So after being overly annoyed at stuttering in both diablo 3 and Watch dogs, I've finally decided to join the rest of the pc gaming community and get an ssd. So here's the question (I know it's been posted many many times, but I want a specific answer for my specific situation) Obviously I have an HDD, 1tb, nearly full of media, games, etc. No biggie if I have to wipe it all, but the real question is exactly what NEEDS to be installed on the SSD. The 2 things I know must go on there are diablo 3 and watch dogs. Anything else? Can I still play games from my HDD just fine (presuming it's a fresh install). What EXACTLY are the steps to setting up this system? Thanks in advance guys!!!!!
Install windows on the SSD. That's all you will "Need". Just point Steam/Origin/Uplay to your HDD (Usually D:\)
So should I be installing steam origin etc to the hdd? Id like to keep the ssd as clean and uncluttered as possible
Also drivers are going to just install wherever windows wants right? What about Nvidia GeForce Experience/Precision Tuner?
Keep all of your drivers on your SSD, along with all your basic programs. Install all games and game related things to your HDD, except the ones you want on your SSD.
SSDs only improve loading times in games, not framerates. Get a better CPU or GPU, or both, if you don't want stuttering.
Ksajal, thats inaccurate for games that load as you play i.e. diablo and watch dogs, my gpu and cpu are high end :P
Oh, I stand corrected then, thank you for dispelling my ignorance :)
Your best bet is to install your OS, any needed drivers, basic programs (like Word, Steam, Chrome, etc.) and any games that you frequently play that require the world to actively load while playing. Everything else goes on the mechanical drive.
I believe you can set up a second Steam library while installing games. You'd essentially have one on your C:\ drive and one on D:\ or E:\ or whatever. I keep all my games except the ones that require the most active loading on my E:\ drive for instance, and the ones that do require the most active loading (Modded Skyrim, Saints Row 4, etc.) on C:\ (my SSD).
interesting, any particular advantage to having word, steam, chrome, etc. on the SSD? Why not just have them on the mechanical also (to save space on the ssd) and simply set up the 2nd library onto the ssd? I don't really use word that much and the browsing and stuff just seems unnecessary on the ssd. I'm a noob at ssd and dual drives so please enlighten :)
@K, wasn't trying to make you seem ignorant man!! I just found this out myself, hence the sudden SSD purchase. I was going to wait until 500gb ones were $150 but oh well.
Well it is just nice to have frequently used programs on the SSD so they load nice and fast. Most people use their browser or a word processing program fairly frequently so it is good to keep those on the SSD.
Chrome and a few programs won't kill your space. They are small. Plus the SSD is for the OS, those few programs and a few games. 120GB is plenty for that.
Pretty much what DerKreiger said, it's just nice to have them load up nice and quick and they don't take up a whole lot of space For instance, the whole Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, InfoPath, Lync, and all the tools that go with the programs) takes up less than 3 GB of space, Steam less than 1 GB.
ah, yeah that is convenient, too bad ubisoft gave me a uplay only code for watch dogs, looks like yet another program I'll be adding to the SSD list, and yes, I'm literally keeping a physical list. Not so stoke to do a full system wipe on my 700gb of used data, but I suppose it's for the better. Like a "cleanse' of my pc so to speak.
I dip my hard drive in the holy water of a fresh format and reinstallation annually.
I dont know why you feel the need to wipe your hdd? your just getting ssd for your os? Install os to ssd. then hook up old hdd and wipe windows install on it. Build new shortcuts for desktop for your games. Not everything will let you do it this way but somethings do. Personal files pics and music,ect will all be fine.
that sounds like a lot more work than just wiping