how much does hard drive performance affect game performance (not launch times)?

[steve wilson]

Wow that is a small PC.

You super mods are no fun... had my popcorn ready and was sitting comfortably.

 

[PingSpike]

Most of my old games load near instantly off a HDD. But some of the newer ones take awhile. Minus some dynamic loading games having a small benefit in playability a SSD shouldn't really make a difference in game performance though.

That said, the slowest part of a PC has been the mechanical drive for a long long time now. My SSD purchase was the best performance upgrade I've done in at least 5 years. I rage at my work PC all the time now when its booting or loaded firefox with a million saved tabs opening.

 

[steve wilson]

Well IIRC anand said in one of his many SSD articles, that the best way appreciate an SSD, is to use one in your machine for a month then go back to a HDD. Only when you go back will you realise the difference the SSD makes.