Addons on a separate HDD?

[Noooch 1,084]

Hi folks!

With the increasing number of addons available, I am starting to consider moving them on my HDD and leaving the sim on the Windows SSD.

I am afraid of a big hit on performance, what do you think? Have you tried this?

Thanks for your feedback!

Cheers

Edited June 19, 2021 by Noooch

[Car147 2,278]

I use the Addon Linker mod which is free-ware  on Flightsim.to. It's an excellent way to have your addons located elsewhere, and just by ticking a box in the addon you can select which items you want loaded into the community file at any time.

It's also handy for tracing any issues that come up from time to time. My addons are split over 2 NvMe drives now, and i just load in the addons i need for that particular flight.

Edited June 19, 2021 by Car147

[wim123 762]

i guess you mean hdd versus sdd performance, and yes , i am afraid thats going to be an issue, all depending how many

addons you going to use ofcourse. the addon linker is really  a must still.

i do notice quite a bit longer load with the dc-6 , but ala, i will get an ssd sometime.

[RaptyrOne 1,409]

2 hours ago, Car147 said:

I use the Addon Linker mod which is free-ware  on Flightsim.to. It's an excellent way to have your addons located elsewhere, and just by ticking a box in the addon you can select which items you want loaded into the community file at any time.

This won't have an affect on sim loading speed though. Whether you use Addon Linker or not, if your addons are located on a HDD, it is going to slow the sim loading time down equally as it still has to read the files on the slower drive. So to the OP, yes, your sim loading times will slow down considerably, especially if, as you imply, you are planning to have a lot of add ons.

Consider purchasing a new NVMe or SSD drive (they don't break the bank these days) and add it to your system and use that for your add-on's.

[Car147 2,278]

2 minutes ago, RaptyrOne said:

This won't have an affect on sim loading speed though. Whether you use Addon Linker or not, if your addons are located on a HDD, it is going to slow the sim loading time down equally as it still has to read the files on the slower drive. So to the OP, yes, your sim loading times will slow down considerably, especially if, as you imply, you are planning to have a lot of add ons.

Consider purchasing a new NVMe or SSD drive (they don't break the bank these days) and add it to your system and use that for your add-on's.

Surely if you have all your addons in the community folder, the loading times are affected a lot. Certainly were in my case, hence i just load in via the Addon Linker what i wish to use for that flight.

[orchestra_nl 929]

If you cannot afford a larger or 2nd SSD, you can use an external HD but loading times will increase a lot. There might also be occasional hickups during flight.

If you are using very large scenery addons, don't even think about it. You'll have to shave again by the time the sim is ready for you.

[RaptyrOne 1,409]

3 minutes ago, Car147 said:

Surely if you have all your addons in the community folder, the loading times are affected a lot.

True, maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. Using Addon Linker to load fewer add one at a time for the area you are flying will speed things up and is a primary purpose of using it. However if Addon Linker is linking to files on a HDD, it will be much slower than if it is linking to files on a SSD.

[Noooch 1,084]

23 minutes ago, RaptyrOne said:

True, maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. Using Addon Linker to load fewer add one at a time for the area you are flying will speed things up and is a primary purpose of using it. However if Addon Linker is linking to files on a HDD, it will be much slower than if it is linking to files on a SSD.

Yes I also use addonLinker, so loading times will increase but I was mainly afraid on actual performance in-sim.

If I understand correctly what you are all saying, once addons are loaded, performance will be the same?

[RaptyrOne 1,409]

Pretty much yes. The sim, once running , is less dependent on drive speed. It’s the initial loading times that have most effect. 

[fppilot 4,371]

5 hours ago, Car147 said:

I use the Addon Linker mod which is free-ware  on Flightsim.to. It's an excellent way to have your addons located elsewhere, and just by ticking a box in the addon you can select which items you want loaded into the community file at any time.

 

+1⁹⁹

 

[John Fields 279]

Hi,

I have installed Flight Simulator in a SSD, but I use MFSF Addon Linker and put all aircraft, airports and scenery in a 8Tb external HDD.

No problem at all. I can see no difference in performance at all between now (with the external HDD) and before (when everything was installed in the SDD).

 

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by John Fields