I'm currently using a basic 1TB SATA Sandisk SSD, which has a read speed of 400MB/s and a write speed of 66MB/s, as tested in CrystalDiskMark. I'm considering upgrading to a WD SN850X (which I know is compatible) and I'm really curious about whether I'd see a significant boost in performance for my games and if it's worth the investment.
3 Answers
Usually, you won't notice a big difference. Some games load assets in real-time, so they could benefit from a faster SSD, like MMORPGs or games with heavy customization, but most popular games preload everything at the start. So, the upgrade might not be that essential.
Upgrading your SSD will mainly improve loading times rather than in-game frame rates. So, while you might get into your games faster, the actual gameplay performance likely won't see a noticeable increase.
Exactly! Faster load times can make a game feel smoother overall, but it won't change how many frames per second you're actually getting.
A few years back, Hardware Unboxed did a comparison and found that the difference between SATA and NVMe SSDs was hardly more than 10% in terms of load times. Modern titles might be better optimized for SSDs, but it really depends on the game you're playing.
Yep, it's all about the game! Some newer titles are designed to take advantage of the faster speeds, but many still won't show much difference.
That makes sense! If most of the game is already loaded before you even start playing, then the SSD upgrade might not be worth it.