SSD For Game Storeage

[N3rot0xin]

So I've been considering getting a new, larger (120GB+) ssd for my system for the purpose of storing my most frequently played games on it. Currently I have a 64GB Crucial M4 as my boot drive and a 500gb hdd (as well as an external 3TB/1.5TB raid 0 enclosure for everything else. I would like to have an SSD for my games, some such as Battlefield 3 seem to be loading slower. I dont have a whole lot of money to spend, probably around $100(U.S) give or take. So far its either going to be a 120GB HyperX or a 120/128Gb Crucial M4. Just looking for some advice from you all on this one. It wont really be used for anything really other then storing games.

[Beeblebrox]

Go with the HyperX. And don't listen to anybody who bitches about its potential short lifespan. Its 3K moniker refers to it having 3000 program/erase cycles. So yes, in theory it could have a shorter lifespan then other SSDs. However, Anandtech did a review on it, effectively proving that under even higher then normal use environments, a 3K will last you atleast 8 years.

Assuming you write 10GB to your drive every day (on the high end for most client workloads), and your workload is such that the controller sees an effective write amplification of 10x (due to wear leveling/garbage collection the controller has to write 10x the amount of data to NAND that you write to host), you'll blow through one p/e cycle per day. For 25nm 3K p/e cycle NAND that works out to be 8.219 years, at which point your data will remain intact (but presumably read-only) for 12 months.

I would assume you'll probably want a newer/faster/bigger SSD long before 8 years anyway. And for gaming, you're primarily reading, not writing to the drive anyway.

[Mac]

I have a HyperX, great drive, go for it

[PhilPC]

I've had a 120G HyperX since mid-2011 as my C drive with some heavy apps including Battlefield, Premiere, AE, and Photoshop. I've noticed that the AsMedia Sata controller on my Crosshair V Formula sometimes loses it during extended periods of high performance (literally does not see it until the board powers down for a few minutes), and this never happened when I had it in my Gigabyte Z68XP-UD5.

My steam library is almost TB in size now so I've just gotten used to having most of my apps on a 2TB Barracuda, and things that I want to boot up fast on my SSD. You definitely want bf3 on an SSD because it has to reload every time you leave and rejoin a server.

Considering the amount I paid for this HyperX back then, I think I may move my C drive to a Samsung 840 to and use this for heavy apps.

Edit: It's probably worth mentioning, my local retailer has the HyperX and 840 at the same price, I'd go samsung, but I'm skeptical if you can really see or feel the difference of speed between competing SSDs; in comparison to how hard they thrash hdds, they're all in the same ballpark

[Beeblebrox]

I've had a 120G HyperX since mid-2011 as my C drive with some heavy apps including Battlefield, Premiere, AE, and Photoshop. I've noticed that the AsMedia Sata controller on my Crosshair V Formula sometimes loses it during extended periods of high performance (literally does not see it until the board powers down for a few minutes), and this never happened when I had it in my Gigabyte Z68XP-UD5.

My steam library is almost TB in size now so I've just gotten used to having most of my apps on a 2TB Barracuda, and things that I want to boot up fast on my SSD. You definitely want bf3 on an SSD because it has to reload every time you leave and rejoin a server.

Considering the amount I paid for this HyperX back then, I think I may move my C drive to a Samsung 840 to and use this for heavy apps.

Edit: It's probably worth mentioning, my local retailer has the HyperX and 840 at the same price, I'd go samsung, but I'm skeptical if you can really see or feel the difference of speed between competing SSDs; in comparison to how hard they thrash hdds, they're all in the same ballpark

For gaming, it really isn't going to make any noticeable difference. The 840 has a pretty significant write speed decrease compared to the HyperX however. And uses TLC NAND which has an even lower P/E cycle count of 1000. For gaming, neither really matter that much. But still something to consider for overall performance and lifespan.

If you want the screaming speeds, you need an 840 Pro 256GB.

[Guest]

Why not a Samsung 840? Rock solid drive..