SSD size Skyrim + Windows 7

[Littlebro]

Hi all,

What size of SSD do I need for Skyrim + Windows 7 HP to be on it? Will a Crucial M4 suffice? And Skyrim is on Steam, so does Steam and all the games I have for it have to be on the SSD?

Thanks!

 

[Littlebro]

Is there no possibility to just install Skyrim on my SSD and the rest on the HDD? :s

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

Is there no possibility to just install Skyrim on my SSD and the rest on the HDD? :s

Nope, it's all in the same folder (whereever you've installed Steam).

If you want to be super efficient, you can copy my setup.

1x 128Gig SSD (for Operating System ->Win7 64bit)
1x 128Gig SSD (for Steam/Origin/other games)
2x 2TB HDD for media/backups, other huge applications like Photoshop, Visual Studio, etc.

That's how I do it.

 

[harmster]

Hmm in the past i've had the same problem. Couldnt install more games at the same SSD. I know if you try to install ( download ) a game from Steam you also can select a different folder ( before the download starts ). You can try it

Edit: and here your answer

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/09/11/finally-an-in-built-way-to-choose-steam-install-locations/

 

[Littlebro]

Ok thanks. So basically a 64 GB drive would suffice for Windows 7 + Skyrim? Do you have to put somethings off to prevent your PC from putting too much stuff on your SSD? I read something like hibernating? Can anyone explain this to me please?

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

Ok thanks. So basically a 64 GB drive would suffice for Windows 7 + Skyrim? Do you have to put somethings off to prevent your PC from putting too much stuff on your SSD? I read something like hibernating? Can anyone explain this to me please?

64GB SSD would be enough but don't plan on installing much else after that...

Skyrim + HD mods equals about 20 Gigs total...we'll say Win7 equals about the same so that leaves your with 20 GB or so...but it'll go up quick if you have anything else installed.

For this reason, I'd leave a dedicated HDD for the rest of your applications.

 

[Malleta]

120GB would be great, Win 7, Skyrim, and others games if you want to;

 

[Littlebro]

I just want Skyrim to be on it . Thanks for the replies! But some people say that Win 7 takes in the 40's of GB? That's not true I hope... And they say to prevent it you should disable hibernating amongst others.. Can someone explain this to me?

 

[Sunius]

Windows 7 does take 40 GB. Not to mention folders like My documents, which all games create spam in.

On my 120 GB SSD I've got Windows, Visual Studio and World of Wacraft installed. It has 35 GB of free space.

64 GB is definitely not enough.

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

I just want Skyrim to be on it . Thanks for the replies! But some people say that Win 7 takes in the 40's of GB? That's not true I hope... And they say to prevent it you should disable hibernating amongst others.. Can someone explain this to me?

When you computer goes in Hibernation, it says a bunch of stuff on your hard drive (whatever memory you had in your RAM as well as other memory links or buffer you might have had whenever going into hibernation. All this gets loaded accordingly whenever you come back from hibernation. These hibernation files can get pretty big if you've hibernated while having a bunch of programs opened.

I don't use hibernation myself but if you do...make sure your set a cap to the H-File.

Your main problem with a 64GB SSD is maintenance. You'll always be close to having it full because you also need to install drivers, browser (which also take in temp files), etc... which eats your disk space quite a bit. In other words, you bigger the hard drive the more room (call it laziness) you have before having to do maintenance.

That 128GB SSD would really do you some good IMO. But to answer your questions, yes a 64GB would work...just be ready to do maintenance a lot.

 

[Littlebro]

I just have the money for a 64 GB Crucial M4 and I don't want to save on the GPU and CPU... I also have a HDD 7200 rpm. When I have my new PC, I'll look into that hibernating stuff so that I can disable it.

 

[Littlebro]

I just have the money for a 64 GB Crucial M4 and I don't want to save on the GPU and CPU... I also have a HDD 7200 rpm. When I have my new PC, I'll look into that hibernating stuff so that I can disable it.

Windows 7 does take 40 GB. Not to mention folders like My documents, which all games create spam in.

On my 120 GB SSD I've got Windows, Visual Studio and World of Wacraft installed. It has 35 GB of free space.

64 GB is definitely not enough.

Does My Documents HAVE to be on the SSD? All my homework etc. I'll be doing from my old laptop.

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

I just have the money for a 64 GB Crucial M4 and I don't want to save on the GPU and CPU... I also have a HDD 7200 rpm. When I have my new PC, I'll look into that hibernating stuff so that I can disable it.




Does My Documents HAVE to be on the SSD? All my homework etc. I'll be doing from my old laptop.

Nope, it doesn't. Best way to do it (iz how I do it) is to link the "My ..." to a similar forlder on your HDD instead. Videos, photos, documents, etc. can be linked to another folder instead of using the default provided.

 

[Sunius]

I didn't mean "My documents" as your files. I meant as game saves, temporary files, desktop, etc etc. They are all stored on windows installation partition. And yes, I have hibernation disabled, so that isn't eating space.

My Windows Folder is 32 GB. Users folder is 2 GB. Program files (it's windows files actually) is another 5 GB. And don't forget the hidden files .

Trust me, 64 GB will not be enough unless you don't install ANYTHING but windows in it.

 

[voiidwulf]

I just want Skyrim to be on it . Thanks for the replies! But some people say that Win 7 takes in the 40's of GB? That's not true I hope... And they say to prevent it you should disable hibernating amongst others.. Can someone explain this to me?

I have a 32GB SSD with Windows 8 Pro 64bit and I had Skyrim on it. There was like 2GB of free space, and I have to constantly run disk cleanup, so now I have Skyrim on an 8GB Ramdisk.

 

[Littlebro]

Ok when I hear most people, when you do it the right way anyway, Skyrim + Windows 7 can get on a 64 GB SSD. Alright thanks for the replies! If anyone totally disagrees and has proof, my email notification is on .

 

[Sunius]

There isn't really much point having an SSD if it's gonna be full. It's speed gets decreased to near conventional HDD speeds if there isn't at least 20% free space on it.

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

There isn't really much point having an SSD if it's gonna be full. It's speed gets decreased to near conventional HDD speeds if there isn't at least 20% free space on it.

Whoa? I didn't know that...

 

[Littlebro]

Then it's maybe best if I don't buy it...

 

[voiidwulf]

There isn't really much point having an SSD if it's gonna be full. It's speed gets decreased to near conventional HDD speeds if there isn't at least 20% free space on it.

I have over 20% free now. There is 9GB free.

 

[Littlebro]

I don't have the money, as I said before, to buy a 120 GB SSD without changing my GPU.

 

[Ceee9]

240gb of ssd is the price of a intel unlocked chipset..
U better wait for ssd to be cheap in the next few month...or years
Pointless buy imo, u better help ur family expenses

Just like thunderbolt this days.

 

[Littlebro]

And one last question. Are the loading times very long for Skyrim + mods on a HDD 7200 rpm? :s If it's not extreme, then I'm ok with it.

 

[Sunius]

Wouldn't say so. Skyrim loading screens are quite fast even on 5400 RPM drive.

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

And one last question. Are the loading times very long for Skyrim + mods on a HDD 7200 rpm? :s If it's not extreme, then I'm ok with it.

Results will be different from one RIG to the next...

I run Skyrim with HD Texture Mod + tones of other texture mods and it never takes more than 10 secs to load (even in the middle of an open world) but most times will load almost instantly. The whole things depends more than the source....depends on RAM, MOBO, CPU, GPU.

That said, my HDD use to take me between 5-30 seconds to load whereas my game dedicated SSD (because I have another SSD for my OP) will always take less than 8 secs. It makes a huge difference but is it worth the extra 100$? That's up to you to decide...