Which drive to use?

MiniSparks

MiniSparks

Bronze Level Poster
Hoping I'm OK to ask this here but would someone mind advising me where I should install games on my PC?

1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE

1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)

Thank you in advance.
 
NoddyPirate

NoddyPirate

Grand Master
If you can fit them on the SSD with some room to spare (ideally atound 75 GB or more) then putting them on that drive will have them load a lot quicker than the HDD. However the HDD will work fine also - it's just a second best option - that's all.....
 
i_Ary

i_Ary

Gold Level Poster
Well as you know the storage drives mostly differ in their speeds. If you want to download a game which doesnt have much loading in it or long loading times (for instance maybe CS:GO), then you’ll be fine having it on your HDD. Games such as Forza Horizon 4 or MSFS20 are suggested to be on your SSD since in a game like Forza you’ll have more loading times for things such as loading in a vehicle.
 
AgentCooper

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
As above...

Your OS and programs will live on the M.2 drive and you'll probably have enough room for a couple of currently played games on there. The rest can live on the HDD, but load times will be considerably slower. You'll often see us advise adding a second, larger M.2 drive (usually the 1TB PCS) in there which is a luxury move but gives you a bucketful of faster storage. My often referenced example is something like Red Dead Redemption 2, has no loading when in you're in-game, but takes a lifetime to initially load you into the game world. Sooooo much quicker with that second fast drive.
 
MiniSparks

MiniSparks

Bronze Level Poster
AgentCooper said:
As above...

Your OS and programs will live on the M.2 drive and you'll probably have enough room for a couple of currently played games on there. The rest can live on the HDD, but load times will be considerably slower. You'll often see us advise adding a second, larger M.2 drive (usually the 1TB PCS) in there which is a luxury move but gives you a bucketful of faster storage. My often referenced example is something like Red Dead Redemption 2, has no loading when in you're in-game, but takes a lifetime to initially load you into the game world. Sooooo much quicker with that second fast drive.
Click to expand...
Thank you. At the moment it's for Warzone which is a 90gb install so that's why I wondered. Would it be worth me looking into another storage drive?
 
NoddyPirate

NoddyPirate

Grand Master
Easy, but only if you have two M.2 slots on your Motherboard though!!!

if you only have one then you would need to reinstall Windows and all other programs from the original M.2 drive - or clone your 512 GB OS drive first. I’m not sure how best to clone an M.2 without a second slot though - others here will know of course....
 
MiniSparks

MiniSparks

Bronze Level Poster
NoddyPilot said:
Easy, but only if you have two M.2 slots on your Motherboard though!!!

if you only have one then you would need to reinstall Windows and all other programs from the original M.2 drive - or clone your 512 GB OS drive first. I’m not sure how best to clone an M.2 without a second slot though - others here will know of course....
Click to expand...
How will I know if I have two M.2 slots? Can I assume that if I've seen the same motherboard mentioned in someone elses spec and that also has 2 M.2 storage drives included, I must have too?

ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready! <-- this is the motherboard I have.
 
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NoddyPirate

NoddyPirate

Grand Master
MiniSparks said:
How will I know if I have two M.2 slots? Can I assume that if I've seen the same motherboard mentioned in someone elses spec and that also has 2 M.2 storage drives included, I must have too?

ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready! <-- this is the motherboard I have.
Click to expand...
Sorted. You have two! And both high speed also I think! 👍👍
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Well looking at this it has

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MiniSparks

MiniSparks

Bronze Level Poster
Nursemorph said:
From experience, my advice is simple: Use that HDD for games and I will tell Father Christmas you have been naughty ;)

Seriously though...the difference between a HDD and an M.2 SSD is night and day. I have an Xbox which runs on a HDD and a PC which has an M.2 SSD....on the PC, Forza Horizon 4 takes around 30 seconds give or take to go from clicking on it to being able to drive a car; in contrast, my Xbox can sometimes take up to 2 minutes for the same.

In-game you won't notice much difference...however, things like menus etc will load quicker
Click to expand...
You big meanie! Lol. I won't use the HDD for games, promise lol. I'm not going game mad just now, just a couple of games to start me off and once I've saved enough pennies, I'll get another M.2. :D
 
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