Anything wrong with using HDD for DCS and gaming

[iVVChewy9141VVi]

Anything wrong with using a 6tb WD Black drive for DCS and my other games?

[cichlidfan]

DCS will perform better on an SSD.

 

V2.5 recommended requirements.

 

Recommended system requirements: OS 64-bit Windows 7/8/10; DirectX11; CPU: Core i5+ at 3+ GHz or AMD FX / Ryzen; RAM: 16 GB; Free hard disk space: 120 GB on Solid State Drive (SSD); Discrete video card DirectX11: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon RX VEGA 56 with 8GB VRAM or better; Joystick; requires internet activation.

 

For other games, YMMV.

[Fri13]

Loading times is longer than with SSD. But otherwise nothing bad. With a today HDD you can get the good 50-80MB/s read speed, what is enough for most cases, but it is just longer time to load and can be annoying if you load a lot of different missions etc.

[Gladman]

What is said above I agree with. You can but your load times are longer. Beyond that you won't notice a thing. Those are some loooooooooong load times though.

[Art-J]

I switched to SSD not for the loading times (though their reduction was very appreciated), but to eliminate disk-read stutters, which were driving me nuts. Remember, that DCS always reads some assets from the storage device continously during flight, no matter how much RAM you have and how big preload radius you set in the options.

 

As an unexpected bonus, I completely got rid of .ogg-file-related stutters in Il-2 CloD as well.

 

So how "wrong" using HDD is for DCS really depends on one's subjective preferences about rendering smoothness.

[BitMaster]

I would ONLY, and really ONLY, install DCS on HDD with a gun on my head !

 

Just don't do it if you can afford a SSD. If money is the issue, yes, install HDD but try to get a SSD asap. It really makes a BIG difference in smooth gameplay.

 

I would even get a NVMe if your board accepts one.

[D.Va]

I don't think HDD/SSD affects gaming at all, except loading. The effect on loading is significant.

[QuiGon]

I don't think HDD/SSD affects gaming at all, except loading. The effect on loading is significant.

True, but some games (like DCS) do load a lot of stuff (like textures) during actual gameplay which can lead to micro stutters and even short freezes when the game can't load them quick enough.

[=Pedro=]

DCS on separate SSD + Windows and page file on separate SSD = reduction of micro stutters.

[FragBum]

Loading times is longer than with SSD. But otherwise nothing bad. With a today HDD you can get the good 50-80MB/s read speed, what is enough for most cases, but it is just longer time to load and can be annoying if you load a lot of different missions etc.

 

Umm you mean 400 to 500 plus MB/sec from SSD right?

 

Sure spinning HDD will give 50 to 70MB/Sec and will take longer to fill ram but mostly if you have 16GB of RAM once loaded should be fine. :D

[BitMaster]

Today's HDD's are well north of 60-80MB/sec, no problem getting 100-200MB/sec.

 

The stupid thing is, before my HDD has repositioned to read the data, my SSD has already done the job and is back to idle, the HDD's R/W head is still moving into position.... LoL

 

You cannot compare a 2CV vs. a 911, no matter how you turn it.

[Quadg]

with the dcs memory leak you are going to need the page file during play.

so a spinner will judder in normal game play. and it will get worse over time.

 

so future bug proof your rig and get a SSD.

[gordon200]

If you haven't already done so download the DCS Configuration Manager.

It takes the heartache out of disk and game maintenance.

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/2998523/

[Fri13]

Today's HDD's are well north of 60-80MB/sec, no problem getting 100-200MB/sec.

 

The stupid thing is, before my HDD has repositioned to read the data, my SSD has already done the job and is back to idle, the HDD's R/W head is still moving into position.... LoL

 

You cannot compare a 2CV vs. a 911, no matter how you turn it.

Usual HDD seeker head moves from edge to center in less than 4-5ms. If you read 4KB data, SSD is faster. If you read continuous file with HDD you get very high speed of at edge of plates. Lower if in center and lower if seriously fragmented.

 

But SSD already is old and slow, new is M.2 that is flash memory directly in the PCI-X bus without northbridge slowing down as CPU and RAM has now direct bus to flash.

We talk about 1500-3000MB/s speed over typical 250-500MB SSD attached to SATA.

 

The processing is still the bottleneck, not the bus speed etc. We are not just loading days to RAM but process it between.

 

So a 56 core CPU with 64GB RAM and M.2 can be same speed as 4 core CPU with HDD and 16GB.

because DCS ain't multi-core capable as it is dynamic instead static like benchmark scenes are.

 

If one wants fastest possible performance, it is 128GB RAM and preload DCS to it as virtual drive and then you get pure CPU bottleneck.

 

--

I usually post from my phone so please excuse any typos, inappropriate punctuation and capitalization, missing words and general lack of cohesion and sense in my posts.....

[BitMaster]

Usual HDD seeker head moves from edge to center in less than 4-5ms. If you read 4KB data, SSD is faster. If you read continuous file with HDD you get very high speed of at edge of plates. Lower if in center and lower if seriously fragmented.

 

But SSD already is old and slow, new is M.2 that is flash memory directly in the PCI-X bus without northbridge slowing down as CPU and RAM has now direct bus to flash.

We talk about 1500-3000MB/s speed over typical 250-500MB SSD attached to SATA.

 

The processing is still the bottleneck, not the bus speed etc. We are not just loading days to RAM but process it between.

 

So a 56 core CPU with 64GB RAM and M.2 can be same speed as 4 core CPU with HDD and 16GB.

because DCS ain't multi-core capable as it is dynamic instead static like benchmark scenes are.

 

If one wants fastest possible performance, it is 128GB RAM and preload DCS to it as virtual drive and then you get pure CPU bottleneck.

 

--

I usually post from my phone so please excuse any typos, inappropriate punctuation and capitalization, missing words and general lack of cohesion and sense in my posts.....

 

Afaik, there is no direct x4 PCIe link from the NVMe to the CPU in any Intel Zx70. They only have 16+4 PCIe lanes, 16x for GPU and 4x for PCH.

The NVMe is still routed through the PCH, hence why 2 NVMe dont really shine on such Chipsets.

AMD took a different route and gave the NVMe connectors direct CPU links. That is a big advantage when heavy I/O strikes your machine.

 

I doubt 128GB will be enough btw. Have you checked your DCS install folder lately. You need way more depending on your modules. I guess 192-256GB RAM, yeah, you can buy a house for that much money around here, no bull.

[iVVChewy9141VVi]

Decided to do this with my computer

 

Crucial MX500 2TB - OS and Programs

Crucial MX500 1TB - DCS World

Crucial MX500 1TB - Stream Games

 

 

Do i have to move my user folders off my M.2 i don't really keep videos or pictures or any huge download files saved on my computer. Would 500GB be enough to do this?

Edited February 27, 2018 by iVVChewy9141VVi

[FragBum]

Should be fine I have a 400GB PCIe NVMe SSD for win, DCS and progs and a 2TB spinning HDD for stuff and considering adding maybe another 500ish GB SSD that seems heaps for me at this time.

[BitMaster]

That is plenty ! Go for it

 

 

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[hansangb]

Also, there's the paging to worry about. I could never go back to HD.