SSD vs HDD - Guild Wars 2 Loading Screen Test (GW2)

Comparison of my new Samsung 830 256gb SSD vs my 7200 rpm WD Caviar Drive - Using the Guild Wars 2 Loading Screen as a test. SSD is only on a 3Gbp/s SATA II Port - Next video will unleash it's full potential on a SATA III port. Just waiting for the parts.

Products Tested:

My System Specs:

Nothing Special
Core i3 530 - 2.93Ghz
4gb Ram
ASUS P7H55-M Mobo
Win 7 32 Bit

[RaptorJesus.]

not sure if this was a fair comparison since there was a dynamic event going on for the HDD meaning lots of players, enemies and effects, while the SSD had nothing :P

[skonta]

I was going to go for the Asus u3s6 card but you need a spare PCIexpress x4 slot (or faster) and I realised at the last minute I didn't have one free. I'd only recommend the card if you have an asus motherboard (read some compatibility concerns with other brands).

If you don't have a PCIe x4 or higher slot spare then any sata III card you buy will be limited to the bandwidth of a PCIe x1 slot (5Gbp/s across all your PCIe x1s) . Because of this i'm switching mobo on payday!

[skonta]

Will be up within a week, I'm just awaiting a replacement on a broken in transit motherboard.

[Phorate]

is the sata 2 vs sata 3 up yet for the ssd?

[adutchdude]

thx i wasnt sure if it would have any effect using an SSD because i thought the server would be the bottleneck, ill be installing guildwars 2 on my SSD tomorrow =).

btw what server was this tested on ?. thx in advance.

[skonta]

The cable is identical but the throughput on a sata 3 port is massively increased. Realistically I am currently limited by sata II to read/write speeds of 300mb/s. On a sata-3 port I can realise the true speed of the drive ~550mb/s. IMauxVG demonstrates this with my exact drive in his video: SSD Speed Tests! Sata 2 vs Sata 3!

Check it out, Hope this helps.

[TiDuS]

what card did you use for Sata III? My mobo doesn't have a sata III port, so I'm looking for alternatives. Thank you.

[skonta]

Response video posted with SATA III comparison

[skonta]

Yeap loading screen appears to be affected by many factors including i would suspect cpu, graphics card, amount of ram (?), in game graphic settings and hdd. This video was exploring just the hdd impact but i'm going to test the other factors as soon as my new board arrives. The aim being to find make the minimum loading screen time i'm able to achieve without spending big bucks. .... i hate loading screens...with a passion.

[skonta]

2 Disks, the more SSD storage the better. With separates, you can store all your Operating system and program files on the SSD (fast boot/loading times) and then use your HDD for your media storage.

With the 8gb SSD cache, it is limited to only your most used files (mostly windows - elping boot speeds), so you will find your large games etc see little benefit.

[skonta]

The core difference is cut down of loading / zoning times, which i've found have been cut significantly as these files are all pulled from your hard drive. Whilst actually playing however, minimal difference at best. Graphics card, processor and internet connection are key then.

[skonta]

Well the video was really to show my personal experience in performing the upgrade and it was a 7200rpm 16mb drive that I had.. Hopefully it provides a guideline to others, obviously if they have a faster HDD than mine then the improvement will be slightly less, whilst those running a still common 5400 rpm drive will see more.

[Hypnot]

i dont think this test was fair, because on the HDD test when he entered there was an event with lots of ppl, meaning more stuff to load from the disk

[IamDraaky]

Can u make a test of Lion's arch? it's the place that takes the longest to load

[skonta]

This was an everyday experience until I got the ssd, I didn't find the time varying noticeably by more than a second or so, group event or not and i've checked the 3/4 vids I made at the time (couldn't get the resolution right) and each one is +/- 2 seconds on the HDD of the times shown.

[miguelriveraibanez]

Well, then IDK what the problem is, maybe you can help me out here. I have a decent pc (AMD FX 6100 six core 3.3gh 8GB ram and a Radeon 7700) and I've played games at ultra with no problem, but my exoerience with GW2 is different, cause I'm able to play it like full graphic settings and all but every 5 or 10 min the frames per second drop drastically and I get a laggy image like for about 20 secs. I thought it was the graphic set, so I set it to low, but the problem remains. What could it be?

[miguelriveraibanez]

So, a SDD actually helps in mmo's? Cause I've heard that SDDs make no difference regarding gaming experience on pc.

[skonta]

Well its obviously not a power issue, as you have more than enough spec. Unfortunately you don't seem to be alone in your problems, i've noticed alot of people posting with fps problems on the gw2 forums. A high percentage of these people are using 7xxx series cards from ati. So i'd suggest a bug/incompatibility there. I'm sure it'll be fixed as the complaints are numerous.

[robertsides]

Man, I really miss the load bar GW2 had back in the beta. Really not sure what dumb ass felt like that wasn't important enough to keep around. No, let's take away feedback for the user. Those load bars would just confuse them....

[skonta]

Id be pretty pissed too. I've got much love for the SSD