PC version of 2.0 load performance SSD vs. hdd?

[Niteshade_Rune]

I know that not always and maybe even with many games one doesnt notice any difference or improvement when having them installed on a SSD vs a normal hdd but since after having done homework and personally testing out a couple that i play ive noticed nice and more enjoyable performance that was noticeable to me at least so I wondered if any who've been in the beta's for ARR have had it running off a SSD and could comment as to whether they noticed nice loads and/or anything else vs a normal hdd.

[Noelle]

I'm no computer whizz, but I upgraded to a SSD for my main drive quite a while back, and the difference is pretty noticable in both games and software that run from it.

 

I can't say anything about the difference in 2.0, but there was a notable difference in loading and zone transitions with swapping to an SSD in 1.0.

I wouldn't say it's a necissary change by a long shot though.

[allgivenover]

MMOs benefit a great deal from SSDs due to the constant texture loading. With ARR installed on an SSD it makes for a stutter free experience that you usually associate with HDD disk thrashing.

[Niteshade_Rune]

I will have to do a comparison when ARR launches heh. most of my games are on a normal drive but after I got a SSD i slid over 3 games that i either found through doing some research showed improvement on a SSD along with the 1 i suspected would show improvement on(and was correct)

 

now I just need to decide if i want to keep my ARR physical CE pre-order for the physical goodies or swap it out to the ps3 version so id have access to playing it on both platforms lol

[D R E N]

I use SSDs for practically everything. I can't say that there is huge difference when it comes to gaming, except for when it comes to load times. Many people simply use a SSD for their operating system and install games on their HDD due to space restrictions. With that being said, it's always nice to take advantage of SSD's ludicrous read/write capabilities. If you have the free space on your SSD for gaming, definitely use it.

 

Really hope this helps!

[Asyria]

One thing to be careful about with SDD's.

I don't know if it's still true but when they first came out they were VERY short-lived when used for things that often change.

Like a single player game with an auto-save would constantly rewrite information on the SDD and that would wear it out quick.

Otherwise I hear it really helps loading.

[Niteshade_Rune]

One thing to be careful about with SDD's.

I don't know if it's still true but when they first came out they were VERY short-lived when used for things that often change.

Like a single player game with an auto-save would constantly rewrite information on the SDD and that would wear it out quick.

Otherwise I hear it really helps loading.

 

I think i recall reading about that myself. I know the SSD I have now is a nicer one, not as big as I wouldve wanted but its a good start and reliable SSD Brand.

Ive got plenty of base hdd space for all other programs so its not a huge deal in the long run,still need to upgrade the HDD space though.

 

Did figure it wouldnt hurt to get some other opinions though.

[Koninbeor]

Having to use an HDD after using an SSD makes me want to cry. That goes for any software. It's like trying to use the Internet via modem... the pain... the horror...

[allgivenover]

One thing to be careful about with SDD's.

I don't know if it's still true but when they first came out they were VERY short-lived when used for things that often change.

Like a single player game with an auto-save would constantly rewrite information on the SDD and that would wear it out quick.

Otherwise I hear it really helps loading.

 

This problem has been mitigated in recent years as SSD tech improves and OS's become better at managing them, my current SSD is estimated to last 10 years before any problems begin to show up, about as long you'd expect to get from a platter based HDD.

 

A current SSD will last 6 years under constant rewrite load at 6Gbs/second (that's really busy, no where near regular use) before it becomes unusable. source: http://ef.gy/statistics:ssd-write-endurance

 

Tech stuff aside: Get a reasonably priced SSD on Windows 7, install your OS and most used software (like XIV) on it. Never wait for anything to load ever again. It's wonderful. My computer goes from cold boot to desktop in less than fifteen seconds.

[Taeh Niumoenwyn]

An SSD will give better performance than a traditional HDD on any application that is loading data from disk past the initial programme load.  To give you some idea of my experience of PCs, I built my first one based on an motherboard using an Intel 80286 processor in 1987.

 

However there is of course a trade off, the per Gigabyte cost of an SSD is much greater than a HDD.  Also SSDs are typically much lower capacities than HDDs because of the cost.  I use an SSD for my operating system and apps that I want to load as quickly as possible.  For games, because they can take up a significant amount of space I found a  compromise.

 

Seagate 750GB Momentus XT Hybrid Thin SSHD

 

There's lots of review and technical stuff about this drive if you want to research it but in summary.  It is a 750GB HDD with an 8GB SDD integrated into it.  The hard drive monitors what files (including parts of files) you access frequently and keeps copies of those on the SSD, so they load at SSD speed.  Now 8GB doesn't sound like a lot, but even with a game like FFXIV ARR (which is taking 7.2GB on my drive) only a small percentage of that is probably being access frequently.