Are you in the market for a new gaming PC? If so, you’re probably trying to figure out how to best allocate your budget. One of the most important decisions you’ll make is choosing a storage solution. There are many different types available, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Here’s a breakdown of the most common options so that you can make an informed decision.
Every gamer dreams of having a truly immersing experience while playing the game. Today, new games are becoming increasingly complex with better graphics and larger worlds, which all require more storage space on your computer.
However, choosing the best place to store your games can be hard for anyone who is not an expert in this field. Luckily you have come to the right place! In this article, we will help you choose the best way to store your games.
There are two main types of storage solutions, disk drives and solid state drives (SSD), which both have their advantages and disadvantages. To make this decision easier for you, I will split up this article into two sections for each type of drive.
Disk Drives
disk drives are the most common type of storage solution available on the market today and have been since they were first invented in 1956 by IBM. They consist of a spinning disk inside a box which is encased in a metal casing with an opening where you place your computer’s disk.
When choosing a disk drive, there are two main things to consider: speed and storage space. A typical new computer will come with either a 7200 RPM or 5400 RPM disk drive. The former rotates at 7200 revolutions per minute (RPM), whereas the latter rotates at only 5400 RPM. In layman’s terms, the former is much faster and better suited for one’s gaming purposes. It can store about 250 GB of data, whereas a 5400RPM drive can store up to 500 GB of data.
One other factor to consider is size. The larger your disk drive is, the more games you can store on it at a time. The dimensions of a disk drive are 5.25″ x 1/2H”, which means it’s about half an inch tall and 5-and-a-quarter inches long. This is big enough to accommodate most drives, but if your drive requires larger dimensions you may have to upgrade or replace your disk drive to accommodate your needs.
There are other factors that may affect the performance of your disk drive, but all in all, they should not affect your storage space if you choose a fast 7200RPM model. However, there is one thing I wish to note: if you have many programs and files already stored on your disk drive, it will drastically slow down the speed and performance of your games. It is recommended that you either move all these to another drive or uninstall them once you have finished playing each game so the next time you play it will be as fast as possible.
Now that we know about disk drives, let’s take a look at solid state drives.
Solid State Drives (SSD)
Unlike a disk drive, a solid state drive is not a physical disk that spins around. It’s more like an external memory stick for your computer, except much faster. Because it doesn’t have any moving parts, there is no latency in load times when you play your games from the SSD. In fact, if you have an SSD with enough storage space you may never have to load a game again!
However, there are some downsides to solid state drives. For one, they are far more expensive than disk drives, making them less practical for most serious gamers. Newer models are said to be faster and more reliable, but this technology is still in its infancy. Therefore, I highly recommend that you purchase a 7200RPM disk drive instead of a solid state drive unless you have the budget for one.
Conclusion
if you wish to store your games on a disk drive I recommend getting at least a 5400 RPM model with 250 GB of storage space so you can store all your games on it instead of having to switch disks every time you want to play a new game. If you do like the idea of having no load times, then I recommend getting a 7200 RPM drive and playing all your games from there while keeping an older 5400 RPM drive with less storage space for all your other files and programs.
