Generally, SSDs can’t help you directly in improving your gaming performance as a good Graphics Card and enough RAM will do.
But, there are several indirect impacts you will experience when you have an SSD installed inside your gaming PC or laptop.
The first benefit is that an SSD will be able to read and write the information faster. So, your system does not have to wait for any chunk of required data stored inside this device.
Because of this, firing up any game will take very little time. Mostly, you will see around 50% – 60% reduction in the game loading time using an SSD as compared to the Hard Driver.
There are numerous other benefits you will surely experience whenever you choose SSDs for your gaming computer instead of an HDD. In this article, we are going to cover these concepts and help you make your decision wisely.
But, before starting, let’s see this amazing meme I found on Instagram.
Is it worth using an SSD inside a gaming system?
Usually, games installed on an SSD would boot more easily than games installed on a standard hard drive. The boot time can vary from PC to PC and game to game, but it will take less than half the time it would take to boot a game from an SSD from a hard drive in certain instances.
But it should be noted that as SSDs increase the speed of data processing, they don’t give you an FPS boost. So if you need to increase your FPS, you need to think of a good graphics card and CPU along with an SSD.
It is clear that SSDs are good in every aspect when it comes to speed and performance. So, as a gamer, you are going to receive great results for sure. However, price is the only thing you will have to keep in mind. SSDs are more expensive than HDDs.
Will an SSD Improve FPS?
No. SSD has nothing to do with your game FPS (Frames per second). SSD can only load your games faster and help with stuttering a little bit. However, if you want to improve FPS, consider upgrading your GPU.
SSD will always keep all the files ready which are important for your game. So, any lag caused by the HDD’s slow speed, you can easily fix it with an SSD. However, SSD has become important hardware in any gaming computer.
So, when combined with a good graphics card, RAM, and processor, it can increase your gaming experience a lot. But, do not expect it to improve the FPS because SSDs are not supposed to help with graphics in any way.
Benefits of SSDs For Gamers
1. SSD will use less CPU Power
Yes, having an SSD inside your computer will drastically reduce the CPU power requirements. SSDs are more efficient as compared to HDDs. So, your system will be able to run other important things properly.
SSDs will keep your CPU free of unnecessary processing whenever a task completes. As compared to HDDs, an SSD will help your system to process faster because it can easily store and read the information required for any job.
2. SSDs are becoming cheaper
As computer technology is growing, SSDs are becoming cheaper day by day. You can easily get a brand new 500 GB SSD from popular brands like Samsung and Crucial within 60 to 80 Dollars. For most gamers, 500 GB storage is enough and that’s really good news for you.
3. SSDs will help to load your OS and Games Faster
This is an undeniable fact that an SSD will help your system to load up quickly. You normally see a 50% decrease in the loading time inside Windows systems. However, various users have found many effective results. In fact, if you have a good amount of RAM along with a fast processor, your system can load up within 5 to 10 seconds.
That’s just amazing.
Another most annoying thing you can experience as a gamer is huge lags whenever you try to load your game. Depending on the size and type of your game, HDDs can take a huge time to load any game on your system.
However, when you have an SSD installed, this time will reduce drastically because your system never has to run the disk first and then find the files your game needs.
What size of SSD will be good for my gaming computer?
It all depends on your requirements.
Let’s take an example of a popular game known as Far Cry 5. In order to install this game on your system, you will need 40 GB of storage space. You can easily go to the official website of any game and check the system requirements. Then, take your final decision whether you want to go for a 500GB, 1TB, or 2TB SSD.
If you are an occasional gamer who plays games in your free time, 500 GB SSD will be enough for you. But, if you want to take your gaming journey to a professional level or if you are already doing it, just invest your money in high-quality and high-storage devices.
Ok! SSDs improve gaming performance. But, I want a lot of storage space as well
Well, that’s the case with most of us and it mostly keeps us from upgrading. We have seen HDDs storing up to 20 TB which we are not getting with SDDs till 2021. But, there are two alternatives in this case.
Firstly, you can install both SSD and HDD on a single computer or laptop. You can use your hard disk only as a storage space for important files, videos, images, etc. On the other hand, you can use small but faster SSD storage space to store your OS files and game files. This will help you to make your primary tasks fast and efficient by giving you a good storage space along the way.
Secondly, you can think of buying an SSHD (Solid-State Hybrid Drive) which is a combination of both HDD and SSD. An SSHD will come along with a moving disk as an HDD along with a small amount of SSD. But, I would not suggest you use this one because it will have a slower speed as compared to an actual SSD.
Should I go for a portable SSD as a Gamer?
Portable SSD is another great option to enhance your gaming performance. You can easily install your games or even the OS inside a portable SSD and boot anything from there. So, if you want to keep your HDD installed and get an additional but faster storage space, you should definitely go for a portable SSD for great results.
You will always have the freedom to connect and disconnect it anytime you want. But, for some people, it can become a mess. However, the results would be similar. But, I would suggest you install the SSD inside your system if you are a regular gamer. It will save space and will be efficient at the same time.
Conclusion
In simple words, if your goal is to increase the FPS or the visuals-quality of your games, SSD is not going to help you in any way. However, fast game and OS loading time is something most gamers will find helpful. So, if you want to upgrade your gaming computer completely, you should surely invest in good quality SSD along with other things such as GPU, CPU, RAM, etc.
To be Continued…
