which way is better to play? cd/dvd or run from hdd?

[xxcoop42xx]

i have 3 dvd-rom games (halo 2, gears of war, and bioshock) and i also have call of duty 4 but i bought it online and downloaded it. my question(s) is/are, do games run better with a cd/dvd? do games that run on cd/dvd get better frame rates? and does running a game from a hard drive cause more work for the computer than reading it from a disk? or does playing a downloaded from hard drive just like using a cd/dvd? like the hard drive just takes the cd/dvd-rom drives place and the amount of work is equal between the two options?
i dont have any problems with cod4 it runs fine, but i was just wondering about these things. thanks for any answers in advanced.

 

[jamesgoddard]

Running from the HDD is by far the preferable option, HDD seek and transfer speeds are far better than a DVD.

It's not going to up the frame rate, but it will make game loads much quicker.

 

[xxcoop42xx]

ok thats cool, ive just never run a game without a cd/dvd and didnt know if it was worse for the cpu to play that way. thanks dude

 

[GlacierFreeze]

The games load from the HDD not CD/DVD when they're in the drive. Load speeds should be very similar. Only difference is that if the game requires the disk, it will take a couple seconds to check to see if the disc is in the drive before loading (from the HDD).

 

[itadakimasu]

if it gives you the option to run off hdd... yes. Some games make you have the cd/dvd or use no cd crack which isn't a great idea. it works but performance can be degraded if the game isn't meant to be played like that.

 

[xxcoop42xx]

well i bought it from direct2drive.com its digital distribution. they have lots of games that you can buy and download.

 

[masterclam]

dont bother with direct 2 drive if you can get it from steam; the d2d games that ive bought havent functioned very well (no multiplayer, spotty patches, etc.) but steam seems to offer games in full functionality, good prices and the downloads are pretty quick.

Most modern games load all game files to the hdd so all the cd is needed for is to make sure you have it; older games, however, often load off the cd because back in the day we didnt have terrabyte hdds to store massive amounts of info on; copying those games and running them from a harddrive will usally offer much faster load times.