WoW on a SSD. Is it OK?

[lordjust]

Modern SSD write degradation is complete FUD. It will take around 20-30 years to hit the maximum write count on 120-250GB SSD when using it for OS + games only. Heavy database use can wear down SSDs in five years or so, but nobody does that on gaming computer and very few parts of a gaming computer remains un-upgraded for five years in the first place.

What he says. All SSDs that failed since their release failed because of their controller and not because the SSD was worn out. Even the very first SSD drives that came available were said to last for 5-10 years depending on usage. The newer drives with newer controllers and better memory will last longer than the old ones. Also your OS will wear out the SSD more than WoW. In Windows you have always a lot of write commands when using programs. Programs and Windows can't store everything in the RAM and to not block too much space in the RAM a lot of programs write things on the HDD even if they could write it in the RAM and you can't deactivate that to 100%. You can deactivate the swap file and some things but when installing anything or updating anything (even when installing on another HDD) the installer will write some files on your OS drive because that's how the program works.

Don't be worried about WoW or any other program. Using the SSD as your OS drive is worse than any other program. When using the web browser it will save all files on your system drive and with youtube videos, pictures and advertisements on sites that are some hundred Megabytes every day you use your computer.

[Traumatic]

It plays both Diablo 3 and WoW SIGNIFICANTLY better, I feel. I used to say nay to SSD as they provide no FPS increase... But now I can never not have one.

Unlike WoW where the performance difference in game is minimal, I think a SSD is required to really enjoy Diablo 3. My system was always plagued by stuttering when joining a new game as all of the spells loaded. The first time a new spell was cast in a game the system would literally crawl. The SSD fixed all of that. Blizz should add solid state drive to the recommended system requirements for the game.

[jmacphee9]

Skyrim Can't even read the loading screen tips

skyrim was a huge advantage, im assuming most RPGs follow. i didnt see enough of a benefit from putting wow on my SSD, it was definetly faster for the first load of the day, but im not going to use up all that precious space to save one big loading screen. if it was many frequent loads like skyrim i would..

[n0cturnal]

if it was many frequent loads like skyrim i would..

It kind of is, it's not like you fully load every texture of a whole continent when you log in, there will always be textures that has to be loaded on the fly.

[Masark]

This is my own drive that I have used since Feb last year, I run windows and some games including WoW on it.

What program is this?

[noteworthynerd]

skyrim was a huge advantage, im assuming most RPGs follow. i didnt see enough of a benefit from putting wow on my SSD, it was definetly faster for the first load of the day, but im not going to use up all that precious space to save one big loading screen. if it was many frequent loads like skyrim i would..

WoW is nice to have on an SSD for a couple reasons:

1. Like you said, the initial loading screen.
2. Other loading screens (like switching between continents, entering raids, etc). However, these are also affected by server latency.
3. Loading addons / reloading UI.
4. And there are others that I can't think of.

But mostly you're right, MMOs don't benefit as drastically from being on an SSD as single player games do because most of the loading in MMOs is also dependent on server latency.

[n0cturnal]

What program is this?

CrystalDiskInfo

[vesseblah]

skyrim was a huge advantage, im assuming most RPGs follow. i didnt see enough of a benefit from putting wow on my SSD, it was definetly faster for the first load of the day, but im not going to use up all that precious space to save one big loading screen. if it was many frequent loads like skyrim i would..

Try serious raiding, and you'll be seeing the loading screen pretty damn often during wipes. Having WoW on SSD literally cuts down 10 minutes of loading screens from me every wipenight.

[-Atlass-]

I run my WoW on 2 SSD's in a Raid0 config and it is lightning fast.

It does fatal error about once ever other day just after a load screen but i'm not 100% sure that it is from the drives yet. I also have a lot of overclocking and what-not going on so I'm still tracking down the culprit.

That being said. I can usually have a fatal error, crash WoW, open it back up, log in and reload before the rest of the raid finishes their load screens. I'd say stick with an SSD any day.

[mazox74]

I just recently upgraded to a 240g ssd and could not be happier it was definitely a very good quality of life upgrade for my pc. As stated by many it will not increase FPS by much if at all but, it will smooth things out and save a lot of time waiting for loading screens which is easy to underestimate until you experience the difference.

[RoKPaNda]

Previous system: Intel Core 2 Duo E7500, 4gb ram, HDD, Geforce 460
New System: Intel i5 3570K, 8gb ram, SSD, Geforce 660

I don't know if it's because my system in general is better, but wow could take me upwards of a minute to shut down (it took longer to shut down than start up O_o), and reboot, say if I needed to update an addon. Now with the SSD, I can do that in under 15 seconds. It plays both Diablo 3 and WoW SIGNIFICANTLY better, I feel. I used to say nay to SSD as they provide no FPS increase... But now I can never not have one.

That sounds like more of an issue of the old computer being old and probably some software/drive issues somewhere. For me WoW load screens have always been about 4 seconds at most unless the server was experiencing some kind of issue. The difference for me isn't very noticeable even though shaving 2-3 seconds off a time of 3-4 seconds is quite good. Granted I haven't zoned between CRZs without WoW installed on an SSD, so maybe it makes a noticeable difference there. For me hitting that invisible line between CRZs is just a fraction of a second of annoyance.

Windows starts much faster, Skyrim (and Dragon Age Origins) and StarCraft load much faster, but as for WoW I really couldn't tell the difference. I could always put WoW on my storage drive and see how much of a difference I notice when hitting the CRZ border though I suppose.

[chazus]

I think a SSD is required to really enjoy Diablo 3. My system was always plagued by stuttering when joining a new game as all of the spells loaded. The first time a new spell was cast in a game the system would literally crawl.

Wow. I had actually FORGOTTEN about that issue. I haven't played D3 in a while, and fired it up just the other day and it ran silk smooth on Ultra everything. I had forgotten the number of times I died as I zoned in on first play and got a good 15 second stutter on a fairly respectable system.