How does ssd work for a gaming PC?

Der-pun · Mar 28, 2016

So I'm building a new gaming PC for the first time and have come across a problem. A lot of people have suggested me to get an ssd as it provides huge performance boost. So I read a lot of posts on this forum about it and I am still a bit unclear.

1) To my understanding , with an ssd I will get a huge boost in booting the system which means my OS is stored in ssd.
Also I read that it helps the loading time in games, so does that mean the games have to be stored in ssd rather than HDD?

2)In that case do you think a 125gb ssd drive is enough ?

3)What kind of data goes in ssd and what kind of data stays on hdd?

4)Do I have to install my full game in the ssd or just my saved game? ??

I know a lot of this may sound noobish but hey, I am building this for the first time anyway ?? so any kind of help is appreciated. Also if there's something more that will help me in understanding ssd then that too. Thanks.

Here's my possible rig-

Intel i5 4690k
Asus b85m gamer
Asus strix gtx 970
WD 1 TB blue 7200rpm
Gskill 4gb cl9 x 2 = 8gb
Corsair vs650 psu

Rogue Leader · Mar 28, 2016

Using an SSD as your boot drive will boost overall system performance, your OS will load faster as will libraries and DLLs and so on for the system to run certain features. Now that said unless the game is installed on the SSD as well you will not really notice much of a performance benefit in running games.

In other words an SSD OS drive, HDD game drive combo will be a tiny bit faster than an HDD only in running a game thats stored on a HDD. However if you got a big SSD and stored the whole game there, that will make a big difference in load times..

Archaic59 · Mar 28, 2016

Only programs installed on the SSD will benefit from it. A 250GB SSD will allow you to install the OS, important apps and some of your favorite games. You should have a regular hard drive for other games/programs and bulk storage of pics and vids.

Chris Droste · Mar 28, 2016

to answer succinctly::

1) Generally your understanding is correct. Load the OS and your complete game installs to the SSD for maximum effect

2) NO. 120/125GB is NOT enough space. my HTPC has a 940EVO with Win7Home 64, OpenOffice, Steam w/Night of the Rabbit installed only(wife's game) and World of Warships. I literally cannot play Warships on it anymore because there is not enough space to apply/dowload the latest patches. Do yourself a Favor and get at least a 512GB SSD. My Crucial MX100 went for $209 over a year ago, and it's replacement model; still a 512GB unit is under $200 now. Samsung 850s are within $20-30 of this mark.

3) Any frequently accessed data should go onto the SSD. Realistically that's the entire OS, and the entire Game(s) you are currently playing. archives, movies, music, documents, pictures, etc are free to be stored onto mechanical drives. If you're doing something like rendering or movie compression, I'd recommend keeping the project files on the mechanical drive, until you're actively working on them; them move them to a active project folder on the SSD until you are done.

4) as noted above; to reap the most benefit from having an SSD, you want the entire game loaded to the SSD. this drastically speeds up the accessing of game files when the system looks to pull those files into active memory (RAM/GPU) actual gameplay itself or framerates will remain unaffected.

this is just my 10 cents; hope it helps!

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How does ssd work for a gaming PC?

Der-pun

Commendable

Chris Droste

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!

Archaic59

Polypheme

Chris Droste

Honorable

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