Recommendation for m.2 ssd for game library (DramLess/Dram)

[mictec]

Hi All,

So I’m looking to upgrade my second storage for my game library. I currently have a 2TB HDD. My problem is more how long it takes games to install than loading times. I download from steam at around 100MB and it spends 80% of the time waiting on HDD. I was thinking of getting cheap dram less SSD for it.

 

I heard that don’t matter vs dram SSD for load times but what about installation times?

 

I was thinking about getting a 2TB Kingston NV1 (dram less) for $160. Would this be a good fit for what I need or does anyone have any other suggestions? 

 

Limited-time deal: Kingston NV1 2TB M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe Internal SSD Up to 2100 MB/s SNVS/2000G https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091BG4HDW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_dl_9QM3BK3ZM6G06MVZV35Z?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 

I want to be less than $220 preferably as cheap as possible for what I need.

 

Thanks in advance for the feedback

[GuiltySpark_]

The below is for buying a non-OS storage SSD:

 

For any and all gaming scenarios I can guarantee you in a double blind test you'd never notice the difference between a well reviewed DRAM-less SSD (Samsung 980, for example) and one with a DRAM cache. 

 

That's just the reality of it. Someone can argue all they want the but the truth is it'll be a really rare scenario where loading a game is going to be impacted by a DRAM-less SSD.

 

As for installing.. shoot I can't remember when the speed of installing a game was even something to bother thinking about. Everything is fast enough.

 

Don't overthink this. What you DO want to do is buy quality, well reviewed products and not focus on if its DRAM-less or not for this use case.

 

If that Kingston NV1 has favorable reviews from well known publications go for it.

[BobVonBob]

A DRAM-less SSD will work great as a bulk game drive. Game loading times barely change on drives faster than SATA SSDs, and DRAM-less NVMe drives are still significantly faster than that. The primary benefit from the DRAM is high speed burst writes and potentially caching for lower latency, both of which aren't terribly important for a game drive.

[mictec]

Thanks for the info guys