Emulation High HDD reading/writing peaks while playing on Cemu

[HamiltonJr]

While monitoring the PC usage playing on Cemu (most BotW), i noticed constant high peaks of my C: and E: (reserved for system) usage, on reading and writing.
Coincidentally, these peaks happens exactly on the same moment the game stutters and huge fps drops happens, for a fraction of a second, but happens.

Immediately i thought that was the page file being written and my RAM running low. BUT:
This not explains the reading peaks, one time that the page file is only writing (or it need to read too?).
And, besides the cache loading, the Ram usage while playing is on constant 5gb. And i have 8gb.

I can only think that is or my standard HDD which cant follow properly the information that is needed to be read. And if so, ill need a SSD.
Or the problem really resides in low ram, but i cant see why properly.

Please, any help? Suggestions?

 

[KingBlank]

Make sure your drive has been defragged recently, and make sure you dont have any antivirus with real-time protection running.
Those are the key things for good hard drive performance.
Having two drives ( one for OS and startup programs, one for games and mass storage) helps a lot also.

If you just have a single mechanical drive, you will want to minimise the amount of background applications running, even if it does not seem like they are using much - the seek delay slows multitasking down significantly.

 

[FloatingFatMan]

Make sure your drive has been defragged recently

** Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to defrag an SSD drive. Ever.

 

[HamiltonJr]

** Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to defrag an SSD drive. Ever.

Oh. Ok! Ill remember that.
But why?

 

[ninjanick999]

Oh. Ok! Ill remember that.
But why?

It reduces the lifespan of the drive.
SSDs are rated for a number of writes, after that they deteriorate.
Defraging an SSD causes unneeded writes and wears the drive.

Now all things considered, I do not believe that it is the end of the world if you accidentally defrag your SSD, but you shouldn't do it because it will cause your drive to fail sooner.

 

[HamiltonJr]

Ok. But coming back to the topic.
Ill defrag my HDD and turn off windows defender. But one question remains:
What is causing the intense writings and reading on HD?
Is it because the environment real time loading? I thought only the RAM, CPU and VGA did this, since all the shades and textures are pre-loaded in the emulator.

Its the page file? 8gb RAM is few to play BotW?
At which case, besides the page file, the emulator need to use the HDD?

 

[KingBlank]

** Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to defrag an SSD drive. Ever.

You can use the windows 10 automatic defrag on your SSD, it will help it maintain high performance.

 

[FloatingFatMan]

You can use the windows 10 automatic defrag on your SSD, it will help it maintain high performance.

No, it really does NOT, it will reduce your SSD's life. SSD's have their own way of working; they will move data around based on an algorithm designed to maximise the lifespan of the device, all handled by their internal BIOS. Screw with that and your SSD won't last as long.

 

[KingBlank]

No, it really does NOT, it will reduce your SSD's life. SSD's have their own way of working; they will move data around based on an algorithm designed to maximise the lifespan of the device, all handled by their internal BIOS. Screw with that and your SSD won't last as long.

While it is called defragging, the SSD defrags that windows 10 perform do not behave in the same way as they do for regular HDDs, I wont explain the details because I don't fully understand them, look it up.

 

[FloatingFatMan]

While it is called defragging, the SSD defrags that windows 10 perform do not behave in the same way as they do for regular HDDs, I wont explain the details because I don't fully understand them, look it up.

I already understand the details thanks, which is why I say you should NOT defrag SSD's. Nothing can do the job better than the drive's own BIOS, so leave it alone or you WILL reduce the drive lifespan.

 

[KingBlank]

I already understand the details thanks, which is why I say you should NOT defrag SSD's. Nothing can do the job better than the drive's own BIOS, so leave it alone or you WILL reduce the drive lifespan.

Have a read friend http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheRealAndCompleteStoryDoesWindowsDefragmentYourSSD.aspx

 

[FloatingFatMan]

Have a read friend http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheRealAndCompleteStoryDoesWindowsDefragmentYourSSD.aspx

I suggest you read the full article, right down to the final paragraph.

Yes, your SSD's file system sometimes needs a kind of defragmentation and that's handled by Windows, monthly by default, when appropriate.

So my info might have been slightly outdated, but the answer is still no. Don't manually defrag your SSD as it's not necessary and will shorten lifespan.