Hard Drive slowing down entire PC?

[Lazar_99]

Hi guys. I have a problem. I recently bought a new motherboard ( MSI 970A G46) and unlocked the 4th core. I tried some games and i was pretty satisfied how it runs on games like crysis 2 and BF3 but when i played the new nfs most wanted 2 it was lagging the same as when i had the 4th core locked. I tried overclocking both CPU and GPU and not a single frame more, although i have high fps the game still lags. I have a Seagate 160gb barracuda sata2 from 2007 and its the only thing i haven't replaced yet. Also when gaming the hard drive runs really hot and when i tough the side of the case where the HDD is located its hot so i think its too slow or is overheating and is bottlenecking the PC. Gonna buy a new SATA3 500gb drive soon. I feel like the drive is dying because it boots up pretty slow in the last few months and takes a hell of a time to be ready for normal use in windows and all i can hear is the HDD working, is it possible that i get lags in games and slow boot up time because of the hard drive?

 

[noidea_77]

Strange questions for a veteran! At least your full system specs would be nice.

 

[jitpublisher]

Yes, it is very possible. That drive is pretty outdated, and if its getting full, of course that makes a huge difference too. A nearly full, fragmented drive can literally crawl with slowness. I am not sure about the NFS2, but you do know that not all games can make use of multiple cores, so unless the game is written to use 4 cores, unlocking the last core probably is not much help at all for most games. In your specs you also list a green drive, and while the power saving features are nice, they are not really great for performance or gaming.

 

[samuelspark]

How much RAM do you have?

 

[Lazar_99]

Strange questions for a veteran! At least your full system specs would be nice.

Well having lots of points doesn't mean i know everything. I have low experience with hard drives and i intend to learn about em'

 

[Lazar_99]

How much RAM do you have?

8gb of Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz DDR3 RAM

 

[Lazar_99]

Yes, it is very possible. That drive is pretty outdated, and if its getting full, of course that makes a huge difference too. A nearly full, fragmented drive can literally crawl with slowness. I am not sure about the NFS2, but you do know that not all games can make use of multiple cores, so unless the game is written to use 4 cores, unlocking the last core probably is not much help at all for most games. In your specs you also list a green drive, and while the power saving features are nice, they are not really great for performance or gaming.

Well half empty or full it performs the same. I feel like its going to die any moment. Windows 7 rates it at 5.7 and all my other components are above 7. CPU: 7.5, RAM: 7.9, GPU 7.8 and the hard drive is 5.7 xD

 

[samuelspark]

It'd be worth a try to get a new HDD. Have you confirmed your CPU/GPU is not throttling due to temps?

 

[Lazar_99]

It'd be worth a try to get a new HDD. Have you confirmed your CPU/GPU is not throttling due to temps?

I'm getting a new Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500gb SATA3. And if anything is overheating its the drive. GPU and CPU temps are fine. I have good airflow and an aftermarket on the CPU and yet still the hard drive manages to heat up my side panel, i can't imagine how would i get burned if i touch it.

 

[Lazar_99]

Best answer selected by Lazar_99.