New to pc gaming, question on SSD vs HDD
Posted by H00ded7@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 14 comments
So I have both an SSD and an HDD. Ive installed a few games on the SSD such as Skyrim, Starfield, and Cyberpunk. On my HDD I have games like Halo, Jedi Survivor, and Remnant 2. My question is how bad is it to have games on an HDD? Am I bottlenecking my games by choosing to put them on HDD? I don't care about longer load times, I care about in game performance.
KirillNek0@reddit
Depends on what games. You like faster loading time? Then move the to SSD.
H00ded7@reddit (OP)
Gotcha, I wish 2 TB SSD were a bit cheaper ðŸ˜
Admiral_peck@reddit
Older games made when SSD's didn't exist will run fine on HDD's
KirillNek0@reddit
Got 4TB SATA ssd for ~199. Worth it.
Cutter9792@reddit
They're worth it. At this point, my PC doesn't have an HDD in it at all, instead I have a 4TB SSD and a 2TB NVME. I still managed to fill it up pretty quickly because of how many games I have installed, but it is well more than enough for nearly anything.
Either way the jump to SSD is worth it. Even if you're not going to NVMEs yet, standard SSDs will show a marked improvement in speed, even if you're just moving files around on your computer or installing games. Not every game needs NVME speeds, obviously, so you can get away with a regular SSD for now and get an NVME later.
A quick search on Micro Center found this frankly incredible deal on a Samsung 990 EVO 2TB NVME, so if you have a spare m.2 slot on your mobo I'd say bite the bullet and grab one while it's cheap.
H00ded7@reddit (OP)
Would you be able to give me a quick rundown of the difference between NVME and standard SSD? I read into it some but I'm still a bit confused. Does NVME go on the motherboard direct?
Cutter9792@reddit
NVME goes into the m.2 slot on your mobo. It's faster. And more expensive generally.
H00ded7@reddit (OP)
Ahh makes sense. I'm seeing that you can also get that one with a heatsink, would that be a good idea?
Cutter9792@reddit
yes
simagus@reddit
Some games run better from a HDD than others, but all games run better from SSD.
In game performance can typically be similar, but that depends on a number of factors.
Most of it is dependent on how the game is programmed, how much VRAM your GPU has, and how much system RAM is allocated for it's cache if you are using integrated graphics, so overall the difference is how much it needs to read the actual drive.
The read/write speeds of an SSD are going to be far higher than a HDD, but if most of the game is running from your VRAM there's not going to be a massive difference, except in those loading times, where games tend to take the opportunity to rewrite the cache as needed.
The CPU and GPU (which has it's own cache being used first and foremost) are the things that make the biggest difference, and different games can have different loads on each of those.
H00ded7@reddit (OP)
Ah I see I see. Would the difference between a 5000 mb/s SSDA AND 7,450 mb/s be substantial enough to warrant the higher cost?
irishchug@reddit
SSDs are cheap now, all games/programs should be installed on them.
The only thing HDDs should be used for is storage.
nydrm90@reddit
I played 7 days on my hhd, and it would lag and skip a bunch when going to new areas. I put it on my m.2 SSD and I swear the whole game runs smoother. 1tb ssd's are $60 each on Amazon. I might transfer all my data to sata ssd's. And get three times the speed.
USSHammond@reddit
Certain haired like starfield require an SSD, at least it's in the system requirements.