CPU Cooler vs SSD

Devouringbowl57 · May 29, 2015

Hi guys, I've been saving for awhile and I have about 90 bucks. At the moment I don't have an ssd or a cpu cooler, so I'm wondering if I should buy a cpu cooler (the nh-u14s) or keep saving and buy a 500gb ssd. Around the holidays I will probably buy whatever I didn't get. So what do you think?

Sapphire Thunder · May 29, 2015

CPU cooler is much more important than an high capacity SSD. Also, 90$ is not enough for 500GB SSD. They cost around 150-200$.

navalweaponsofficer · May 29, 2015

What do you want out of your system? Why is this choice a dilemma? we need some additional information to make an accurate recommendation. do you want to OC? do you want a more responsive computer? what CPU do you have?

jakegroves · May 29, 2015

Devouringbowl57 :

Personally, that cpu cooler is so overpowered, i would always reccomend a water cooler over a cpu cooler, but that is personal preference. It is a great cpu cooler.
If you are getting a ssd to store files and movies. That is waht a HHD for because of how a SSD works, it will slowly degrade it. Use it for an OSS or a game or two imo, and i would go for a 250gb SSD.
Overclocking for games would be the cpu cooler/water cooler aren't much in price difference. Water cooler looks better may i add!
but SSD will give you much more general performance via response time etc.

spdragoo · May 29, 2015

You only need the CPU cooler if a) you're having issues with current temps that you've been unable to solve with other methods (i.e. more case fans, reapplying thermal paste, etc.), or b) you plan on overclocking your current CPU & need to replace the stock cooler. If neither situation applies, then buying the CPU cooler is a waste of money.

Same goes with the SSD. If you a) don't currently have an SSD, or b) your SSD is getting too full because it's too small (i.e. a 120-128GB), then buying one would be a good idea. Otherwise, it's a waste of money.

Devouringbowl57 · May 29, 2015

I have a i5 4690k which I will overclock to around 4.5 ghz. I know 90 bucks isn't enough for a 500gb ssd that's why I said I would keep saving. I have a 2tb seagate drive for my storage and it's great except it takes around 2 minutes to load a bf4 map.

QSV · May 29, 2015

Your whole system will get a massive performance boost with an SSD. If the temperatures are ok with your current cooler (not over 80C), then I would go with an SSD hands down.

But honestly, why not buy both? You dont need a 500 GB SSD. A 120 or 240/250 GB one will work fine too if you only copy the games over you are playing currently. I am using a 120 GB one and have 3 games on it at the same time. With a 250 GB one I wouldnt need to worry at all.

navalweaponsofficer · May 29, 2015

QSV :

Based on tour updated information. I would recomend both. A CM 212 evo PP will get you close to 4.5 and all you need is a 120 gb ssd both will put you right about $100

Devouringbowl57 · May 29, 2015

A low capacity was out of the question for me because whatever ssd I pick will be with me for the next three years and I don't intend to buy more than one. Plus my buddy has a 212 evo and he can't get more than 4,2 ghz out of 4670k without blue screening. This is more of question should I buy a cpu cooler for around 70 dollars or keep saving for a 500gb ssd. I know ssd keep getting cheaper so it may make more sense to wait for some killer Black Friday deals

QSV · May 29, 2015

I ran an 80 GB SSD for 4 years without much issues. Its just a question of priority. As I said the whole system will be much faster, not just games. And its not that you cant run other games from the HDD anymore.
A PC without an SSD is a no-go nowadays.

Andrei123 · May 29, 2015

Thing is, your buddy may have a worse overclocking chip than you do. You may or may not be able to OC to 4.5GHz even with the best CPU cooler out there. On the other hand you could easily OC to 4.5GHz without any trouble. You don't choose your chip , CPU's aren't exactly the same. But overclocking really is just for fun you may or may not see a difference in FPS , or maybe just 2-3 FPS. While an SSD does NOT boost your FPS , it will load games faster as well as Windows and whatever programs you may have on there.
My choice would be a 120-250GB SSD.

QSV · May 29, 2015

Andrei123 :

SSDs actually do boost FPS. Minimum FPS only, though, because loading stutters will be minimized.

Sapphire Thunder · May 29, 2015

QSV :

No, they do not affect the fps.

QSV · May 29, 2015

Sapphire Thunder :

Yes they do! Almost every higher end game loads textures, models etc while playing. If that data is loaded from an HDD you will NOTICEABLY see FPS drops. With an SSD you wont have that anymore or only in extreme cases. There was even a huge discussion of developers about it so they could make games more streamed without having to load so much into the memory (wrong approach IMO, but thats another story).
You can easily try it yourself. Pretty much with every game that loads stuff while playing. You will instantly notice it feels MUCH smoother.

Sapphire Thunder · May 29, 2015

QSV :

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-rift-ssd,3062-13.html

QSV · May 29, 2015

Bad test. As I said, it depends on the game. If a game doesnt load much, since its has so small maps that fit into the whole RAM and VRAM, there wont be much loading. Check Arma 2 & 3 benchmarks, World of Tanks, pretty much every MMO, open world RPG. They all benefit massively from it.

http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/396220-world-of-tanks-disk-usage-test-sollution-for-fps-drops-andor-freezes/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eeRse5mtGA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dleZswcWN00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47dt-y27eYk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUGPVFcElkI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqLQkqBzsZ4
http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/2hfjxn/would_installing_skyrim_on_my_ssd_or_regular_hd/

And again, test it yourself! Its easy. Most games you can simply copy over to your HDD/SSD without having to reinstall them. You WILL notice it instantly, and I do too, because I often play games from HDD because I am too lazy to copy them over to my SSD, but I always regret it and correct that mistake very quickly. I dont play games without SSD anymore not because of loading times, but exactly because of this.

Sapphire Thunder · May 29, 2015

QSV :

I checked those through and they all prove the same thing: SSD does NOT affect FPS. Do not confuse fps with loading lag. They are not the same.
None of those show the game having like 3-10 fps more on SSD than on HDD. Because that doesn't happen. And anything under 3Fps is within a margin of error.

QSV · May 29, 2015

Sapphire Thunder :

Sigh... I knew where this was going, youre not going to budge since you cant be wrong...
But the facts are stuttering is a drop in FPS you see in those videos. You can see them. They are there. Its a short but massive drop in FPS. An SSD corrects that and you have much smoother gameplay, if not completely smooth. I explained it well enough.
Again, try it yourself. I am done trying to explain hard facts you even see for yourself... I mean seriously?

Sapphire Thunder · May 29, 2015

QSV :

It may prevent fps DROPS, but it does not IMPROVE fps. There is a difference between preventing and improving.

QSV · May 29, 2015

And DROPS are part of the FPS as a whole. DROPS in FPS LOWER FPS. SIMPLE!
If you have lower average FPS because of many drops, eliminating those drops will improve average FPS. Read the links (you couldnt have in such a short time anyway), they explain it and on the Diablo video you see it best, because the whole game slows down to a crawl when that loading happens. Its horrible and I had exactly that myself when playing it from HDD. Everyone knows it who plays from HDD. That weird stuttering when entering a new area, or some event happening. Thats is GONE with an SSD.
But please, keep trying to argue about facts, making a fool out of yourself... but without me.

Devouringbowl57 · May 29, 2015

Well I learned something new today about ssds, thank you, but I think I'm gonna buy a cooler and buy an ssd at black friday where I might score a great deal. Thanks for all the help!

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