Stutters only in FF14, sometimes hours between stutters

[Votraftur]

Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

Please try the following:
- Please try adjusting/lowering the resolution.
- If you have multiple peripherals (such as multiple monitors) please try removing them to only the necessary components to see if it helps.
- Please try running the game as an administrator.
- Perform a clean boot by opening the task manager and select the 'Start up' Tab. Disable everything.
- Please be sure that Final Fantasy XIV is installed to the C: Drive. (If Steam version, make sure both the game and Steam are installed on same drive)
- Verify installation files (Steam)
- Reinstall game (If steam version, try uninstalling and reinstalling both the game and Steam)

If you had attempted any of the above, did any other the steps help or perhaps even made the issue worse?
When the issue occurs, is your system overheating at all?
Were there any recent changes around the time of the issues began?

Thank you once again for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums!

[Clawhammer]

- Please be sure that Final Fantasy XIV is installed to the C: Drive. (If Steam version, make sure both the game and Steam are installed on same drive)

Why does it need to be on c: drive? I have the m2 ssd just for the OS and 3 1TB SSDs for games in my system, so ff14 is on drive H: (Steam Version)

[Beavertales]

Why does it need to be on c: drive? I have the m2 ssd just for the OS and 3 1TB SSDs for games in my system, so ff14 is on drive H: (Steam Version)

I'm not sure as far as technical reasons, but SE recommends having the game on your c: drive. Customer Support I've talked to in the past just said "it may cause issues".

[StouterTaru]

Why does it need to be on c: drive? I have the m2 ssd just for the OS and 3 1TB SSDs for games in my system, so ff14 is on drive H: (Steam Version)

I have the game installed on my C: drive, and have been considering moving it to the SSD since DT release. I can hear my hard drive spin up while in congested areas, and sometimes in non-congested areas. It never did that before 7.0, and doesn't do it with anything else.