Hard Drive Affect Game Performance?

A

Alai

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 19, 2008
Messages
2,701
I am getting conflicting conclusions by online publications. Some say it helps with fps, some say it doesn't. Some say it only helps with load times, some say it only helps if you have Vista which uses virtual memory extensively.

Could someone help me decide if it is worth spending nigh $300 on a Raptor 300GB, 10000rpm, 3GB/s? Or should I just stick to getting a cheap 7200rpm hard drive?
 
I won't say that it doesn't. I don't belive that it does, But I can't say I have any proof. Your money would be better spend on CPU/Video Card/Ram than on a Harddrive for FPS. Stick with a "Cheap" 7200RPM drive. There are plenty that will give you close to the performance of a Raptor.

The only thing that I think is noticeable in a game from your hard drive speeds is load time really-
 
I always get first dibs in DOD Source, especially when there is only one unit available. hard drives benefit loading times greatly. The new 10,000rpm velociraptors blow away 7200rpm drives. Stick with a name brand HD like Seagate or Western Digital dont settle for a crappy HD.
 
Faster hard drives do not help getting higher FPS but they can dramatically reduce loading times.
I would suggest to upgrade the video card instead.
The 4870 can be found for under 300$.
 
Alai said:
Could someone help me decide if it is worth spending nigh $300 on a Raptor 300GB, 10000rpm, 3GB/s? Or should I just stick to getting a cheap 7200rpm hard drive?
Click to expand...

Get a cheaper WD6400AAKS 640GB drive instead. The WD 640GB drive is almost as fast as the Velociraptor yet is 3x less. Sure you might see a faster load time with the Raptor but we're talking a few seconds faster here. Are those few seconds less worth an extra $200?

Hell no.
 
Hard drives only affect the load times of the game itself and modules as required. They don't affect the framerates as people might expect. Although some would argue the CPU usage (even at the relatively low rates that exist nowadays) would be a performance "hit" on framerates, it's been proven that - unless your hard drive suddenly falls back to PIO mode - it's not significant enough to be concerned about so don't fret over it.

Having said that, in some games like Quake 3 and others being the first one on a level or a map can be extremely advantageous. :)

Hell, when I was a diehard Q3 player, I had a RAMdisk 1GB in size and I ran Q3 off that: levels and maps loaded in like 1-2 seconds max and I was always the first on the level. "Early bird gets the BFG..." or words to that effect. ;)
 
They make huge diffrences in gaming, I would go with a faster drive personally. It's even better when you play games where you have to get first dibs if you are the first to spawn.
 
Ockie said:
They make huge diffrences in gaming, I would go with a faster drive personally. It's even better when you play games where you have to get first dibs if you are the first to spawn.
Click to expand...

I have two super cheap 80 GB Seagate drives in Raid 0 and I'm almost always the first person in the map on a server.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top