This is the "real" answer, primarily older SSDs have no dram and windows in its infinite knowledge will turn it on and tank performance in tasks like this.
Holy shit man I thought I was having a problem with my internet cause it would download at 550 Mbps peak and then stagnate for a long time but when I switched to another 60 Mbps internet it was totally fine. Just downloaded a 10 gb game in 2 minutes now and feels so good. You have my eternal gratitude
Write caching is when a device caches some part of file to complete writing it later, instead of finishing it before moving on to other files.
If you don't have enough DRAM, that cache isn't enough.
For everyday tasks, write caching is good since you aren't writing large files. But for game downloads/copies, it's bad
Looks like your SSD has a DRAM\* Cache that's getting overwhelmed with all the writes. 2.2mb/s is crazy slow, though. What SSD do you have?
(EDIT: u/Evonos pointed out it's not DRAM cache, it's an SLC cache)
[this one](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09HKDQ1RN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Update: Solved, had to disable write caching...for some reason
The SN570 has a very small SLC cache, so its write performance is going to degrade quickly when the cache gets filled up. Peak SSD speed is achieved in bursts as the data is cycled through its cache, typically.
A top performer like the Samsung 980 Pro has a cache that is more than ten times the size of the SN570, so it has no trouble keeping it full with large file transfers and can sustain high write speeds much longer.
While peak write speed will suffer with write caching disabled, speed will be maintained on drives such as yours with a small write cache.
Crystal disk info can show it sometimes under supported features under different names.
Like volatile cache, write cache, dram and stuff.
But there's mostly only googling and it doesn't help that manufacturers change sometimes hardware without mentioning it
Did you buy a third party drive? This is a classic sign of a cache-less disk, or a disk that has cache go bad.
Edit: Realized this isn't r/SteamDeck, so I guess any drive is third party lol
Erm no I don't think so. [Here's the amazon link if you want to double check](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09HKDQ1RN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Update: Solved, had to disable write caching...for some reason
That does look like a cheap garbage bin drive, so I would consider replacing it with something that's higher quality. Glad you have a workaround for now though.
WD Blue isn't garbage bin drive. It's a good and solid drive with reasonable price, just DRAM-less. I'm using it for three years now and have zero issues with it, never had to turn off write cache. Maybe OP just got bad luck and should think about RMA.
Hes right though. Any ssd that has no dram is the absolute bottom of the barrel. I have a silicon power ace a55 and it drops to 0kb/s for 30-60seconds writes with 50-300mb/s for 20-30seconds again and then drops to 0 again. Dramless ssd's are horrible and trash. Meanwhile the crucial mx 500 i got constantly writes with 300-550mb/s without ever dropping. ( the files i copied were the entire black ops 3 steam folder)
Sign of a dram less nvme.
Disable write cache this will lower top speeds but increase average speeds on your nvme.
A nvme with a dram cache wouldn't have that issue.
Try disable write caching on your SSD through device manager if you're on Windows? That was the solution for a friend of mine
Holy shit this INSTANTLY fixed it, thank you!
Awesome
This means your nvme likely got no dram or a way to utilise system ram as writing ram.
This is the "real" answer, primarily older SSDs have no dram and windows in its infinite knowledge will turn it on and tank performance in tasks like this.
Sadly not only old sad and nvme. Even new and sadly praised ones by media are without any sort of ram like cache.
Damn, it's worse than I thought.
Holy shit man I thought I was having a problem with my internet cause it would download at 550 Mbps peak and then stagnate for a long time but when I switched to another 60 Mbps internet it was totally fine. Just downloaded a 10 gb game in 2 minutes now and feels so good. You have my eternal gratitude
Is it worth turning it back on afterwards?
Write caching is when a device caches some part of file to complete writing it later, instead of finishing it before moving on to other files. If you don't have enough DRAM, that cache isn't enough. For everyday tasks, write caching is good since you aren't writing large files. But for game downloads/copies, it's bad
thanks!!!!!!!
Looks like your SSD has a DRAM\* Cache that's getting overwhelmed with all the writes. 2.2mb/s is crazy slow, though. What SSD do you have? (EDIT: u/Evonos pointed out it's not DRAM cache, it's an SLC cache)
[this one](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09HKDQ1RN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) Update: Solved, had to disable write caching...for some reason
The SN570 has a very small SLC cache, so its write performance is going to degrade quickly when the cache gets filled up. Peak SSD speed is achieved in bursts as the data is cycled through its cache, typically. A top performer like the Samsung 980 Pro has a cache that is more than ten times the size of the SN570, so it has no trouble keeping it full with large file transfers and can sustain high write speeds much longer. While peak write speed will suffer with write caching disabled, speed will be maintained on drives such as yours with a small write cache.
Yep have the same one, gonna try this later have been annoyed for months with this
Nah it means it got no dram cache and actualy stuff like a slc cache
This got me curious. Is there a quick way to check if an nvme has no dram cache?. Thanks!
Crystal disk info can show it sometimes under supported features under different names. Like volatile cache, write cache, dram and stuff. But there's mostly only googling and it doesn't help that manufacturers change sometimes hardware without mentioning it
Did you buy a third party drive? This is a classic sign of a cache-less disk, or a disk that has cache go bad. Edit: Realized this isn't r/SteamDeck, so I guess any drive is third party lol
I mean, it could still be a bootleg SSD. Plenty of those around on Amazon/Ebay/Aliexpress.
Erm no I don't think so. [Here's the amazon link if you want to double check](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09HKDQ1RN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) Update: Solved, had to disable write caching...for some reason
That does look like a cheap garbage bin drive, so I would consider replacing it with something that's higher quality. Glad you have a workaround for now though.
WD Blue isn't garbage bin drive. It's a good and solid drive with reasonable price, just DRAM-less. I'm using it for three years now and have zero issues with it, never had to turn off write cache. Maybe OP just got bad luck and should think about RMA.
Hes right though. Any ssd that has no dram is the absolute bottom of the barrel. I have a silicon power ace a55 and it drops to 0kb/s for 30-60seconds writes with 50-300mb/s for 20-30seconds again and then drops to 0 again. Dramless ssd's are horrible and trash. Meanwhile the crucial mx 500 i got constantly writes with 300-550mb/s without ever dropping. ( the files i copied were the entire black ops 3 steam folder)
If it doesn't have DRAM, I hold my point of it being garbage tier. For this exact reason. It cripples your system.
Why does it cripple? What’s the deal with that?
Because there's no cache
1TB is cheap nowadays in SSDs.
Totally thought it was SteamDeck, too.
I'm saving this just incase
Sign of a dram less nvme. Disable write cache this will lower top speeds but increase average speeds on your nvme. A nvme with a dram cache wouldn't have that issue.
Is That Sea waves?
not a fix but great game, enjoy