SSD or HDD?

[mrGOAB]

Hello everyone! So I am building a new computer with a budget of around 1,500 bucks. I have set in stone what I want and have changed many things over the last couple of weeks. So my main question is if I should get an SSD or stay with my 2TB Barracuda. Things to note is that I currently have an external drive that is 3TB and if I were to get an SSD it would be around a year before I got another drive. So in conclusion, should I get an SSD right now, then LATER get a new drive or should I stick with my Barracuda or is there a cheap worthwhile solution where I could get both right now UNDER 100 bucks? Let me know, and as always your feedback is very much appreciated! Thanks a bunch! (Oh and keep in mind I game a fair bit, so if that is a factor please let me know.   

 

Other thoughts:   

-I could always get an SSD in the future, but does copying your OS really work that great?  

-Here is a link to my build and feel free to comment or suggest ideas for that as well. -- http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sFJpg

-

 

[DoubleY]

ssd

[Polyvalent]

Why can't you have both..

[DeViLzzz]

The heck with the SSD.  As a gamer it adds nothing. Focus on what you really want from the rest of the build and add an SSD someday or never for that matter.

As for the psu you picked I would choose other brands before that one ... SeaSonic, Antec and some others ... but still how does that PSU rate?  Also does EVGA actually make it or is it re-branded?

[Aniallation]

Well it's a McLaren P1 vs a Honda Civic.... 

 

Get a 250GB SSD. Take the external 3TB drive apart, and inside will be a standard hard drive you can install in your PC and run alongside the SSD

[Gix7Fifty]

SSD now with a fresh copy of windows and slave your Barracuda, don't mess around with trying to copy windows to another drive. Fresh copy ,always fresh copy.

[Enderman]

ssd first, then when you buy a HDD in the future you don't need to bother reinstalling everything

[Polyvalent]

The heck with the SSD.  As a gamer it adds nothing. 

 

oh man thats rich

 

read up son http://www.overclock.net/t/1166156/how-games-really-benefit-from-ssd

[mrGOAB]

Why can't you have both..

Well, if you find a 250GB SSD AND a 2TB HDD that is decent quality UNDER 100 bucks please let me know.....

[Polyvalent]

Well, if you find a 250GB SSD AND a 2TB HDD that is decent quality UNDER 100 bucks please let me know.....

 

Well when you said "stay with my 2TB" I assumed you meant stay with what you already had.  If you dont have one just get a HDD and get an ssd later.

[DeViLzzz]

oh man thats rich

 

read up son http://www.overclock.net/t/1166156/how-games-really-benefit-from-ssd

LOL at this bs ..

"Well I think that's a rather silly argument quite honestly. I mean most decent HDD's have a seek time of 8.9 MILLIseconds.I understand that SSD don't suffer from this, but seriously, it would take quite a while for it become noticeable, granted it would exponential since over time it'll accumulate."

Not like loads of people commented on all this and this argument hasn't been shown time and time again as a reason to get an SSD for a gaming rig.  Seriously give me a break.  Thanks to the one guy commenting that killed where the OP was trying to go with this at that link.

 

[Polyvalent]

LOL at this bs ..

"Well I think that's a rather silly argument quite honestly. I mean most decent HDD's have a seek time of 8.9 MILLIseconds.I understand that SSD don't suffer from this, but seriously, it would take quite a while for it become noticeable, granted it would exponential since over time it'll accumulate."

Not like loads of people commented on all this and this argument hasn't been shown time and time again as a reason to get an SSD for a gaming rig. Seriously give me a break. Thanks to the one guy commenting that killed where the OP was trying to go with this at that link.

K

Someone obviously has a problem with being wrong:)

To honestly defend the position that an SSD adds nothing for gamers is probably the dumbest and most ignorant argument i have ever heard.

You realize the comment you copy pasted later says that a RAID array is how he got over his hard drive hitching? What an idiot. Read before you post. Understand your own subject matter.

[R2D2_WD]

Hi there mrGOAB,

First of all, I find you build very solid and in order to get its full potential, I would rely on a high performance drive. Anyway, it is really good choice to go SSD + HDD, because you may notice improved performance from your OS, which is always nice. I would get some 120GB SSD, install the OS there and leave all else on the HDD (including games). Even though this solution seems completely reasonable, you can go even further and, if you haven't ordered your parts yet, take a look at the WD Black Dual (120 GB SSD+ 1TB HDD), which can resolve all doubts with one shot.

 

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1190 – more details about WD Black Dual.

 

Hope this helps

[DeViLzzz]

K

Someone obviously has a problem with being wrong:)

To honestly defend the position that an SSD adds nothing for gamers is probably the dumbest and most ignorant argument i have ever heard.

You realize the comment you copy pasted later says that a RAID array is how he got over his hard drive hitching? What an idiot. Read before you post. Understand your own subject matter.

"This is the future of gaming, but it is indicative of the whole OS and file system (NTFS) that we use today. It is all coded for HDD, and once they switch to a filesystem, or change the behavior, the true potential of SSDs will not be utilized."

So with that said today SSDs add nothing important to gaming. Get it?

 

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/12/10/hdd_vs_ssd_real_world_gaming_performance/4#.VAnUivldV8E

[Polyvalent]

"This is the future of gaming, but it is indicative of the whole OS and file system (NTFS) that we use today. It is all coded for HDD, and once they switch to a filesystem, or change the behavior, the true potential of SSDs will not be utilized."

So with that said today SSDs add nothing important to gaming. Get it?

 

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/12/10/hdd_vs_ssd_real_world_gaming_performance/4#.VAnUivldV8E

 

"see when you run a trace of a game load, a big amount of time in the amount of time it loads the disk is actually idle."

 

Later goes on to say

 

"in my humble opinion, the important part isnt really loads, even though nice, as they are the smallest percentage of time that you spend when gaming."

 

Theyre talking about LOADS you fool.  Like LOADING SCREENS.  NOT THE GAME ITSELF.

 

And did you even read anything of the article? It doesnt improve the frame count, but the frames are not repeated as they are with an HDD giving you a smoother experience and a higher quality of play.

 

You really should just stop, you're taking bits and pieces out of context, and referencing a site that is doing tests on the effects of SSD's on gaming FPS.  You really think an SSD would improve Framerate? Really?

[mrGOAB]

Hi there mrGOAB,

First of all, I find you build very solid and in order to get its full potential, I would rely on a high performance drive. Anyway, it is really good choice to go SSD + HDD, because you may notice improved performance from your OS, which is always nice. I would get some 120GB SSD, install the OS there and leave all else on the HDD (including games). Even though this solution seems completely reasonable, you can go even further and, if you haven't ordered your parts yet, take a look at the WD Black Dual (120 GB SSD+ 1TB HDD), which can resolve all doubts with one shot.

 

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1190 – more details about WD Black Dual.

 

Hope this helps

Thanks a ton! You have been the most help so far. I think I will go with the 120GB SSD like you said and find a terabyte HDD to go with it

[Blecter]

Beware, once you go SSD you'll never go back.

I won't.

Build looks good though.

[Wingfan]

Beware, once you go SSD you'll never go back.

 

hahaha this is true!!!

[Unhelpful]

The heck with the SSD.  As a gamer it adds nothing. Focus on what you really want from the rest of the build and add an SSD someday or never for that matter.

My load times on my incredibly modded Skyrim ON AN SSD is about 30 seconds, sometimes longer.

 

On a HDD it doesn't load. Period.

[felixthemaster1]

Hi there mrGOAB,

First of all, I find you build very solid and in order to get its full potential, I would rely on a high performance drive. Anyway, it is really good choice to go SSD + HDD, because you may notice improved performance from your OS, which is always nice. I would get some 120GB SSD, install the OS there and leave all else on the HDD (including games). Even though this solution seems completely reasonable, you can go even further and, if you haven't ordered your parts yet, take a look at the WD Black Dual (120 GB SSD+ 1TB HDD), which can resolve all doubts with one shot.

 

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1190 – more details about WD Black Dual.

 

Hope this helps

When I upgraded from my WD black to an SSD, I was underwhelmed! Only thing that changed that much was my boot time but I rarely boot anyways. Everyone talked about it so much but i guess they didn't have the awesome WD blacks.

[MoonSpot]

I would recommend a 240/256GB SSD so you can better realize the speed of an SSD over the life of the drive.  There are more nands for both higher speeds out of the gate, and to keep the drive fast as it accumulates "important programs".

Most(I think) SSDs performance drops like a stone as they near being full.  Just an FYI.

[NeilFX]

The heck with the SSD.  As a gamer it adds nothing.

Your ignorance is unbearable. Read up some reviews and some tech videos showing the performance of an SSD in games. Yea it doesn't add a 20% boost to your FPS but it DOES decrease your loading times by a significant margin. For a gamer, that's a huge deal.

[NeilFX]

Most(I think) SSDs performance drops like a stone as they near being full.  Just an FYI.

I've read somewhere that to get the best performance out of an SSD, you must have 20% free space from the drive size. Is this true?

[steffen_anywhere]

My load times on my incredibly modded Skyrim ON AN SSD is about 30 seconds, sometimes longer.

 

On a HDD it doesn't load. Period.

On an HDD my heavily modded KSP took so long to load, i could make a drink, consume it and then come back. On an SSD, it takes some time still, but more around 30 seconds...

The general improvement from SSDs really goes beyond gaming. It is true that a high performance mechanical drive like the WD Black is fast enough for really everything, but an SSD makes every application launch just like that, boom.

That being said, i find desktop hdds with windows bearable, but laptop hdds with OS X are really kinda sloooow.

[MoonSpot]

I've read somewhere that to get the best performance out of an SSD, you must have 20% free space from the drive size. Is this true?

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/66758-crucial-mx100-512gb-ssd-review-10.html

For your information.