
0
1,510
After backing up all important data on the HDD, I the manufacturer's diagnostic tool (Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics). I ran both the "quick" and "extended" tests, and neither of them detected any issues.

According to the program, the quick test verifies the Data Lifeguard information contained on the drive (I'm not really sure what that means - possibly checking the integrity of data markers placed there by the manufacturer?). The extended test performs a "Full Media Scan" to detect bad sectors - presumably for every sector on the drive.

Side note - I timed most of the extended scan because I was curious and bored, and the actual time remaining on the scan was always very close to 1.5 * the time remaining predicted by the program. I don't think that's relevant, just interesting.

I don't know if these issues have always been here. I got the laptop this past summer, and until a couple months ago, I only very occasionally played those games I mentioned that cause an issue. I don't know if the issue was there and I just didn't notice it as a recurrent problem because I rarely saw it, or if it started sometime more recently.

Also, I can now confirm that this issue happens in the original Deus Ex game (I think whenever it tries to load a new sound file).

If the problem isn't a faulty hard drive, what could it be? Could it be just a poorly optimized HDD, or are there other more plausible possibilities?
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Well, that's some good news about the tests. And yes, your guess is correct about the tests.
The actual time vs estimated time remaining on the extended test is an interesting observation. Thanks for the info.

If it's not a drive it could be caused by something simpler, like a corrupted driver. So I'd suggest that you make sure that you update all the drivers for the laptop's components, or at least reinstall them, to see if that changes anything.

You could also try running a memory test as freezing/hanging of your system while gaming can often be related to faulty RAM as well.
 
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