I have Stutters in games when my GPU drops to 0% and my HDD Goes to 100% (Never had this problem ever)

Question

I have Stutters in games when my GPU drops to 0% and my HDD Goes to 100% (Never had this problem ever)

coyp 47 0

I mainly play War Thunder and Squad, and I’ve never had any issues with FPS or lag before.
A few days ago, War Thunder started freezing for 1–2 seconds every 6-10 seconds.
Whenever it happens, my HDD usage spikes to 100% and my GPU usage drops to 0%. I’ve also noticed that tank textures load slowly, and the main menu floors and tanks sometimes start with a black and grey textures before loading properly after a few seconds and freezes. What’s strange is that Squad, which is much more demanding and runs at around 70–90 FPS for me, rarely has these freezes, except sometimes when first loading into a game. I’ve never experienced these issues before, so I’m wondering what could be causing them. This is really frustrating i hope someone can help me.

Also i was asking AI what to do and found out that there is a error on my disk on the eventviewer.

coyp 47 0 Zuverlässigkeitspunkte

2026-10-14T20:46:11.3533333+00:00

i translated this screenshot to english from german with ai so tell me if you need the original image

1 Antwort

Ihre Antwort

coyp 47 0 Zuverlässigkeitspunkte

2026-10-14T20:46:11.3533333+00:00

i translated this screenshot to english from german with ai so tell me if you need the original image

Answer 1

Clary-N 17,080 Externe Microsoft-Mitarbeiter Moderator

Since this is a public forum, we will hide your personal identifiable information, and I have sent that image of yours containing your personal identifiable information in a private message so we can work together to resolve the issue. Also, please check your private message in case you want to share another screenshot to avoid leaking your PII by click on the Message button as show below

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Hi coyp 47,

I will answer you in English based on your previous message. As a friendly suggestion, posting in German may help your question reach a wider audience and increase the chances of receiving assistance from other community members.

Thanks for sharing the screenshot. The Disk Event ID 154 is an important clue. Along with the HDD reaching 100%, the GPU dropping to 0%, and textures loading slowly, this suggests the game may be freezing while it waits for the drive to respond.

This doesn’t automatically mean the HDD has failed, but it can indicate a problem with the drive, its connection or the storage controller. I recommend backing up any important files from that drive before doing further testing.

Could you confirm whether War Thunder and Windows are installed on Disk 0, what the drive model is and whether the same Event 154 appears each time the freezing happens?

After backing up, run the drive manufacturer’s diagnostic tool and check for SMART warnings or failed tests. If it’s a desktop PC, you can also shut it down and reseat or replace the HDD’s SATA data cable if you’re comfortable doing that. You can then open Command Prompt as administrator and run:

chkdsk C: /scan

Replace C: if the affected game drive uses another letter.

*Disclaimer: Running chkdsk can check the file system and file system metadata of a volume for logical and physical errors. To avoid any trouble for you, do not cancel or interrupt chkdsk, and back up important data.

More information please refer to this chkdsk | Microsoft Learn.

For now, I’d focus on checking the drive rather than reinstalling the game or changing GPU settings. If the diagnostic reports a drive failure or bad sectors, the safest next step would be to replace the drive.

Feel free to share the diagnostic results and I’ll help with the next step.

coyp 47 0 Zuverlässigkeitspunkte

2026-10-15T07:22:25.4766667+00:00

So Windows is installed on my 100GB SSD and War Thunder is installed on my HDD (Disk 0) and my HDD shows in Device Manager as ST10000DM010-2EP102.
And in the event viewer with every freeze its the same EventID: 154.
Also i already did a "chkdsk D: /f /r" and i dont think it did much,
coyp 47 0 Zuverlässigkeitspunkte

2026-10-15T07:47:06.8133333+00:00

So Windows is installed on my 100GB SSD and War Thunder is installed on my HDD (Disk 0) and my HDD shows in Device Manager as ST10000DM010-2EP102.
And in the event viewer with every freeze its the same EventID: 154.
I also already did a chkdsk D: /f /r .
Clary-N 17,080 Zuverlässigkeitspunkte Externe Microsoft-Mitarbeiter Moderator

2026-10-15T08:50:22.96+00:00

Hi coyp 47,Thanks for confirming. Since War Thunder is installed on the HDD and the same Event ID 154 appears with every freeze, I’d continue focusing on the HDD rather than reinstalling the game or Windows.

You’ve already run chkdsk D: /f /r, so there’s no need to repeat it. If you haven’t already, please back up anything important on the HDD and run Seagate’s SeaTools diagnostic on the ST1000DM010.

Since you’ve already completed the main disk check and the same storage event continues with each freeze, further investigation may be better handled by Microsoft Support, as troubleshooting through the community forum has some limitations.

You can contact Microsoft Support, sign in, type Chat Support, select Get help > Contact support, then choose Windows > Technical support and the chat option if available.

When contacting them, kindly mention the ST1000DM010 HDD, Event ID 154, the recurring freezes and that you’ve already run chkdsk D: /f /r.

I hope they can help you get to the bottom of what’s causing the freezes. If you do run SeaTools in the meantime, keep a note of the test result as it may also be useful during the investigation.