• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

SSD and Gaming

T

timoseewho

Member
Hello, I'm quite new to SSD's and have always been using HDD's. My question is will SSD's increase any sort of performance when playing games (ie. possibly loading games faster, etc.)? I only know that SSD drastically decreases PC boot times but what else justifies the extra cost to get it? Also, if I do get a SSD, do I need to install my games onto it to get the boost in gaming performance? Thank you!
 
SSDs have the advantage of fast disk I/O. Instances of the game where disk I/O is important, the SSD will be faster. Map loads and such are a prime example. Won't affect framerates or the vid quality you can attain.
 
Personally I still think SSD's are a little expensive, do people get a small, GB-wise, SSD to fit their OS and system files and a separate HDD to store their games and everything else? Or is it better to get a big SSD to store everything?
 
If you can afford it, a big SSD is a no-brainer. If you are a normal person to whom money matters, then you'll have to figure out the right SSD + HDD compromise. OS and apps should always be installed on the SSD, as the improvement to general Windows performance will be felt in all usage scenarios.

  • If you can afford a 256GB SSD then you can comfortably fit a large number of games on it.
  • If you can only afford a 128GB SSD then you can pick and choose your active game(s) to put on the SSD and move the games you're not playing to your HDD.
  • If you can only afford a 60GB or smaller SSD then just put your OS and apps on it and install all your games to D:\Games.

If you want to run your games from the HDD don't buy one of the slower 2TB drives. Buying any current gen 1TB drive will compliment an SSD nicely, as the latest drives are nice and fast.
 
If you think SSDs are still too expensive, just get a small one. I think SSDs are mostly beneficial for everyday task rather than for gaming, except for a few games perhaps (like Fallout 3 and WoW).
 
fffblackmage said:
except for a few games perhaps (like Fallout 3 and WoW)
Click to expand...
Hello. Planning on getting a sizeable SSD myself, and been debating in my mind whether to get a capacity that can also store my steam games or not. I'm interested by your comment.

Could you expound on why it would benefit Fallout 3? Is it a Gamebryo thing? I can't say I have noticed too much HDD activity in Oblivion / Fallout 3 while playing, but then again, I wouldn't because I'm usually just completely immersed in the gameplay despite imperfect settings and a few lagging moments every now and then.
 
Unfortunately, I'm not an expert on this subject, but from what I do understand, most games don't do much loading once you're actually in-game. However, a few games do.

Games like Oblivion and Fallout 3 do a lot of loading while you're in-game. The game puts you in a very large world, but there are almost no loading screens whenever you move from one small area to the next. For the most part, loading anything from the HDD was done with little interruption of gameplay, but the tradeoff is something like visual defects - objects with poor texture suddenly replaced by one with high-quality texture.
 
Since the main selling point of SSD's seem to be the fast boot time and I'm the kind of guy who never turns off his PC (yeh, it's probably really bad><but I just like the sound and it's so convenient the next morning!), what other boosts will I see? Say I'm using this PC for casual gaming, surfing, and just school work, no graphics editing.

I'm picking myself up an SSD regardless because I really want to see what the fuss is about!
 
I think more people with 64GB SSD's or smaller, and also have a Z68 motherboard, really should look into the caching feature. My system flies with it. Incredible boot times, usually the first guy in the game on a BFBC2 map change, and FSX load times are greatly reduced as well.
 
I'm finding it pretty quick n' easy to manually manage my space (don't have an SSD yet, just preparing 🙂) 256GB+ would be ideal for me, but 128 will do fine until prices become mainstream. Any games or demos I want to keep installed but am not actively playing can just go on my WD1002FAEX.
 
My ideal setup if I was upgrading my computer would be a 128GB SSD for Windows and apps, and a 60GB SSD in front of (caching) a 1TB drive holding all my games and user data.

With Windows and apps on an SSD you see near instantaneous load times on almost everything you launch (Control Panel, Word, whatever). This is subjective, of course. If you want a real idea of how much an SSD will benefit you then just try to pay careful attention to any time your computer seems to pause for any reason. With an SSD most of those pauses will go away. If your computer doesn't pause a lot, then an SSD will be a marginal improvement.
 
The only game I've played recently that really benefits from the SSD is Arma 2. Arma 2 does a lot of in game texture and terrain loading and on a hard drive that dramatically impacts performance of the game. With an SSD the entire problem is gone, textures are loaded correctly and frame rates remain happy even when moving at high speed in the world.

I have put other games on it to improve loading speed, and sometimes they do run a bit quicker but in practice few are genuinely improved once you're in the actual level playing a game.

There are some games where the loading happens too frequently in the middle and those might benefit but they don't always improve. With the price of the space on my 120GB Vertex 2 I only put a few games on it at any one time.
 
timoseewho said:
Since the main selling point of SSD's seem to be the fast boot time and I'm the kind of guy who never turns off his PC (yeh, it's probably really bad><but I just like the sound and it's so convenient the next morning!), what other boosts will I see? Say I'm using this PC for casual gaming, surfing, and just school work, no graphics editing.
Click to expand...
Boot times are definitely not the main selling point. Personally, I only boot the computer once per day at most, and even with an SSD, I still have a significant chuck of time spent in POST. I must admit though, the first time I really noticed the benefit of an SSD was during my overclocking adventures when I first got my Phenom II. Lots of crashing meant I had to reboot often, and I was pleasantly surprised how fast I could get back to the desktop.

Honestly, it's hard to say how it's really faster until you've used it for a while, and then you spend a few minutes on a computer without an SSD. It almost doesn't matter what cpu or gpu, or how much ram is in that computer - that lack of an SSD makes a world of difference. You just sit there, clearly hearing the HDD clicking frantically, but nothing seems to happen.

LokutusofBorg said:
My ideal setup if I was upgrading my computer would be a 128GB SSD for Windows and apps, and a 60GB SSD in front of (caching) a 1TB drive holding all my games and user data.
Click to expand...
I've been wondering what benefit the Z68 caching feature could bring, and it's now starting to make more sense to me. With the cache, there's no more questions about what to put on a small SSD. The cache should figure it all out for you. Damn, more incentive to upgrade. Must resist urge!
 
It helps, and as BrightCandle stated, certain games such as ARMA2 can have a noticeable difference.

IMO don't get a SSD expecting it to increase your game performance (FPS).

I honestly believe that if I have a limited budget and I want a gaming pc, I would put the money towards getting a more powerful GPU or CPU upgrade before I go with a ssd.

I'd just go with a 1TB 7200RPM HDD as the sole drive if i was on a budget. The difference if gaming is the only priority is marginal except in certain situations (ARMA2 etc)

but if budget is no concern, by all means, go for it!
 
With SSD, I can have virus scan in the background without notice.
With SSD, Zoning is way faster.
With SSD, NPC renders instantly.
With SSD, no more lag from due to loading (ie traveling between zones.)
With SSD, no more lag due to loading skins/pre-render meshes.
With SSD, the lag at the beginning of the battle disappears (when everyone starts casting.)

For FPS type games, sudden lag due to enemy going into view port disappears.
For MMO, it is night and day.

However, SSD doesn't increase max FPS, and hate log files. The worst part of SSD is if it decided to give up on you, then you lost everything on the drive. For gaming purpose, it really isn't a big deal.
 
I'd second the Shogun total war loading time reduction. Its fairly noticeable and its one of those games where the loading is very frequent, long and noticeable.

Doesn't help at all once in the actual battle however.

I did notice a difference in WoW with other players loading notably faster in busy places. Doesn't impact the game all that much otherwise that I could see.

Its not money well spent for gaming in all honesty. On the other hand its brilliant for general usage as it makes the machine a lot faster.
 
I currently use a SSD as a boot drive in each of my PCs and I prefer it that way. It's simply become an expected level of performance as I use a computer. As an example, I originally built a HTPC with an older HDD that I had lying around, and the machine took forever to boot and was rather noisy on disk access. Although, I bet the fact that the "older HDD" was actually a 74GB Raptor did not help with the noise factor. 😛 But anyway... I replaced it with a 40GB SSD and Windows 7, and all is fine.

I've been using two SSDs in my desktop since my Lynnfield i7-based machine. What I do is the main SSD has the OS and applications, and the second SSD has a few games on it. What I like about this method is that it allows me to simply remove the games SSD, and put it in a new machine. The negative aspect of this is that larger SSDs typically provide a performance boost over smaller SSDs. This is due to the SSD's controller being capable of talking to n number of NAND chips at once, but smaller SSDs do not populate all of the channels. If you look at some of Anandtech's reviews of smaller SSDs, you'll see how there are rectangular outlines on the PCB where another NAND flash chip could go.
 
The only point where an SSD will help you in games is when the game is loading data from the hard drive. Depending on the gain, this can be a huge time saver and improve the gameplay, whereas in other games it may go largely unnoticed.

I don't play many games these days, but for everything else the SSD is one of the best investments you can make toward improving system performance. It will feel like you overclocked your CPU by 1 GHz or more.

Seeing as how I am not made of money, I went with a 120GB SSD, costing 199 after rebate and have a WD 2TB Black as my storage drive. Windows and all programs go on the SSD and all of my personal data goes on the 2TB Black. This does two things. Ensure that I do not fill up my SSD (SSD's dont handle being filled to the brim well) and ensures that if I need to re-install windows or I get a virus, etc, I can just erase the SSD and not have to worry about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top