The truth about PC gaming on SSDs vs. HDDs, tested with real data

I’ve a pal Steve (not his actual identify) who nonetheless installs his PC video games on a big, sluggish, noise onerous drive. You know, the old-school variety that spins up earlier than it could learn or write information? I hold telling him to modify over to an SSD, not only for his personal sake however for mine as properly.

You see, Steve thinks he’s nice, that he’s harming nobody by operating his video games on an HDD. But what he doesn’t understand is that his sluggish gaming instances have an effect on me and everybody else he performs with. Levels take minutes to load slightly than seconds. Guess who’s at all times final after we leap right into a sport? His aged HDD makes our gaming time such a chore.

Please, Steve. I encourage of you. Put your video games on an SSD! I don’t care in case your most important drive ran out of area. Go purchase one other one! They’re fairly reasonably priced lately, they usually make such an enormous distinction.

Don’t consider me? Think it’s all exaggerated? That’s what Steve says, so I took it upon myself to run the numbers. Here’s the chilly, onerous proof that exhibits why it’s best to at all times run your PC video games on SSDs.

Just take a look at the numbers! It’s a no brainer

I can’t consider I’m even having to make this name in 2025. I’ve been gaming off of SSDs completely since 2010. Back then, it was a Mach Xtreme MX-DS 100GB SSD. (Technically a 128GB drive, however in actuality solely about 100GB of precise usable space for storing.) Want proof? Here’s my overview of it that was saved by the Wayback Machine.

Even that comparatively sluggish SSD was transformative, although. Not solely did Windows boot up faster and video games load even quicker, however the entire PC expertise was extra responsive. It’s simple to neglect what it was prefer to run an working system on a tough drive — sluggish and stuttery, with pauses after nearly each motion because the drive caught up.

Even contemplating the quickest gaming onerous drives (the Western Digital Raptor line), you’re nonetheless taking a look at a number of milliseconds for random entry instances versus the microseconds of legacy SATA SSDs. Sustained learn and write speeds for HDDs can perhaps attain 150MB/s, in comparison with the 14,500MB/s that the most recent PCIe 5 SSDs are spitting out. That’s 100 instances quicker! And Steve’s nonetheless gaming on onerous drives? Why, Steve?!

To be honest, I perceive that this doesn’t matter as a lot for lots of single-player experiences. You can hit play, stroll away and make a cup of tea, then come again when it’s loaded and able to go. I sit via one-minute-plus load instances on my closely modded Kerbal Space Program on a regular basis (and that’s put in on a quick SSD).

But why put your self via that? Time is valuable. Every second that passes is a second you gained’t ever get again. Wouldn’t you slightly spend that second taking part in as a substitute of ready? And if you happen to largely play multiplayer on-line video games, it’s not honest to place everybody else via that, forcing them to attend so that you can end loading your belongings.

Gaming on SSD vs. HDD speeds, examined

If my impassioned plea towards onerous drive gaming in 2025 wasn’t sufficient by itself, how about some empirical proof? I did a little bit of testing to again up my strategies with uncooked numbers. Just how a lot quicker is an SSD over an HDD? Let’s see what the information says.

My drives and PC

I pitted my WD Black SN770 SSD towards my large Seagate BarraCuda HDD. I do know, it isn’t a super-fast onerous drive. But I selected it as a result of it’s consultant of the sorts of onerous drives nonetheless utilized by many to retailer photographs, paperwork, and video games. It’s additionally actually cost-effective when it comes to gigabytes-per-dollar, so many can be drawn to drives like this over even among the extra reasonably priced SSDs on the market.

Both of these drives had been fitted into my PC with these specs:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X3D
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
• RAM: 32GB Kingston Fury Renegade 5200MHz
• Motherboard: Asus Crosshair X670E Hero

My methodology

What I ended up doing is operating Marvel Rivals, Cyberpunk 2077, and Warhammer: Vermintide 2 on each drives. All of those video games have their very own customized splash-screen loaders, so I timed Boot Time (from the second I hit Play to when the brand animations started) in addition to Load Time (how lengthy it took to load up a sport). For Warhammer: Vermintide 2, that was loading into the hub in single-player mode. For Cyberpunk 2077, it was loading my save at the beginning of the sport within the bar. For Marvel Rivals, it was how lengthy it took to get to character choice when loading the follow stage from the principle menu.

The outcomes

The outcomes are stark and apparent. The onerous drive’s load time is over seven instances slower within the case of Marvel Rivals, and Cyberpunk 2077 took nearly a minute longer on the HDD than the SSD (which, comparatively, loaded the extent nearly instantaneously).

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is an attention-grabbing case. The hole between boot time and cargo time on SSD versus HDD is fairly small. It’s the slowest of all three video games on an SSD, but not that a lot slower on an HDD. In truth, it vastly outperforms the opposite two video games on HDD. Perhaps it has one thing to do with how the sport has optimized (or not optimized) its belongings and the way they’re streamed from storage.

Even so, the information is evident in all three circumstances: loading video games from an SSD is considerably quicker than loading from an HDD. The worst-case state of affairs right here was with Cyberpunk 2077, which was over 10 instances slower to load on an HDD versus an SSD. If this doesn’t persuade you to swap drives, I suppose nothing will. For me, the wait simply isn’t price it.

Do you consider me now, Steve?

Come on, Steve. I’ve completed all I can do. I’ve tutted each time you made us sit via that prolonged loading display. I’ve made offhanded feedback about how low cost SSDs have gotten. I’ve even made “jokes” about loving how a lot time we’ve to talk whereas ready on you to load. Now I’ve penned this text, hoping it’ll lastly get you to see the sunshine.

All sarcasm apart, it’d sound like I’m drive-shaming right here. But I don’t imply any of this in a malicious or elitist means.

Yes, there’s an argument to be made that SSDs are costlier than HDDs and subsequently past the attain of some players. That’s a superbly legitimate motive to stay with what you may have. I don’t disparage anybody who can’t afford PC upgrades, and I acknowledge that I’m privileged to have been in a position to sport on SSDs for years now.

That mentioned, in 2025, SSDs are the most cost effective they’ve ever been. In our list of recommended SSDs, our favourite price range choice is the 500GB WD Blue SN5000 for just $45. Hell, let’s go even cheaper! You should purchase a 256GB Silicon Power SATA III SSD for just $18. Is it actually price sitting via all that additional sport load time for the sake of $18? C’mon!

Further studying: The best external SSDs for gaming