SSD or HDD?

[Gizmo05 0]

Hi guys,

 

I want to uninstall and have a clean Installion of FSX but would like to hear your thoughts n feedback if I should go with a SSD or a normal HDD? Anyone using a SSD would like to share your experiences with FSX please.

 

Regards,

Gizmo05

[VeryBumpy 272]

SSD only for FSX?

 

Personally, since I use my PC for lots more than just FSX, I prefer to have the OS on a SSD first so that nearly everything is fast.

[Ponk 51]

Loading the flight is much much quicker, especially if you have a lot of pay-ware. Once flying, there isn't much change, a nice luxury but far from a must have.

[Jimm 437]

I just saw today that you can get a 500gb SSD Samsung EVO840 for about $200...that is a hard one to pass up.  Seems lately, the cost of SSD have really come down and I suspect that they will overtake the mechanical HDD market.  As Igloo_lain pointed out, there are significant improvements in data transfer rates fro FSX so I guess if you are itching to spend some cash, pick one up and use it...or just send the money my way and I will ensure it gets used wisely.

[Flying Penguin 44]

As VB said, OS should get first dibs on SSD space unless you only use the machine for flight sims. It will make the most impact on your day to day computing experience.

 

If you have space left after that or multiple SSD's, then without a doubt the SSD is the smart choice.

 

My (gaming laptop) setup is 3 SSDs, one smaller one for the OS, the other two are a RAID 0 pair for game and sim installs. The load speed difference vs HD installs is remarkable, not just in FSX/P3D but in all games/sims. I do have a conventional HDD in as well and I wouldn't dream of installing games on it now.

[vc10man 732]

Hi guys,

 

I want to uninstall and have a clean Installion of FSX but would like to hear your thoughts n feedback if I should go with a SSD or a normal HDD? Anyone using a SSD would like to share your experiences with FSX please.

 

Regards,

Gizmo05

Just re-installed all on an a Samsung 256Gb PRO SSD. Besides the OS loading very fast, I've found FSX to load fast too. Installing all the necessary files just for 4-5 aircraft and UK2000 and 5 Aerosoft sceneries was a fast process. Have not got around to my Orbx, REX4, etc but will probably keep them on the 1Tb HDD.

[Steve Cannell 4]

SSD and the bigger the better.

 

Cheers

[Faisal altheyab 11]

I use a 128 gb ssd for my os. Plenty of space if you're only planning to install the os on. And for fsx and p3d i have them on my 1tb hdd

Cheers

[Dominique_K 10,152]

I moved every bit of FSX on a SSD on my new computer early this year and wouldn't have it any other way. A fully loaded (OrbX sceneries, meshes, etc...) FSX now loads reasonably fast . Not the 2/3 minutes like with my HDD.

[Nyxx 6,994]

OS on a SSD yes

FSX on a SSD, yes much faster loading and when flying you know when it needs to load anything in its doing it asap. Like 550 mb per second. It does not work like that but sure helps imo.

[twojastara 85]

SSD is great choice, I have changed to it this week.

However remember that every SSD has limit of write cycles after which it is useless.

This lead me to answering this statement below:

 

Seems lately, the cost of SSD have really come down and I suspect that they will overtake the mechanical HDD market.

 

I don't think so. HDD is better to store data while SSD to keep data where performance gain is needed. With that being said I think those two technologies will coexist together for a quite time.

[Flying Penguin 44]

SSD is great choice, I have changed to it this week.

However remember that every SSD has limit of write cycles after which it is useless.

This lead me to answering this statement below:

 

 

I don't think so. HDD is better to store data while SSD to keep data where performance gain is needed. With that being said I think those two technologies will coexist together for a quite time.

 

Whilst the points about the reduced lifespan compared to HDDs in normal usage are valid, it would be worth reading the following test to get things in perspective:

 

 http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/4178/hardwareinfo-tests-lifespan-of-samsung-ssd-840-250gb-tlc-ssd-updated-with-final-conclusion

 

This was done with several Samsung 840 series SSDs (which are a commonly available SSD and actually the exact model I use personally) and suggested that the time to the point where write cycle limits become the limiting factor is measured in tens of decades for the average user with a normal daily usage profile.

 

That doesn't mean they will last decades, but the SSD specific risks relating to write cycles are often overblown when we consider that the functional life of a computer is usually under 10 years.

 

There are good reasons to have data in long term storage on a HDD, but they mostly relate to $/GB and long term data retention in a powered down state rather than due to limits on SSD working life.

 

Cheers,

 

Jamie

[twojastara 85]

Whilst the points about the reduced lifespan compared to HDDs in normal usage are valid, it would be worth reading the following test to get things in perspective:

 

 http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/4178/hardwareinfo-tests-lifespan-of-samsung-ssd-840-250gb-tlc-ssd-updated-with-final-conclusion

 

This was done with several Samsung 840 series SSDs (which are a commonly available SSD and actually the exact model I use personally) and suggested that the time to the point where write cycle limits become the limiting factor is measured in tens of decades for the average user with a normal daily usage profile.

 

Thanks for link, it is interesting - I am reading this now. I have the same SSD drive but it's 500GB.

 

I know it can take years to reach that limit, however it is good to know there is this limit at all. Some of FSX / P3D addons could be very large in size and it is easy to waste space.

 

Two days ago I have reinstalled my Windows 7, installed P3D from scratch, FS Global 2010, ORBX Global, Vector, OpenLC, REX + ASN and few airplane addons and Samsung Magician shows I have already wasted 350 GB.

Of course, you don't reinstall everything everyday, however it is good to write to SSD with some caution. Ie. Installation file for P3D is 10 GB. If you download it and extract it on SSD you waste 20 GB already. You can avoid that using HDD.

 

Cheers

[Zap 2]

This extremely thorough analysis of SSD vs. HDD performance in FSX posted by Avsim user SAAB340(Lars) will completely answer your question:

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/447702-the-differences-between-hdd-sshd-and-ssd-for-photo-scenery/

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