Yeah, the all-too-common question of, "Which is better for games, SSD or HDD?" Of course, we all know the answer. We know that for in-game and active play, the SSD and HDD are the same. They do not provide any difference in performance or FPS, the results are the same FPS. However, that's not the perspective of why I'm bringing up this question again.
It's now 2018 and games are only going to get larger.
Rainbow 6 Siege is 62GB
Ghost Recon Wildlands is 64GB
Call of Duty World War II is 90GB
Warhammer Verminintide 2 is 50GB
Far Cry 5 is 50GB
Overwatch is 20GB
Fortnite is 20GB
etc.
Games may vary between 20 and 100GB nowadays. In the modern day, we deal with updates biweekly for most games and these updates can be an average of 2GB, ranging from merely 200mb to 10GB updates!
At the moment, I have an internet speed of around 135Mbps (17MB/s). This allows me to download updates very quickly. The problem is, it downloads so quickly but then has to pause the download and wait for my hard drive to get done with actually modifying and adding the files in order to continue the update. I don't get to utilize my internet's speed potential.
In this sense, the hard drive is my computer's strongest bottleneck when it comes to updating and loading these massive games.
Now here's the bottom-line question:
So, in this day and for the future of games, their size, their update sizes, the internet speed, and even the load times, would it now be a good idea to purchase a large sized SSD, like a terabyte, in order to accommodate for it all? Would it be worth it, the ~$250 for a TB SSD, over having a regular HDD with the same space?
*Side note: I have a build from 2012, so I do not have the M.2 option for SSD. Only SATA III.
**Edit: ^Consider the non-M.2 as well. If I do get a bigger SSD, would it be worth it for me to get the SATA option or just wait the at least five years until I get a new PC for the M.2 or whatever future option may bring for SSD speeds and stick with a HDD for now?
I welcome all opinions and perspectives! Please, the more responses, the better!
It's now 2018 and games are only going to get larger.
Rainbow 6 Siege is 62GB
Ghost Recon Wildlands is 64GB
Call of Duty World War II is 90GB
Warhammer Verminintide 2 is 50GB
Far Cry 5 is 50GB
Overwatch is 20GB
Fortnite is 20GB
etc.
Games may vary between 20 and 100GB nowadays. In the modern day, we deal with updates biweekly for most games and these updates can be an average of 2GB, ranging from merely 200mb to 10GB updates!
At the moment, I have an internet speed of around 135Mbps (17MB/s). This allows me to download updates very quickly. The problem is, it downloads so quickly but then has to pause the download and wait for my hard drive to get done with actually modifying and adding the files in order to continue the update. I don't get to utilize my internet's speed potential.
In this sense, the hard drive is my computer's strongest bottleneck when it comes to updating and loading these massive games.
Now here's the bottom-line question:
So, in this day and for the future of games, their size, their update sizes, the internet speed, and even the load times, would it now be a good idea to purchase a large sized SSD, like a terabyte, in order to accommodate for it all? Would it be worth it, the ~$250 for a TB SSD, over having a regular HDD with the same space?
*Side note: I have a build from 2012, so I do not have the M.2 option for SSD. Only SATA III.
**Edit: ^Consider the non-M.2 as well. If I do get a bigger SSD, would it be worth it for me to get the SATA option or just wait the at least five years until I get a new PC for the M.2 or whatever future option may bring for SSD speeds and stick with a HDD for now?
I welcome all opinions and perspectives! Please, the more responses, the better!