All usage of the drive while playing leads to freezing.
All usage of the drive while playing leads to freezing.
Hello,
I recently switched from an outdated Intel CPU to a new AMD 5600x and have encountered some problems.
While playing games, I notice sudden spikes in usage on my OS drive and sometimes on my game drive, which can cause audio to become robotic and lead to freezes.
In extreme cases, after an hour or more of gameplay the game may freeze completely, and both my OS and game drive usage can jump to 100%.
I often see programs on my second monitor functioning but not responding, forcing me to hard reset the PC.
Normally, it takes a few restarts for Windows to appear and boot properly.
The only new components are the motherboard, CPU, and case; everything else is quite old.
I’ve searched online and tried various solutions for the 100% disk usage issue that leads to freezing.
These included running chkdsk, changing SATA cables and their locations, disabling telemetry, and testing my RAM.
The two main possibilities I’ve identified are:
- During a fresh Windows installation, it didn’t install on my main OS drive but worked after switching USB slots.
- On the motherboard, there’s an 8-pin power connector and a separate 4-pin one. I only have power to the 8-pin because I lost my spare CPU power cables for my current PSU.
I monitored power draw during these freezes using HWmonitor and didn’t see any significant increase.
Since I suspect the problem existed before the Windows install, I’m concerned it might be a motherboard issue.
I’ve received a new PSU in the mail (550W, which is close to budget power needs), and I want all power connectors for my CPU plus new RAM.
My BIOS was already set to 1.50, so I didn’t need to flash it during the CPU upgrade.
I’ve also started recording system performance with Windows Performance Recorder and can share it if needed.
Specs:
CPU: AMD 5600x
Motherboard: ASROCK B550m Steel legend BIOS 1.50
RAM: HyperX Fury @2133 (8GB x 2)
GPU: RTX 2070 Super
PSU: EVGA Supernova G2 550w
OS SSD: Adata SP550 500GB
Game SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 1TB
DXDIAG: [link]
EDIT: Resolved the issue by updating BIOS to 1.52 and reinstalling Windows on a different SSD.
A new Crucial Ballistix Ram was installed and it performed at the advertised 3600mhz speeds, but the issue remains unresolved, indicating it's not a problem with the RAM itself. Also, attempting to disable Windows Defender and malware protection didn't help. Anyone have suggestions?
Following a Windows installation, perform these steps in this sequence:
Ensure all Windows updates are applied
Install board chipset drivers (B550 chipset drivers from AMD's website)
Install GPU drivers
Install Audio/Lan drivers (optional)
There is an additional BIOS update available for your board. It might be beneficial to flash it to the most recent version, possibly for optimization with Ryzen 5000 CPUs.
The extra 4-pin connector is not required for the CPU power; it's intended for extreme overclocking.
How much of your OS SSD is used?
RAM: HyperX Fury @2133 (8GB x 2)??
Your RAM at 2133MHz is significantly slow for your Ryzen 5600X. You should have at least 3200MHz to 3600MHz RAM. You've kept your Intel RAM, but you'll need improved RAM for this Ryzen system.
Yes, windows was updated and I installed the top 4 drivers for my motherboard from ASROCKs website: Realtek audio, AMD chipset, Realtek Lan and AMD RAIDXpert. GPU drivers were installed afterwards.
There's only one more bios version above mine, 1.52 but I'll give that a shot. The OS SSD is nowhere near full, only 54GB out of 447GB is in use. I'm also going to attempt a clean install on my "Game SSD" and see if that'll fix anything.
Yes, you are correct. It seems there is a BIOS version higher than the one you currently have. You didn't need AMD RAIDXpert, and unless the AMD chipset drivers are outdated compared to what's listed on the motherboard's website, I suggest installing the one from AMD.
Here is the link: https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/...t-am4/b550
The recommended version is 2.10.13.408.
The board website lists - 2.04.09.131.
Consider installing the AMD chipset drivers from their site instead.
I don't know if RAIDXpert drivers might cause problems like yours, but I'll pass this advice to those who understand. You're not using any RAID setup.
I know I should update my chipset drivers to the one available on the AMD site and I'll remove RAIDxpert because it's not necessary.
Thank you for your assistance—I'll let you know once I've checked the outcomes after a clean install and BIOS update.
The problem continues to occur. Recently, I experienced repeated robotic audio during gameplay along with a freeze. A screenshot of my task manager and resource monitor shows the issue was present. It appears that high disk usage processing is triggering this unusual behavior.