Helios 300 ph315-51: 100% hdd usage spikes

Hello my friends. I have an acer predator helios 300 (ph315-51) with a m.2 hfs128g39tnd-n210a SSD and a 2.5 inch toshiba mq04abf100 HDD drive. Now, I noticed 1 second stutters throughout my windows (opening folders and programs) that happen apparently randomly, especially noticeable in some games (the stutters happen in some games, not in others). I found out that the stutters occur in proximity of a 100% usage HDD spikes, like the ones in the screenshots.

I tried everything: fresh windows install, latest drivers, safe mode, disabling all non essential software, intel RST installed and uninstalled, link state power management disabled and enabled, even unplugged and replugged the HDD ...nothing, the spikes are still here (I didn't try updating bios though, I have the 1.19 version, I don't know anything about bios updating nor I can find a newer version for my laptop, that's why I didn't try it yet)

What could be the issue? Is it solvable?

It's strange because it sometimes happens even when opening folders or zip files (that's what I was doing in the screeshots), that are stored on my D partition on the HDD or programs that are ALL installed C: (which is on the SSD). At first I thought maybe the in game stutters occur because the HDD is only 5400rpm, but then I noticed the problem even when doing simple and really light stuff, like opening an almost empty folder...It's driving me crazy, so I'm open to all suggestions how to discover what's the issue and how to solve it! Thanks in advance

(sorry for any english mistake, for the grammar nazis

)

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xapim

That is completely normal (on games in the hdd) some games only run fine on ssd move the those games to the ssd or upgrade your ssd if you don't have enough space if you want you could also upgrade your hdd to a 7200rpm drive (1tb max) for ex wd black 1tb if you need more than 1tb they are all 5400rpm and up to 2tb max as 3tb and 5tb drives are 15mm they will not fit only tp be used as external drives try to test your drives with cristal diskmark just to see what u get also just for curiosity i noticed you undervolted is it sable or did you had any bsods regarding the stuttering opening folders/files you could try a battery power drain pinhole reset and bios settings default after sometimes might fix it also might be worth to check all the background apps again just in case

Nasalmirror

xapim said:

That is completely normal (on games in the hdd) some games only run fine on ssd move the those games to the ssd or upgrade your ssd if you don't have enough space if you want you could also upgrade your hdd to a 7200rpm drive (1tb max) for ex wd black 1tb if you need more than 1tb they are all 5400rpm and up to 2tb max as 3tb and 5tb drives are 15mm they will not fit only tp be used as external drives try to test your drives with cristal diskmark just to see what u get also just for curiosity i noticed you undervolted is it sable or did you had any bsods regarding the stuttering opening folders/files you could try a battery power drain pinhole reset and bios settings default after sometimes might fix it also might be worth to check all the background apps again just in case

I tried not undervolted after I reinstalled windows 2 days ago, and it still does it. The fact is, that the spikes occur even when opening folders and small files sometimes (which isn't to blame on the slowness of the drive, it should just work fine at 5400rpm), but they are more noticeable in game of course, when I get a heave frame drop. In normal usage the spike are like a 1 second loading stutter.
I could try the reset in bios. One of the games that cause the spikes, on the ssd behaves perfectly, buttery smooth 60fps.

My undervolt is super stable, stress tested for 8 hours, after reaching end point and never had any bsod whatsoever.

I don't really know what else to do, it's driving me nuts :P Before upgrading the HDD to a 500gb SSD or 1tb 7200rpm, I want to be sure that it's a drive problem, and not a controller/laptop/driver issue, but I don't know how to proceed...

ven98

I am interested to know on what game you get the sluttering because of the HDD.

Some games can't really be played on HDD.

With the 7200rpm you will have a better access time compared to 5400rpm, but that doesn't guarantee the game won't slutter with the 7200rpm too.

Nasalmirror

ven98 said:

I am interested to know on what game you get the sluttering because of the HDD.

Some games can't really be played on HDD.

With the 7200rpm you will have a better access time compared to 5400rpm, but that doesn't guarantee the game won't slutter with the 7200rpm too.

I get stutters in divinity original sin 2 (can happen whenever, attacking enemy, opening a chest or inventory), Grim Dawn (in arena mode, stutter each time a new wave of enemies spawn, on ssd works great). Those 2 mainly. I don't play lots of games lately, Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight worked flawlessly. I know Grim Dawn is optimized poorly, but a friend of mine has similar specced PC to my laptop, same GPU, older CPU, and the game works 60fps smooth for him on normal HDD (which is probably 7200rpm, since it's a 1tb 3.5 inch).

The thing is, it's not only in games, it happens with folders and in general windows usage and the stranger thing is, I get the spikes even when opening f.e. Firefox, which is on the SSD, so the HDD shouldn't load anything teoretically.

ven98

It is possible that part of the drive is used for virtual memory, which can cause an additional stress on the drive. Go to control panel>advanced system settings>advanced>performance settings>advanced>virtual memory change, disable automatic paging file size for all drives and disable pagefile on the HDD.

Also download crystaldiskinfo(to check the drive health status) and crystaldiskmark(to benchmark the drive). If the read and write speed is around 80-90MB/s, that is normal for a 5400rpm drive.

Nasalmirror

ven98 said:

It is possible that part of the drive is used for virtual memory, which can cause an additional stress on the drive. Go to control panel>advanced system settings>advanced>performance settings>advanced>virtual memory change, disable automatic paging file size for all drives and disable pagefile on the HDD.

Also download crystaldiskinfo(to check the drive health status) and crystaldiskmark(to benchmark the drive). If the read and write speed is around 80-90MB/s, that is normal for a 5400rpm drive.

No paging, diskhealth is perfect in diskmark, and speed are 136 read and 138 write. I really don't know what else to do, if not try and get a 7200rpm drive, or a 2.5inch ssd instead of this drive...but as you said a 7200rpm could not solve my issues $:\$

ven98

136 read and 138 write? - are you sure your drive is 5400rpm? Download HWiNFO and check the HDD's hardware info.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/pi/z1rzh4w77h6c.png

Nasalmirror

Yep, 5400rpm, just checked in HWinfo

ven98

Instead of spending more to replace the drive, why don't you install the games that can't be played on an HDD on the M.2 SSD. This is what I would do.

I don't know how opening firefox, which is on the SSD affects the HDD.

Nasalmirror

ven98 said:

Instead of spending more to replace the drive, why don't you install the games that can't be played on an HDD on the M.2 SSD. This is what I would do.

I don't know how opening firefox, which is on the SSD affects the HDD.

I obviously thought of that. The problem is i've got only 128gb of storage. Divinity alone is 55gb..I could place the game a play most on the SSD if it has problems..anyway the issue occurs in normal windows usage sometimes, so it's not only games that cause it. That's why I'm trying to solve it, games are the lesser problem.

Nasalmirror

ven98 said:

Instead of spending more to replace the drive, why don't you install the games that can't be played on an HDD on the M.2 SSD. This is what I would do.

I don't know how opening firefox, which is on the SSD affects the HDD.

I was anyway thinking of buying an NVMe 250gb for system and software..the helios 300 ph315-51 should have another m.2 slot, which should also support NVMe. But I'm not sure. How could I check?

So I could use the 128gb SSD for demanding games, and keep my 1tb inside for storage

ven98

Helios 300 has a single M.2 port that is already occupied in your case.

Yes, a 128GB is certainly not enough for that.

Nasalmirror

OK, so HDD 7200rpm or a 2.5 ssd..does the m.2 slot support nvme??
I'm gonna try and solve the problem anyway, but it's only slightly noticeable and annoying when not in game.

ven98

The M.2 port supports NVMe.

7200rpm or SSD, to be honest I really don't know. You mentioned that someone runs the game on 7200rpm drive without these issues. You can also consider purchasing a seagate firecuda SSHD. It is 5400rpm, so its write speeds are not the best, but it has a built-in ssd cache that improves the read speeds and access time.

I can't say that the SSHD will 100% work in your case, but I remembered that I used to have similar type of sluttering when I installed Forza Horizon 3 on a 7200rpm drive, but with the SSHD this sluttering is gone, so there is definetely an improvement.

Nasalmirror

ven98 said:

The M.2 port supports NVMe.

7200rpm or SSD, to be honest I really don't know. You mentioned that someone runs the game on 7200rpm drive without these issues. You can also consider purchasing a seagate firecuda SSHD. It is 5400rpm, so its write speeds are not the best, but it has a built-in ssd cache that improves the read speeds and access time.

I can't say that the SSHD will 100% work in your case, but I remembered that I used to have similar type of sluttering when I installed Forza Horizon 3 on a 7200rpm drive, but with the SSHD this sluttering is gone, so there is definetely an improvement.

Thank you for all your replies and time. Really appreciate, and I didn't thank you earlier.

I can live with a 500gb ssd for games, and an external HDD for storage. I don't store a lot of things on this laptop, it's mainly for gaming. Since I'd change the internal HDD that I have now, I could get a 2.5 inch USB case and convert it into an external HDD so I could recycle the drive that way.

The SSHD solution seems interesting, I'm gonna check that out.

ven98

Nasalmirror said:
Thank you for all your replies and time. Really appreciate, and I didn't thank you earlier.

You are welcome

Nasalmirror

Since we're here, a 970 evo from samsung would overheat in the helios 300?? I've read that nvme drives like to get hot, but I'm considering getting one and I don't want any temp issues or similar.

ven98

They do get hot, but I don't think it is enough to overheat inside the helios 300. It won't be bad if you apply some thermal pads on top for better heat dissipation, but you have to check if you will be able to close the cover after that.

Nasalmirror

Some people say that thermal pads without a metal heatsink makes it worse. I don't want to blow my pc up in any way. It would be mainly used for light data work and gaming, all the tests I saw were heavy artificial data R/W tests. For now the dissipation in my helios 300 is awesome with slight underclock and undervolt. I just want to be sure that it will work properly.

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