Will my games be faster if I install game on ssd but windows on hdd

[Death Slayer]

Hello, I have 1tb hdd in which I have windows 10 installed on. I am planning on buying a nvme ssd. Now my question is if I only put my games on nvme will I get better performance? Or do I also have install windows on it? Also If I install windows on nvme will my games get benefits for it?

Note: Recently I am facing some stuttering in Black myth wukong. I tried some mods from nexus but didn't work. Then I sw some posts people saying their problem fixed by moving their game hdd to ssd.

[raystevens73]

Install the OS on the NVMe you will be happier that way, use HDD as a storage for your game library and if you run into a game that seems to lag or have long load times just move that game over to the NVMe.

[Death Slayer]

Originally posted by raystevens73:

Install the OS on the NVMe you will be happier that way, use HDD as a storage for your game library and if you run into a game that seems to lag or have long load times just move that game over to the NVMe.

I am actually facing stuttering in black myth wukong. I can wait 1-2 minitues for windows booting time happily but lagging in games is unbearable to me

[raystevens73]

The NVMe will make the system a lot faster boot time and most every aspect, the HDD can be formatted and used as a game drive only which will make it perform slightly better. This will suffice for most games but there are always a few heavy load dependent games. Later when you have the cash just pick up a standard SSD to replace the HDD.

[raystevens73]

Side note: you can have a Steam library on both drives, place Black Myth on the NVMe.
My personal opinion: I think drives perform better if you keep them under 70% full, buy larger and keep empty space is my motto.

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

If one has SSD then there no reason to not have OS on SSD.

So unless the storage is so small, lack of ports such as laptop, or can't afford a larger SSD replace, then it make sense why using your SSD just for games storage instead of having the os on it.

[smokerob79]

the fastest set up is not having the OS on the NVME.....my gen 3 dropped to 2200 read speeds from 3500 with windows on the drive.....my gen 4 dropped from 5000mb read speeds to about 3200 with windows on the drive....the only way to keep the drive running its full speed is to keep the OS on a another drive.....but you can get a cheap 256gb sata based SSD drive for as little as 20 dollars and install the OS on it.....

boot times will be the same....you will get all the speed you can out of the NVME drive and you can reformat the whole OS drive without messing with game drives.....find a cheap SATA based SSD for the OS....

[raystevens73]

Originally posted by smokerob79:

the fastest set up is not having the OS on the NVME.....my gen 3 dropped to 2200 read speeds from 3500 with windows on the drive.....my gen 4 dropped from 5000mb read speeds to about 3200 with windows on the drive....the only way to keep the drive running its full speed is to keep the OS on a another drive.....but you can get a cheap 256gb sata based SSD drive for as little as 20 dollars and install the OS on it.....

boot times will be the same....you will get all the speed you can out of the NVME drive and you can reformat the whole OS drive without messing with game drives.....find a cheap SATA based SSD for the OS....

Maybe it's just Windows leech your info "BS" but I have never had a NVMe or SSD drop in speed for the OS being installed, I do use Linux though.

[r.linder]

It doesn't really make much of a difference for gamers to have the OS installed on the NVMe because games will basically never actually need much more than SATA3 bandwidth (600 MB/s), the difference is never going to be noticeable until you actually need several times more bandwidth for applications that can actually push the drive to its full potential.

SSDs don't run at their maximum transfer rates and bandwidth at all times, it's based on the data load placed upon it, games and just running the OS don't use that much, which is why there isn't a massive difference between SATA and NVMe for loading times in games, usually the difference is within a second at worst.

Generally though it would be more cost effective to use a quality 2.5" SATA SSD for just the OS and programs like Steam and to save NVMe drives for everything else so that the most demanding things you run get the chance to run as much bandwidth as they want, reason why I'd say that over a cheap NVMe drive for the OS is because you only get so many M.2 slots, right? So you don't end up "wasting" a slot, you should make the most of them if possible, meaning you get the most amount of capacity and the highest bandwidth supported by the slot to make the most of what the motherboard and CPU support.

[_I_]

faster ssd will only be faster load times
not any impact on fps after everything is loaded

for games that do texture streaming or load models on demand, a faster drive will give lower fps, since a slower drive will take longer for higher res textures and model popins

[A&A]

HDDs can cause sttuters or issues in open world games.
You don't want your OS installed on the HDD.

[PopinFRESH]

Originally posted by r.linder:

It doesn't really make much of a difference for gamers to have the OS installed on the NVMe because games will basically never actually need much more than SATA3 bandwidth (600 MB/s), the difference is never going to be noticeable until you actually need several times more bandwidth for applications that can actually push the drive to its full potential....

They do when they game is constantly streaming in/out assets and they haven't tuned that for the throughput of HDDs. It hasn't really been much of an issue in the past but will become more of an issue in current gen games as they start targeting only current gen consoles; such as with Black Myth: Wukong. It supports HDD as the minimum spec, but depending on the quality settings that will introduce stuttering and hitching as well as noticeable pop-in of LODs on various things in the environment.

I'd concur with others that in the OP's situation; I'd reinstall Windows on the NVMe SSD and then create a Steam Library on both drives. Then install most games that don't particularly benefit from the SSD loading speeds on the HDD and install whatever game(s) you are currently regularly playing and/or need the SSD throughput on the SSD library. The new Steam storage interface makes it super easy to move a game between libraries on different disks.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Originally posted by A&A:

HDDs can cause sttuters or issues in open world games.
You don't want your OS installed on the HDD.

I have no issues for single-player using WD Black 7200RPM HDD but never for an OS.

[OutlawNix]

I won't speak for anyone else but myself I had stop using mechanical drives 12 years ago. For me, they have no place being in a computer anymore they are slow compare to SSD that uses SATA 3 interface and even slower compared to an NVMe drive.

My first SSD was an 120GB Kingston still have the drive after 12 years. While it's no longer in a computer due to it's size. However it still does work and plan on buying a box for it to use as portable storage at some point.

These days you can get 1TB SSD for around $10-20 US dollars more than the cost of a 1TB HDD.

While the 1TB NVMe drive is running around the $50 - $80 US dollar range. Depending on the brand name and if the drive has DRAM or not. However they are faster than SSD that uses the SATA 3 interface.

Once you experience using an SSD or NVMe as your OS boot drive. You will never want to use a mechanical drive for a OS boot drive ever again. Then your going to want another piece of the pie so to speak. So you will end up using either an SSD or NVMe for your games.

Myself as I now I'm using nothing but NVMe in my system. They are quicker and there is the fact don't have to worry about cables. lol

[Guydodge]

honestly bite the bullet and get another ssd.hdd isnt of much use with todays AAA games.
and you certainly dont want your OS on a hdd

[_I_]

Originally posted by A&A:

HDDs can cause sttuters or issues in open world games.
You don't want your OS installed on the HDD.

*slow hdd
a 7200rpm 4+tb 128+mb cache drive is fine for any game, that can max out the sata3 port