I have a great internet plan with Google Fiber offering 3gbps, but when I try to download games on Steam, my speeds are all over the place—anywhere from 5mbps to 500mbps. I've made sure that all of my Steam settings are configured not to limit speeds, so I'm confused as to why I'm not getting at least 1gbps for downloads. Does anyone have any ideas on what's going on?
2 Answers
It’s important to remember that internet bandwidth isn’t the only bottleneck you might have. Factors like CPU performance, RAM, and particularly your hard drive’s performance play a crucial role too. If you’re using a DRAM-less SSD, for example, that can really limit sustained speeds once a certain amount of data has been written to it. Plus, keep in mind that your motherboard’s network card needs to support your bandwidth too. But since you’re not even hitting 1gbps, I’d look into those other factors first!
There are a few things to check here. First off, try changing your download region in Steam settings, as that can impact your speeds due to factors like distance or server traffic. Additionally, the performance of your storage drive could be affecting download speeds. Steam is downloading and installing files at the same time, so if your hard drive or SSD can't keep up, that might explain the fluctuations. Don't forget, sometimes the issue just lies with Steam itself—there's no guaranteed download speed!
Yeah, that fluctuating speed really sounds like a CPU issue or a limitation on your SSD. Also, SSDs tend to slow down significantly when they’re between 50% to 100% full. I’ve experienced pretty solid download speeds with a high-thread CPU and a good SSD, but can drop below expectations when the drives are bogged down.