Is a 120GB SSD pointless?

[camohanna]

I am considering getting a 240GB SSD in favor of a 120GB SSD and a 2TB HDD. Will a 120GB SSD be big enough to fit lots of programs and games on? Can someone give me a rough estimate of how many i could install on my SSD after OS etc.

 

[robustus64]

You will have roughly 60 g left after os ( thats basically what i had) so you can squeez about 3 large games or many smaller ones.

 

[camohanna]

You will have roughly 60 g left after os ( thats basically what i had) so you can squeez about 3 large games or many smaller ones.

Hmm, in that case, ill just get the 240GB. I have an old laptop (500GB HDD) that i can store my movies and stuff on and just copy them over when i want to watch them.

 

[manofchalk]

Windows 7 64bit only takes 20GB and formatting only takes 9GB. So you will have ~90GB once you get Windows installed and the pagefile moved.
Plenty of room for programs and the occasional game. My 128GB SSD is only half full.

 

[camohanna]

Windows 7 64bit only takes 20GB and formatting only takes 9GB. So you will have ~90GB once you get Windows installed and the pagefile moved.
Plenty of room for programs and the occasional game. My 128GB SSD is only half full.

In that case, i might still get the 120 GB SSD. How much does a game take up? 5-10GB?

 

[manofchalk]

Depends on the game. An indie title could be less than a GB, while Batman: Arkham City is pushing 20GB. Crysis 2 is 10GB. All depends on the game.

Just remember that putting a game on the SSD wont improve performance, only load times. So if its something like Skyrim (8GB) or Fallout (8GB as well) with a loading screen every time you open a door, those are the games to put on the SSD. While something like BF3 (No idea) that only loads at the beginning of levels and online play will be restricted by internet speed, that's not worth putting on there.

 

[Sakkura]

In that case, i might still get the 120 GB SSD. How much does a game take up? 5-10GB?

Between 0.5 and 30 GB for most games.

 

[camohanna]

Depends on the game. An indie title could be less than a GB, while Batman: Arkham City is pushing 20GB. Crysis 2 is 10GB. All depends on the game.

Just remember that putting a game on the SSD wont improve performance, only load times. So if its something like Skyrim (8GB) or Fallout (8GB as well) with a loading screen every time you open a door, those are the games to put on the SSD. While something like BF3 (No idea) that only loads at the beginning of levels and online play will be restricted by internet speed, that's not worth putting on there.

Hell yes for skyrim. i was playing it on my brother 360 and i felt like a part of me died everytime i opened a door and watched the loading screen...

 

[lunyone]

I had a 120 gb SSD on my laptop, but I had an iTunes library of about 15 gb's coupled with about 40 gb's of games (a few bigger ones), plus add in the Windows 7 64bit Ultimate of about 15-20 gb's. That left me about 25-30 gb's of space. I also rip DVD's to the HD and then burn them, so I would need about 15-20 gb's of HD space to do that. Most SSD's work more optimally around 50-80% of capacity, so for my uses a 240-256 gb SSD would work better for my situation. Now for my wife, that is a whole different story. She wouldn't probably use more than about 5-10 gb's of space

 

[camohanna]

A 120Gb seems like enough, but i am considering stepping up to 240GB and dropping the 1TB HDD. I can buy this 1TB sometime in the future. Would this be a wise decision?

 

[lunyone]

A 120Gb seems like enough, but i am considering stepping up to 240GB and dropping the 1TB HDD. I can buy this 1TB sometime in the future. Would this be a wise decision?

Depends on your needs. Some people like lots of space for extras, but I personally would do fine with 240-256 gb SSD and having an external for backups and such.

 

[camohanna]

I have 2x computers with 500GB ea in my house and a 1TB external HDD. I think i will go with the 240GB. Thanks for the discussion!

 

[camohanna]

Best answer selected by camohanna.