I can observe this even on ssd with both ubuntu and mainline kernels. Especially when some background task like update.mlocate which spits out fs-wide find is triggered.
** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu) Status: Incomplete => Confirmed -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/131094 Title: Heavy Disk I/O harms desktop responsiveness To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/131094/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs