NVME for Windows and HDD for Games, will it work?
Posted by ExpensiveAdz@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 7 comments
Hey,
If I install Windows on a 250GB NVMe Gen3 SSD and use a 1TB HDD for games, will it work smoothly?
I mean, won’t the HDD be too slow for games?
Expert_Conflict6374@reddit
Yes HDDs are too slow for games especially modern day ones where there are 100GB+ of assets to load
CtrlAltDesolate@reddit
Simply depends on the game. Some will be fine, some will be a bad experience, some will be almost unplayable.
dertechie@reddit
It used to be that games did a ton of tricks to mask HDD loading times. They have recently started doing that a lot less and just relying on the ability to stream assets off the SSD.
Essentially anything that runs on PS4 generation hardware should work on HDD. Newer games might work. If the system requirements say SSD, there’s a good chance it chokes on HDD and you can’t say they didn’t warn you.
Dropping the HDD tricks allows them to avoid things like using elevators or tunnels to mask loading or having to replicate data to make sure it is quickly available for rotating media. As an extreme example of duplication for HDDs, Helldivers 2 went from about 150 GB to about 23 GB when they dropped HDD optimizations (and lost almost no load time because disk I/O wasn’t their bottleneck).
Warranty_V0id@reddit
A lot of modern games are programmed with an SSD in mind. You basically have to try it game by game.
imightbetired@reddit
Many games recommend an SSD...a HDD will give you a lot of issues in most modern games. Just look recommendations on Steam for the games you are interested into...if SSD is not mentioned, you are fine.
furmsdanku@reddit
For some games that dont require faster storage yes its fine. If you're planning on playing games like Spiderman 2 and other Triple A Modern games they require a Gen 4 Drive as standard for map loading times.
QuasimodoPredicted@reddit
Depends on the games