Is an SSD worth it for gaming?

[cookybiscuit]

I can't seem to find a definitive answer. From a purely gaming perspective, is an SSD noticeable/do anything?

Thanks.

 

[Robert Pankiw]

Hey, I'll give my opinion, which is what you want, right? I don't have an SSD and I game on my PC.

If you don't like level load time (such as in Skyrim or any open world game), an SSD will speed that up considerably.
It won't have an impact on frames, but may (or may not) affect texture load times (Such as in an Arma game). Texture loading shouldn't affect frame rate, however.

There is a pretty serious problem is your hard disk is consistently a bottleneck in gaming.

What an SSD will do for a game (other than load things faster) is start Windows more quickly. This also means pre-downloaded updates will install faster, and non-game updates will be done sooner (assuming the hard disk is the bottleneck, in updates, it tends to be).

If you are on a laptop, an SSD will improve your battery life (not many people game on battery, but I've had to do it before).

Other than that, I (again, I don't own an SSD) see no other reason to get an SSD.

Hope this helps, even though it wasn't 'definitive'.

 

[Sovereign_Pwner]

Hey Cookybiscuit,

I dont have an SSD on my Machine, but my Mate's got one on his.
The SSD pretty much just meant that he would wait 10-15 seconds less then I would when we were loading Battlefield 3 (Just as an example.)
Other then that I don't see any other difference as the Storage doesnt effect preformance once its all loaded.

 

[cookybiscuit]

Thanks for the responses. Was aware it would do nothing for framerate, just curious about load times, read some stuff about it not being that significant an impact because of RAM and the like.

Anyway. If I just wanted to install Windows and games on it (I use my PC for nothing but games), should I prioritize capacity or speed? Any suggestion on capacity? I don't tend to bounce around games, I almost always start a game then play it till it concludes without touching another game, so maybe I could get away with a smaller capacity and just move games to it as I play them.

 

[Sovereign_Pwner]

Most SSD's nowadays support 6 GB/s SATA connections anyway.

Operating System can come up to 30 gigs, and another 10-20 for software such as your Web Browser, MS Office, Etc.
That's 40-50 right there.

Get a 120 GB SSD, and I think you will be safe.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147188

That's my suggestion. It's around the same price in Australia as in America so prices seem to be stable.

120 GB will just save you from ever feeling as if your low on space.

BTW, most SSD's are SATA 3 (6 GB/s) anyway, so theres no difference on speed.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

I have had an SSD for 3 years and will never own another computer without one. As far as gaming goes the only thing it really helps is level load times. But with Windows and your programs on it every click becomes almost instant. The SSD is the single best thing I have ever added to a computer to improve overall system responsiveness.

120GB will let you install Windows, Programs and 4 or 5 games depending on the game size. I have had my 120GB Vertex 2 right at 3 years now. I plan on going with a 512GB when I upgrade later this year. I recommend 256GB if you can afford it. The Samsung 840 250GB model can be found for ~$160 on sale. Don't forget you need to leave at least 15-20% of an SSD as free space so TRIM can work correctly.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Thanks for the responses. Was aware it would do nothing for framerate, just curious about load times, read some stuff about it not being that significant an impact because of RAM and the like.

Anyway. If I just wanted to install Windows and games on it (I use my PC for nothing but games), should I prioritize capacity or speed? Any suggestion on capacity? I don't tend to bounce around games, I almost always start a game then play it till it concludes without touching another game, so maybe I could get away with a smaller capacity and just move games to it as I play them.

The best way I have seen it explained is the difference between the slowest SSD and the fastest mechanical hard drive is 500%. The difference between the slowest SSD and the fastest SSD is 3%. So go with capacity and reliability then consider speed. My 3 year old as hell Vertex 2 still boots Windows in under 20 seconds.

 

[cookybiscuit]

Right that makes sense, I've heard the jump from HDD to SSD is alot, but SSD to SSD not so much. Think I'll go for something from Samsung then, thanks.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

They are the most reliable drives on the market and with the 840 Pro the fastest. The plain 840 is still a very good drive though not quite as fast as the Pro.

Glad to help!