SSD Samsung 860 pro vs M2 Samsung pro 990

[ivo]

Hi I would like to ask for some information. I would like to point out that on my PC I have an Intel 6700k processor (so it's a bit old) I currently have the Windows 10 operating system and DCS on a Samsung 860 evo SSD, I noticed that since the latest DCS updates the game loading time is quite long, about 2 minutes... so I ask if I replace the 860 Evo SSD with a 2 terabyte M2 990 pro nvme, will I have a significant increase in performance both in loading the game and during flight? (as a vga I have an Asus 1080). Currently the only expense I can make is to change the SSD with an M2 but I need to know if it's worth it.

 

Bye

[speed-of-heat]

Will it make a difference, yes, will it be significant really depends, likely not

[EightyDuce]

41 minutes ago, ivo said:

Hi I would like to ask for some information. I would like to point out that on my PC I have an Intel 6700k processor (so it's a bit old) I currently have the Windows 10 operating system and DCS on a Samsung 860 evo SSD, I noticed that since the latest DCS updates the game loading time is quite long, about 2 minutes... so I ask if I replace the 860 Evo SSD with a 2 terabyte M2 990 pro nvme, will I have a significant increase in performance both in loading the game and during flight? (as a vga I have an Asus 1080). Currently the only expense I can make is to change the SSD with an M2 but I need to know if it's worth it.

 

Bye

I haven't timed it, but it does take a good bit longer to open DCS now vs what it was before the new launcher.

That being said, while NVME will be over 10X faster read/write, you are unlikely to see any significantly noticeable changes in gameplay.

 

EDIT: Also it looks like you are on a Z170 chipset and I'd have to go back and look, but I don't believe Z170 has PCI-e Gen 4, so you would be limited to Gen 3 speeds on the 990. Not a huge issue as it will still be faster than your old drive and in the future you can just take the 990 out and plop it into your new PC when you upgrade.

Edited November 25, 2024 by EightyDuce

[Mr_sukebe]

It’s partly dependent upon which Gen of NVME your motherboard supports.

Different gens had different bandwidth capabilities

[ivo]

my motheboard support the 3 gen.

Thank to all 

[kksnowbear]

Late to the discussion, but yes:  6700K = Z170 = PCIe Gen 3 support.

Thus, any drive you put into the M2 slot will run (at most) Gen3 speeds.  The 990Pro won't perform in proportion to it's higher cost in that case; it would be just as well to buy a slower Gen 3 drive and save yourself some money because the slot is the limiting factor, not the drive.  (If you plan to change to a newer board reasonably soon, it might be worth considering)

However, with that being said:  Unless I'm mistaken the 860 EVO is a SATA M.2 drive, meaning it's not operating at PCIe speeds.  It's running (at most), ~550Mb/s - just like a 2.5" SATA SSD would.  (The Z170 motherboard typically supports both SATA and PCIe drives; M2 is the drive form factor where SATA and PCIe are each a different type of interface.)

That being the case, the 990 will definitely be faster - and quite a bit at that.  Even at PCIe Gen3 speeds a Z170 motherboard supports (~3500Mb/s), the drive is around 7 times faster than a SATA M.2 (as the 860EVO).

As mentioned above, the likely difference of noticeable improvement while running the game is probably small, but that depends.  Specifically, there will almost certainly not be any increase in FPS, which is typically how people gauge performance (albeit misleading to do so).

HTH

Edited November 25, 2024 by kksnowbear

[Despayre]

1 minute ago, kksnowbear said:

Late to the discussion, but yes:  6700K = Z170 = PCIe Gen 3 support.

Thus, any drive you put into the M2 slot will run (at most) Gen3 speeds.  The 990Pro won't perform in proportion to it's higher cost in that case; it would be just as well to buy a slower Gen 3 drive and save yourself some money because the slot is the limiting factor, not the drive.  (If you plan to change to a newer board reasonably soon, it might be worth considering)

However, with that being said:  Unless I'm mistaken the 860 EVO is a SATA M.2 drive, meaning it's not operating at PCIe speeds.  It's running (at most), ~550Mb/s - just like a 2.5" SATA SSD would.

That being the case, the 990 will definitely be faster - and quite a bit at that.  Even at PCIe Gen3 speeds a Z170 motherboard supports (~3500Mb/s), the drive is around 7 times faster than a SATA M.2 (as the 860EVO).

As mentioned above, the likely difference of noticeable improvement while running the game is probably small, but that depends.  Specifically, there will almost certainly not be any increase in FPS, which is typically how people gauge performance (albeit misleading to do so).

HTH

 

 

 

Nicely summed up. 

In short, yes, loading time could be shortened, and that's about it for benefits, but really, it's a bottleneck issue (as it always is with PC's), and I'm not sure I'd buy a new drive to get loading times down from 2 mins to even 1 minute, a couple times a day, rather than put that money aside and start my "gaming PC fund" instead. In real life terms, that extra minute feels a little pricey for a short-term fix (unless you meant it's 2 mins to load into missions [not the game itself], then, maaaybe), but given the vast majority of time in DCS is actually flying, and as noted above, this will do nothing for your FPS, I'm not sure the juice is worth the squeeze, so to speak.  

[ivo]

Thanks to all for the valuable advice

[MAXsenna]

Since nobody mentioned this at all. Have you excluded the Saved Games and DCS core/installation folders in your Anti-Virus solution? That will half or better load times for absolutely free!

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