SSD and Gaming Performance: What’s the Link?

Solid state drives have become the future of computer storage. In fact, many people have already embraced them despite the amount of money that they cost. Conventional hard drives store media on a series of disks and there are a bunch of moving parts in a HDD. This means that a conventional HDD takes a bit of time to boot up and retrieve the data. SSDs, however, are quite different. They are much more expensive, for example, simply because it’s a new technology that is only being rolled into the mainstream.

However, many gaming enthusiasts have switched over to SSDs because they claim that an SSD offers significantly improved performance. Before discussing the impact that a SSD can have on standard games, it’s important to understand how it functions. Unlike a HDD, a solid state drive does not have any mechanical parts. Instead, the information is stored in a microchip. Most common SSDs now use NAND-based flash memory, which is a type of non-volatile memory that significantly reduces the chances of data being lost. Now, without further ado, it’s time to discuss how a SSD affects gaming performance.

Reduced Loading Times

This is one of the biggest benefits that SSDs offer over mechanical hard drives. You don’t have to worry about long waiting times while the load screen pops up. Game file sizes are growing by the day and this means that the loading times are also increasing by the day. Major titles such as Battlefield 1, Witcher 3, and Mass Effect: Andromeda all feature massive, immersive environments that take quite a while to load. If you want to load into the game as quickly as possible, you should consider switching to a SSD. It will significantly reduce your loading times, which are essential if you are into competitive gaming such as speed running. The WD SSD vs HDD speed run cup made it clear that SSDs are the way to go and offer significantly better performance.

Reduced Hitching

Many open-world games suffer from a phenomenon known as “hitching”. This happens when the game pauses for a brief period of time as the hard drive struggles to recover the assets required to render the environment in real time. If you are playing an open-world game and you come to a point where lots of assets need to be loaded up quickly, such as a detailed city or a comprehensive landscape, there is likely to be a bit of “hitching” on your screen.

All in all, upgrading to a SSD is generally a very useful quality-of-life improvement for PC owners that offers a bunch of benefits. Not only does it allow you to play games in a much smoother fashion but if you install your operating system on the SSD, it’s going to boot up your computer within a few seconds at most. It’s a very wise move and a definite upgrade that will change your computer usage experience for the better. Plenty of options are also available for you to choose from.