How important is HDD speed?

S

slane

Bronze Level Poster
Other than speed improvements with initially loading games or other large programs will having a faster HDD drive set up improve performance. E.g. If I had an SSD would I see improvements while actually playing games or would it only improve load times rather than actual 'play'?

I have a 1TB WD Caviar Green (7200rpm). I am half considering getting an SSD or maybe another HDD and running it in RAID but not sure if it would be any good to me other than improving my Windows score...

Cheers.
 
Music Guy123

Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
An SSD would work very well with a caviar green. They make the pc much more snappier and improve opening and loading times of everything. They aren't supposed to have much effect on games but I have seen in some cases fps increasing with them. but not a huge amount. I really would recommend a fast drive like an SSD.
 
Corfate

Corfate

Author Level
For the price of them i can't justify it :p I'd opt for a Caviar Black or a Barracuda. Better reliability, and still fast.
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
Music Guy123 said:
They make the pc much more snappier and improve opening and loading times of everything. They aren't supposed to have much effect on games but I have seen in some cases fps increasing with them. but not a huge amount.
Click to expand...

Yes, they do improve boot time and loading times, but for most games they won't improve much if at all, and personally I couldn't justify the cost of them.
 
S

slane

Bronze Level Poster
Is it a significant improvement in boot time? Could I install windows on a flash drive and boot from that since they are small SSDs right? Or is that crazy talk (don't you know I'm loco!!)?
 
W

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
no they are completely different, nowhere near as fast, if they were the same, they'd be much more expensive

I'd look at a small SSD just for OS, some of the 64GB ones are pretty good value
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
slane said:
oh so you get some exclusive price? Is it a percentage off or something?
Click to expand...

No, but their prices are very competitive.

To order seperate components from them you have to had ordered a full system at some point (this is because they are system builders and are not a separate components seller, but they realise people who have bought from them may want nice new upgrades, so allow existing customers to buy separate bits and pieces, note: I think this is the reasoning)
 
S

slane

Bronze Level Poster
I'll check it out.

So I could install windows on an SSD, delete it from HDD, and boot really quick. I wonder if it would just be a status thing that would increase my Windows score but not actually benefit me in the long run.....
 
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