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Question

WD Blue 4TB Gaming 1 sec freeze every 1-2 min

Aug 27, 2018 7:02AM PDT

Issue:
I have a WD Blue 4TB drive that I use for gaming. Old games from 2009 up to new games 2017 all have the same issue; every couple of minutes there is a 1 second freeze. The video completely stops for 1 second, then comes back as if nothing happened.

Specs:
Z97-A
Intel Core I7 4790k 4.0GHz (no overclocking)
8GB DDR3
EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Corsair Force GT 180 GB - For OS and most played games
WD WD10EACS-00D6B1 Green 1TB - Used to have most games on it
WDC WD30EZRX-00DC0B0 Green 3TB - Backup Drive
*WD WDC WD40EZRZ-00GXCB0 Blue 4TB - New HDD with supposed issue.
WD WD80EMAZ-00WJTA0 White Label 8TB pulled from easystore - Media
Super old 640GB Seagate - Backup Drive

Story:
I purchased a WD Blue 4TB HDD a couple of months ago. I had only used it to stream media, then I moved all of that content off, and installed all of my steam/origin games on it.

Keep in mind that before I put my games on the Blue HDD, I had the majority of my games installed on a WD Green 1TB (with the exception of CS:GO and DOTA2, which were on my SSD). So needless to say, the performance is way, way better on my Blue. Load times feel 3x faster on Blue, and according to CrystalDiskMark it's 2.5x faster. I've also had games installed on my super old Seagate. Neither the Green 1TB, nor the super old seagate had a freezing issue. Yes they loaded slow, but they never froze consistently like this.

Troubleshooting:
Ran Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostics, found no issues.
Ran Crystal Disk Info, found no issues.
Ran HD Tune Pro, found no issues.
Contacted WD support who tried to tell me I can't do gaming on a Blue. I punched them in the face with the following steps:
1. Uninstalled CS:GO from my Blue, installed it on my SSD, issue is not replicated.
2. Uninstalled CS:GO from my SSD, installed it on my White Label (5400 RPM just like my Blue), issue is not replicated.
3. Uninstalled CS:GO from my White, installed back on Blue, swapped power and SATA data cable between Blue and SSD, issue is replicated with those different cables.
4. Tried 5 other games, they had the same issue, but CS:GO it happened the most consistently. Every 1-2 mintues.
5. Defrag'ed the Blue, issue persists.

I haven't thought to format the Blue yet, so I will try that tonight.
I also haven't unplugged all of the other drives (except SSD for OS and Blue for the test), to see if my mobo is having issues or something.

I don't want to RMA until i've tried absolutely everything.
Any ideas what could be causing this?
I also want to know if you guys are gaming on HD Blue and have had any issues.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Check the drive's health.
Aug 27, 2018 9:07AM PDT
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Re: Check the drive's health.
Aug 27, 2018 10:09AM PDT

Thanks, that was by far the most unique answer I've received today about this issue. Unfortunately nothing in the 01/07 statistics stand out. Not sure the easiest way to paste this, but here goes.

SSD
01
Attribute name: Read Error Rate
Real value: 0
Current: 115
Worst: 115
Threshold: 50
Raw Value: 00072B9020
Status: Good

1TB Green
01
Attribute name: Read Error Rate
Real value: 0
Current: 200
Worst: 200
Threshold: 51
Raw Value: 0000000000
Status: Good

8TB White
01
Attribute name: Read Error Rate
Real value: 0
Current: 100
Worst: 100
Threshold: 16
Raw Value: 0000000000
Status: Good

4TB Blue
01
Attribute name: Read Error Rate
Real value: 0
Current: 200
Worst: 200
Threshold: 51
Raw Value: 0000000000
Status: Good

3TB Green
01
Attribute name: Read Error Rate
Real value: 0
Current: 200
Worst: 200
Threshold: 51
Raw Value: 0000000001
Status: Good
------------------------------------------------------------------
SSD
No 07 Attribute

1TB Green
07
Attribute name: Seek Error Rate
Real value: 0
Current: 200
Worst: 200
Threshold: 0
Raw Value: 0000000000
Status: Good

8TB White
07
Attribute name: Seek Error Rate
Real value: 0
Current: 100
Worst: 100
Threshold: 67
Raw Value: 0000000000
Status: Good

4TB Blue
07
Attribute name: Seek Error Rate
Real value: 0
Current: 100
Worst: 253
Threshold: 0
Raw Value: 0000000000
Status: Good

3TB Green
07
Attribute name: Seek Error Rate
Real value: 0
Current: 200
Worst: 200
Threshold: 0
Raw Value: 0000000000
Status: Good

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Those numbers do stand out.
Aug 27, 2018 10:16AM PDT

Look at 01 again. A new or great drive reads 0. This drive has thousands of errors and is beyond the threshold. This is a drive in failure mode.

It doesn't explain why the issue shows up under the condition noted but time to check your SSD warranty and see if they have a fitness test required for the warranty.

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A few more details
Aug 27, 2018 10:28AM PDT

I guess i'm a little confused. The SSD and all of the HDDs all seem to have somewhat similar statistics. The SSD is the one that works fine without issue though. The 4TB Blue is the one with the issue. Do all of these appear to be dying based on 01?

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You posted the numbers. Look at the 01 values.
Aug 27, 2018 10:38AM PDT

SSD = 00072B9020
other drives are zero and one has 1.

Yes it's a bit confusing that the issue is only showing on the WD Blue but when you see a drive with a out of this world numbers you know it's a drive in trouble.

Try this. I've found these tests to flub once in a while so how are the numbers with just the SSD?

What does the SSD drive maker's own fitness test report?

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According to corsair toolbox, the SSD is OK.
Aug 27, 2018 11:26AM PDT


According to the corsair toolbox, there is 0 for that raw value. Also 0 for the Blue 4TB.
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Current Value exceeds Threshold.
Aug 27, 2018 11:34AM PDT

Here I'm calling it a failing drive. It's a shame that you can see the current value has exceeded the threshold and they call it OK. Also they didn't report the RAW Value. Probably a bug in their app.

I'm had this discussion many times and the only way to test it out is to setup the PC with only spotless or near spotless drives.

-> There's another issue here. You have a lot of drives. I can't guess why but at the office we let folk deal with machines with that many drives. Windows can get wonky when this happens.

At least the SSD did report itself that it's in trouble.

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Thank you
Aug 27, 2018 11:37AM PDT

Well, i appreciate your help and expertise. I am going to cry myself to sleep tonight, then man-up tomorrow and work with corsair on an RMA solution.

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Answer
Speccy
Aug 27, 2018 6:46PM PDT

If you go to the speccy link that was provided and do it correct it will provide you with a link.

Post the link.

Storage.....what you have is a mess.

Work that down to one ssd for the OS and apps and one hdd for storage.

Backup hdd.......you do it any way you want but my backup disks are never connected with windows active.......pick up a bug and your backup is toast.

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Speccy Link
Aug 27, 2018 7:16PM PDT
http://speccy.piriform.com/results/FCgLsgEhehW1IZSuB5uHg6m

I appreciate the suggestions, but nothing that I've received so far (including other forums) has been able to explain why the WD White, WD Green, and SSD can all play these games fine with no hiccups, but the Blue has consistent issues. I really appreciate R. Proffitt, but the raw value of the read errors is not an integer that says "this is a ton of errors", it's a hex value that is specific to each manufacturer. I have no performance issues with my SSD whatsoever. Every game I put on that drive runs smooth as eggs.

Believe me, I know my storage is a mess, but it's what i've collected over the years, and there has yet to be a reason why I would just stop using these other HDD's. If this were an issue of too many drives connected to the motherboard, or causing software issues; then I would see the issue across multiple HDDs, but I don't.
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Speccy
Aug 27, 2018 9:10PM PDT

The speccy is showing your ssd has a problem.

Your call if you want to do anything about it.

Hdd mess.
I'm from the school of 'keep it simple' so I would not have that mess.
A simple setup and if there is a problem I have less parts to muddy the water.

Your call.

As for the 4TB blue the speccy does not show that the drive is having a problem.

If the problem follows the drive around then it would seem to be a drive issue.

If WD does not have an answer then send the thing back and try a different one.

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My experience with 01 and 07
Aug 28, 2018 9:54AM PDT

Is everytime you have a system brought in with drive performance complaints, when those are in the high values (RAW) then you change out that drive and retest.

-> Along the way you will encounter clients that don't want this to be true. You learn to nod a lot.

If the WD drive is troublesome then one last test. REMOVE ALL PARTITIONS so you get a clean drive. Create the one partition, reload it and test it. If it fails again, try another drive in that spot.

PS. Not only the above but you have values beyond the threshold in the reports. The more you encounter this issue, the more you know what to look for. I can't explain why drive makers give this a pass.

Post was last edited on August 28, 2018 10:13 AM PDT