Wondering if it is worth upgrading to an SSD for FSX? If so how much space is needed for Windows 7 64 and FSX. How big of and SSD do I need? Also what configuration is recommended. Just Windows and Fsx on the SSD and everything else on another drive? Any insight would be appreciated.

Wondering if it is worth upgrading to an SSD for FSX? If so how much space is needed for Windows 7 64 and FSX. How big of and SSD do I need? Also what configuration is recommended. Just Windows and Fsx on the SSD and everything else on another drive? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Most folks around here will tell you probably not, but I think with the decreasing prices of SSDs lately it's probably worthwhile as long as you understand it won't gain you any FPS, just reduce loading times (Windows, applications, FSX, textures).

I'd go 240GB, try for a gen3 if you can part with the cash

 

Example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233208

Honestly, if you have the money, go for it.

BUT, if you are not willing to shell out the cash, then you are in for a disappointment.

 

I personally have an SSD and I really wish I could have used that money somewhere else in this hobby. lol

Expect about 10-20gb for Win 7 depending on what options you choose. Most are around 14gb.

 

I ran a 120gb Patriot Pyro SE with Win 7 and FSX on it. I put large addons like REX on a 7200rpm HDD since I didn't need unused textures on the SSD just taking up space. Scenery (Orbx) and high quality complex aircraft also go on the SSD.

 

Only improvement I saw was load times and nothing else. So you need to evaluate the size of an SSD you need (FSX + addons) and if it is worth the price for load times.

Intel SRT.

Intel SRT.

 

SRT is not really worth the investment at this point. You still need a small SSD to work as the cache drive which will still cost $100+. Intel's 20GB SSD designed for SRT (Larsen Creek 311) is currently $120.00.

 

For that price the user might as well get a bigger SSD and get much faster performance.

 

Also SRT has issues with speed consistency. The first time you run the software it will be at normal speed as SRT caches the files. Then subsequent loading will be faster. However, it is easy to have files kicked out of the cache by running other software.

 

Unless you only run FSX chances are another program will bump FSX files out of the SSD cache essentially negating the use of the SRT.

 

SRT is promising but only if you run a few programs.

SRT is not really worth the investment at this point. You still need a small SSD to work as the cache drive which will still cost $100+. Intel's 20GB SSD designed for SRT (Larsen Creek 311) is currently $120.00.

 

For that price the user might as well get a bigger SSD and get much faster performance.

 

Also SRT has issues with speed consistency. The first time you run the software it will be at normal speed as SRT caches the files. Then subsequent loading will be faster. However, it is easy to have files kicked out of the cache by running other software.

 

Unless you only run FSX chances are another program will bump FSX files out of the SSD cache essentially negating the use of the SRT.

 

SRT is promising but only if you run a few programs.

 

I like SRT. You don't have to use such a small drive, either. The limit is 64GB, which can be a partition on a larger SSD so you can indeed still have all the performance of a full SSD setup without having to buy a gigantic SSD that costs several hundreds of dollars.

Honestly, if you have the money, go for it.

BUT, if you are not willing to shell out the cash, then you are in for a disappointment.

 

I personally have an SSD and I really wish I could have used that money somewhere else in this hobby. lol

 

Hey Ben,

 

One thing I have always noticed w/ FSX is that when .wav files play (ATC, aircraft, etc) there can be a slight hiccough the FIRST time a .wav file loads into memory (i.e., FIRST when the same .wav files plays repeatedly), but then when it plays again, no pause. This leads me to deduce it is loading the file from drive to ram in the first instance, which is to suggest it IS NOT from processing the .wav file from RAM thru the audio subsystem per se. Have you noticed this, and did the SSD improve this if so?

Hey Ben,

 

One thing I have always noticed w/ FSX is that when .wav files play (ATC, aircraft, etc) there can be a slight hiccough the FIRST time a .wav file loads into memory (i.e., FIRST when the same .wav files plays repeatedly), but then when it plays again, no pause. This leads me to deduce it is loading the file from drive to ram in the first instance, which is to suggest it IS NOT from processing the .wav file from RAM thru the audio subsystem per se. Have you noticed this, and did the SSD improve this if so?

 

I get this same issue with my SSD. Also, does anyone have any idea how to fix it? Some kind of CFG tweak?

SSD's decrease load times. I am inpatient so I prefer using SSD's. That being said, breaking down the cost of use per day for a $300.00 drive in a two year period is 41 cents per day. Is it worth 41 cents per day for faster loading times? A three year cycle it's 28 cents per day. After that sell the drive, upgrade and get some of your money back.

Think about how big is your FSX and how big is potentially going to grow, eg. how fast are you purchasing addons (or getting freeware one's) and how big they are. After that, think about how big you need the SSD to be, eg. how fast is it going to fill up, and then weight the price of the SSD vs. your wish to wait 3-5min (depending what you have loaded in it, and the speed of the non-SSD disk) for a flight to load initially, because afterwards, it's not going to matter, not even 1%. Also think about the probability of SSD filling up and your readiness of buying a bigger one, for double the price.

So what did you end up doing Steve?

Think about how big is your FSX and how big is potentially going to grow, eg. how fast are you purchasing addons (or getting freeware one's) and how big they are. After that, think about how big you need the SSD to be, eg. how fast is it going to fill up, and then weight the price of the SSD vs. your wish to wait 3-5min (depending what you have loaded in it, and the speed of the non-SSD disk) for a flight to load initially, because afterwards, it's not going to matter, not even 1%. Also think about the probability of SSD filling up and your readiness of buying a bigger one, for double the price.

 

I was really wanting to know if SSD would impact the audio issue. Do you have any thoughts on this Word Not Allowed?

I was really wanting to know if SSD would impact the audio issue. Do you have any thoughts on this Word Not Allowed?

 

What audio issue? Not that I know of...