Quick SSD question

DotFifty89 · 6 Jan 2013 at 15:20

Hey, just wondering SSD vs HDD, does the SSD only boots the pc up faster and load files up faster? Does it have any difference mid gaming? I just dont see the price difference worthwhile

On Holiday · 6 Jan 2013 at 15:36

SSD's are the most noticeable upgrade you can perform!

They load maps a lot quicker in almost every game.

Eldara · 6 Jan 2013 at 17:21

DotFifty89 said:
Hey, just wondering SSD vs HDD, does the SSD only boots the pc up faster and load files up faster? Does it have any difference mid gaming? I just dont see the price difference worthwhile

Most games constantly load information from the hard drive. An SSD is totally worth the price every loading screen will go by 10x faster. Adding in an SSD for my most played games was the most noticeable upgrade i have ever performed. Just look at

olivier renault · 6 Jan 2013 at 19:37

My crappy UL30A 1.2GHz CULV laptop responds better than my UX32A (which will get a SSD soon).

I know, it's not laptops we're talking about, but a SSD removed one major bottleneck in all my computers, namely, hard drives (at least for general usage, program loading, ect...).

No use for gaming in general, except in some games that interact with HDDs a lot (skyrim, WoW are good examples). Or load painfully slowly.

A good £100 upgrade for general comfort. EWnough space to also add a few games that would benefit (again, if you are a big WoW or Skyrim player).

I also use a SSD for GW2 and some of my Steam games (along with Steam Mover). Some games get accelerated, some don't, I keep moving them back and forth onto the SSD.

DotFifty89 · 6 Jan 2013 at 19:40

I play a lot of WoW and skyrim so thats good to know

olivier renault · 6 Jan 2013 at 19:47

DotFifty89 said:
I play a lot of WoW and skyrim so thats good to know

If you find loading times and responsiveness a problem, than you will benefit.

And also, I would like to note that between a super-speedy SSD (say, Vertex 4 512GB?) and a medium range SSD (Crucial M4 128GB), you will only have a handful of seconds difference. But between a HDD and a regular SSD, massive gains. Also worth noting that lower capacity SSDs tend to perform worse (especially in writing speed, which are kinda irrelevant for games and general usage), due to the way SSDs technology.

As always, it's good to do a bit of research of the pros and cons.

DotFifty89 · 6 Jan 2013 at 20:14

I am looking at the crucial m4 512gb its selling for £285 i think its a pretty good deal, is this ssd a good one?

MillsyOC · 6 Jan 2013 at 20:22

I've got two Crucial M4 SSds, one 64GB boot/app drive and one 128GB games drive. They definitely aren't the fastest SSDs around but I've not had any issues with either of them.

I use them on SATA II anyway since the SATA III ports on my mobo have a crap Marvell controller which is slower than SATA II.

+1 Crucial for reliability.

DotFifty89 · 6 Jan 2013 at 20:27

Which are the fastest ssd's?

MillsyOC · 6 Jan 2013 at 20:29

Samsung 840 Pro, OCZ Vector, Plextor M8(?) Pro are all top-range for random access and sequential read/write IIRC.

Daytrader · 24 Feb 2013 at 14:58

MillsyOC said:
I've got two Crucial M4 SSds, one 64GB boot/app drive and one 128GB games drive. They definitely aren't the fastest SSDs around but I've not had any issues with either of them.

I use them on SATA II anyway since the SATA III ports on my mobo have a crap Marvell controller which is slower than SATA II.

+1 Crucial for reliability.

Cant you just use the intel rapid drivers, no need to use the marvel drivers is there ? aint the marvel drivers just for the ide channel/controller.