There is an unusual texture effect when using an NVMe M.2 SSD.
There is an unusual texture effect when using an NVMe M.2 SSD.
Hello, I recently purchased a M.2 NVMe drive to boost performance and increase storage capacity. It operates well overall, but my main concern is that games installed on it show significant texture popping and low LOD issues. Interestingly, these problems only appear when using this drive compared to slower storage options like SATA SSDs and 7.2k RPM HDDs with identical graphics settings. I’ve tested the same games on those slower drives without issues, so I suspect the problem lies specifically with the NVMe drive. I’m unsure how to resolve it or why it occurs in general.
I’ve run speed tests and confirmed the drive performs at advertised speeds, suggesting it’s not a faulty component. My curiosity is whether the game settings or certain configurations on my drive are causing this behavior. The games affected include GTA V, COD titles such as BO2, BO1, MW2019, and Fallout 4.
PC Specifications:
- Ryzen 7 3700X
- GTX 1660Ti
- ASRock B450M Pro4
- 3200Mhz DDR4 memory
- Corsair RM550x
- WD Blue 1TB 7.2k RPM
- Samsung EVO 860 1TB
- WD Blue SN550 NVMe 1TB
I believe the issue might stem from a specific setup related only to NVMe and certain games, possibly indicating a configuration problem.
Exploring the hardware details—particularly for gaming purposes—could provide more clarity, though it goes beyond my usual scope.
As a reference, you can check: https://www.technipages.com/pcie-lanes-explained
Feel free to search for similar explanations online.
I plan to shift this discussion from Storage to PC Gaming, as that seems more relevant.
Someone who watches your game videos might have useful insights.
Explore beyond basic speed tests. Employ Resource Monitor and Task Manager to track system performance while using various drives and during gameplay moments when textures become noticeable.
(Remark: Monitor both tools simultaneously to gather comprehensive insights.)
Assess resource utilization, percentages, and specific resource consumption.
You might uncover patterns as issues emerge.
The PSU is fairly new, around 3 to 4 months old. Do you think it might be of poor quality? I've been watching the drive during gameplay and haven't noticed anything unusual. The temperatures are a bit high at 45°C, but they rarely exceed 50°C. Since NVMe drives tend to get warmer than HDDs or SSDs, those temps don’t seem too worrying. My usage is normal—usually between 0-5%, and when loading into a new map it can spike to 25-30%, which feels quite typical. I don’t see any sudden spikes or issues when dealing with glitched textures.
Which games are you engaged in? Attempt to capture those "texture pops" and share them here via imgur (www.imgur.com).
The games I play take place in the COD titles you mentioned earlier, along with GTA V. The additional titles I enjoy are Fallout 4 and Destiny 2, which don’t face pop issues and generally have minimal low polygon problems. Texture pop can be seen at the provided links, and poor LOD is evident in those images too. Both games were tested on COD BO2 since it’s the simplest platform to recreate these problems. These issues only appear when the games are installed on my NVMe drive.
I believe the issue might stem from a specific setup related only to NVMe and certain games, possibly indicating a configuration problem.
Exploring the hardware details—particularly for gaming purposes—can provide deeper insight, though it goes beyond my usual scope.
As a general reference, you can find more information here: https://www.technipages.com/pcie-lanes-explained
Feel free to search for similar explanations online.
I plan to shift the discussion from Storage to PC Gaming, as this seems more relevant and likely to yield helpful advice.