HD speed & gaming

[dysaio]

I can't be certain, but I think I recall having read once that high-speed HDs aren't entirely necessary for games (I'm thinking primarily MMOs like WoW along with stuff like half-life & UT) - is this true? I'm looking into a couple of new HDs, and was wondering if, for games, it'd be okay to go the silent route and get a spinpoint or if I should get a raptor...

thanks for any clarifications & comments

 

[GeForceX]

Here's the bottom line: Will a hard drive affect your gaming experience? The general answer is no.

The however part: It does improve your gaming experience ever so slightly by doing the following:

- Decrease loading time as you run a game.
- Decrease loading time as you run a level.
- Reduce the hitching/freezing as you go through a new area.
- Booting up your OS quicker.
- If running a server, it will be more smoother.

Other than that, if you've been used to your 7200 RPM hard drive and you think it's just fine, then don't bother with the Raptor. But I do recommend you to go for SATA hard drives at least.

-J.

 

[dysaio]

many thanks, I'll go with a SATA 7200 then - spinpoints are the quietest with 5yr mfg warrenties, right?

edit, nm, appraently they are (except 3yr warrenty), just noticed that handy sticky post