SSD for gaming - does write performance even matter?

[Whitestar127]

I need a 240-256GB SSD to use as a secondary disk just for gaming.

Now, is there any reason at all to go for say a Samsung 840 Pro 540/520 over a Samsung 840 540/250? Just trying to save a bit of money here. Does the extra write perf of the Pro have any practical impact at all in games?

Even as a primary Win7 disk in a gaming rig, isn't it better to just go for the cheaper Samsung? I mean, what good will the extra write performance of the Pro do for me if I only use my computer for gaming? Sure, it probably copies files faster, but that's not my main use or concern.

Your thoughts are welcome.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Write performance doesnt matter much. The main difference between the 2 is MLC vs TLC NAND. There is both a seektime and endurance difference as well.

 

[Whitestar127]

Yeah, I saw the AT review of the 840. I doubt it will stay in my rig for 7 years though, so endurance isn't really a big deal. As long as the technology doesn't affect reliability. But that's probably too early to tell isn't it?

So unless the increased seektime severly affects game/level loading times then this looks like good value for money.
I'll see if I can find some reveiws that compare loading times.

Edit: Well, this sure doesn't look to bad: http://techreport.com/review/23887/samsung-840-series-ssd-reviewed/10.
In this review the author calls the write perf. of the 840 series sluggish. If that means I have to wait 5 seconds longer for a couple of gigabytes to be copied, then I don't care. I only care about the performance in games really.

 

[bballkenn]

In this review the author calls the write perf. of the 840 series sluggish. If that means I have to wait 5 seconds longer for a couple of gigabytes to be copied, then I don't care. I only care about the performance in games really.

Most people get in to numbers too much. "Ohh this SSD is much faster." We are talking about milliseconds of difference and the difference in data wise would need to be in the 100Gb's write/read/transfer to truly see a big difference. If you are downgrading, lets say you have a 840PRO and needed another SSD and bought an Agility 3, you will notice a difference. This is because you are used to the 840PRO speeds.

As long as the technology doesn't affect reliability. But that's probably too early to tell isn't it?

I mean with all the reviews, even the best websites out there can only test them when they come out. Always take them with a grain of salt. They don't test endurance and reliability. From my experience I would never buy AsRock again. All AsRock MOBO had great reviews but horrible life reliability. That's just my experience.

 

[BrightCandle]

The 840 gets to store 50% more data in the same area. Now I suspect it also has more error correction which brings the space advantage down but I was kind of hoping for a substantial price advantage from TLC which never really happened.

If its a lot cheaper then the drop in performance may very well be worth it, because you could get a bigger drive with the savings. But if there isn't much difference in the price I don't think its worth the trade off.

 

[fluffmonster]

The difference in load/save times will be pretty small if you can notice it at all. I'd go with whatever is cheaper if you insist on an ssd, though I'm not clear on why you wouldn't go with a fast spindle drive to put your games on.

 

[Whitestar127]

The 840 gets to store 50% more data in the same area. Now I suspect it also has more error correction which brings the space advantage down but I was kind of hoping for a substantial price advantage from TLC which never really happened.

If its a lot cheaper then the drop in performance may very well be worth it, because you could get a bigger drive with the savings. But if there isn't much difference in the price I don't think its worth the trade off.

Well, in Norway it costs $90 (NOK 500) less than the Pro. I wouldn't call that insignificant.

 

[Zap]

what good will the extra write performance of the Pro do for me if I only use my computer for gaming?

Probably won't notice.

I'm not clear on why you wouldn't go with a fast spindle drive to put your games on.

Speaking for myself only, why wouldn't I go SSD for a gaming drive? I've been using SSDs for gaming drives for several years now and I like it that way. Then again, I'm not the type to have my entire game library installed. I typically have a handful of games that I play frequently, plus a handful that I may play. All those fit fine on a 256GB SSD with room to spare for some crap games that I know I'll never play, but haven't gotten around to uninstalling.

 

[fluffmonster]

The primary answer to why you wouldn't is pretty obvious...expense. The second is capacity. If neither of those apply because you don't need the capacity and don't care about the price, then sure an SSD gaming drive is reasonable. At the same time though, the gains from an SSD over an hdd are pretty meager I'd argue (if they exist at all) and you'd have to not care at all, not one bit, about the capacity or expense issues.

It'd be interesting to hear contrary opinions, in particular information about what games might actually be impacted by disk I/O speeds.

 

[Phynaz]

In a word:

No.

 

[colonelciller]

The primary answer to why you wouldn't is pretty obvious...expense. The second is capacity. If neither of those apply because you don't need the capacity and don't care about the price, then sure an SSD gaming drive is reasonable. At the same time though, the gains from an SSD over an hdd are pretty meager I'd argue (if they exist at all) and you'd have to not care at all, not one bit, about the capacity or expense issues.

It'd be interesting to hear contrary opinions, in particular information about what games might actually be impacted by disk I/O speeds.

i'd like to add one more factor to the comparison: noise level
for those interested in reducing noise 10k rpm drives are a catastrophe

 

[exdeath]

fast spindle drive

Is that like jumbo shrimp?

 

[hhhd1]

Write performance of the Samsung non pro is still very descent, the difference in real world will not be noticeable except in heavy writing situations like file moving.

 

[Cadarin]

The difference in load/save times will be pretty small if you can notice it at all. I'd go with whatever is cheaper if you insist on an ssd, though I'm not clear on why you wouldn't go with a fast spindle drive to put your games on.

Its really noticeable, especially playing open world games like Skyrim that load from the hard drive while you're playing. For Skyrim, I removed the opening movie from my game, so its about 1 second from when I click execute to when I'm on the game's menu. Hit "continue" and a loading screen flashes for under a second before I'm in the game. Entering a building or dungeon requires about half a second. There is a barely perceptible stutter ever 10 minutes due to autosave, but the game is otherwise seamless. No HDD will achieve that.

edit: This is on an Intel 330 180gb SSD. I think it benchmarks somewhere close to the 840.

 

[tweakboy]

Even a 830 will be fine for him. He doesnt have much to spend. Grab a M4 256GB for about 200ish dollars. gl