SSD Size

[iVVChewy9141VVi]

Looking to put DCS World 2.0 (Only 2.0 Alpha) on a Dedicated SSD. How big of a SSD should I get.

[dburne]

Well more is always better. There will be a merge coming at some point, so all maps will be merged together into one versions ( 2.5).

 

If I were buying a new SSD today, I would go for 512 GB. You could probably get by ok with 256GB if DCS is only game you will have on it.

I currently have all my games on a 256GB, and it starting to get a little cramped. I do have a couple of other, but mainly DCS.

[BeastyBaiter]

I have windows 10, DCS1.5, DCS 2.0 and IL2:BoS/BoM/BoK on a 256GB SSD. It doesn't have a whole lot left over, but is sufficient until a new map is released (either game). Once a new map is added, I'll have to migrate to a bigger SSD or move one of the games to my 1TB HDD. If you are really and truly only going to put one copy of DCS on it, then a 256GB should do. But I strongly recommend a 512GB instead so you can also have windows and some other stuff on it.

[Quadg]

one trick with SSD is not to over fill them, max about 80% full.

you get a drop in performance above this.

i always notice when auto update of games tips me over the limit.

 

in "my computer", when the drive turns red. its time to prune.. get it blue/green again

 

worth a good chunk of frames per second.

 

the same thing happens with spinners, but who fills a 15tb drive?

[cichlidfan]

one trick with SSD is not to over fill them, max about 80% full.

 

If any drive is, regularly, passing 80% full, you need a larger drive. ;) Which is why I need to find an external that my Xbox One likes.

[Quadg]

@cichlidfan

 

Agree, but i think its worse with SSD.

in the old win7 performance tool my SSD would go from a max score of 7.9 down to 4.3 when over 80%.

slower than my old raid0

 

so because of their size and cost, most people will be tempted to over fill SSD... which means they should have bought two much cheaper spinners and raided them :) for better performance :)

[Demon_]

I think the best (but more expensive) is one SSD for Windows, and one for the game.

 

The main advantage of having a different SSD for your games will be that it won't be accessed when your OS needs to access its own files. When the OS is loaded and its resources are also, it doesn't read/write a lot.

 

If the OS is using the paging file while the game is loading (not unusual, as other things are paged out to accommodate the game), that will load the SSD considerably. So you'd get a benefit from either a second SSD or turning the pagefile off, provided you have enough RAM. The latter used to be recommended on SSDs to extend the lifetime.

[BitMaster]

My advice is as follows if you have enough SATA conns available on your mobo.

 

Rather get 2 256GB drives for round about the same money as 1 x 512.

 

Thing is, if 1 fails, you still have half the data, as the price is about the same, you can get some safety this way and splitt files even better among drives to maximize I/O.

 

 

I: OS

II: GAMES

III: APPS ( like video capture, things you run with your games that need high bandwidth )

 

I always buy 2 x 256 over 1 x 512, unless its NVMe with 1 or 2 slots only.

 

You could also RAID-0 them to gain some speed, but that has many drawbacks tbh.

 

 

my 2 cents ( and your headache ) :)

[dburne]

My advice is as follows if you have enough SATA conns available on your mobo.

 

Rather get 2 256GB drives for round about the same money as 1 x 512.

 

Thing is, if 1 fails, you still have half the data, as the price is about the same, you can get some safety this way and splitt files even better among drives to maximize I/O.

 

 

I would also encourage everyone to have an external USB hard drive for routine backups. I have all my games on a separate SSD ( have 4 drives total, 2 SSD ( windows and programs on 1, and games on the other), and 2 HDD's - store all my documents, pictures, videos, etc on those, with lots of room to spare.

 

I do an image of each disk and their partions every Friday morning, to an external USB 3 drive, using Macrium Reflect ( free program works great). So if say my E SSD drive that has all my games should fail, I can quickly put another one in and restore my E drive image to the new one.

[BitMaster]

Make a backup while you still can

[MegOhm_SD]

Do it now. SSD prices are going up 15% in Q2/2017 and will contiue to rise due to a tight supply of NAND Flash chips.

 

Bigger is definitely better. I have been running two 540GB SSDs in Raid0 mainly for DCS for the last three years. No issues. And have a 1TB HDD. I have 700GB free on the SSDs and another 700GB free on the HDD.

 

I dont keep alot of junk as you can see. Really just games.

 

I built this system for DCS in sig just before NTTR was released.

Edited February 28, 2017 by MegOhm_SD

[drPhibes]

I'm considering buying a 500GB Samsung 960 EVO M.2 drive for DCS. Does anyone have any experience with this one?

[iVVChewy9141VVi]

Would I be better off opting for a 3-4TB WD Black HDD for DCS instead of a 1TB SSD?

[cichlidfan]

Would I be better off opting for a 3-4TB WD Black HDD for DCS instead of a 1TB SSD?

 

Not for anything where speed is a concern. If you just want lots of data storage space, then yes.

[cichlidfan]

I'm considering buying a 500GB Samsung 960 EVO M.2 drive for DCS. Does anyone have any experience with this one?

 

I have a 950 and I love it.