1 TB HDD with 128 MB SSD vs 256 MB SSD

ellensim89

New laptop time folks!

Avid Sims 3 player - all expansions (except Katy Perry of course...) Mods and a sizable amount of CC.

Question is, should I be more inclined to go for a 1 TB HDD with 128 MB SSD or a 256 MB SSD???

All advice greatly received!!!

Please & Thankyou!

igazor

I assume you mean GBs in both places where you said MBs there.

Neither SSD is large enough to game on. On the first option, you would need to install the game and redirect the user Documents library (thus the eventual user game folder) to the larger HDD. Small SSDs like that are meant for the operating system and related apps like anti-virus/malware, not really anything else. You would lose the benefit that SSDs give to TS3, but there really wouldn't be much of a choice with only 128 GB to work with.

On the second option, there is no second drive? In that case you wouldn't have any installation choices but you will most likely find yourself forever running out of space and keep needing to push saved games and content to external storage. It gets far less convenient if you have more than just TS3 going, as other games will need space just for themselves. Both Windows and the games require at least 15% or 35 GB free space (a bit more gives some breathing room, and Win 10 might actually want more than that) in order to maneuver properly.

Better, although it increases the price tag, would be an SSD that is at least 512 GB with or without a second drive.

What are the other specs on the options being considered -- processor, RAM, and graphics cards are also very important.

enterprise1927

128GB and 256GB SSD price different is negligible today. So I vote for 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD.
128GB work well for Windows + Sims 3 + CC + many expansions and maybe some small programs. You will have problem when you want to install more games.

igazor

enterprise1927 wrote: »

128GB and 256GB SSD price different is negligible today. So I vote for 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD.
128GB work well for Windows + Sims 3 + CC + many expansions and maybe some small programs. You will have problem when you want to install more games.

I'm sorry but while it doesn't matter so much what the size of a too small (less than 512 GB) SSD is if a large HDD is provided and should be used instead, I would have to say that advising a player to install TS3 directly onto a 128 GB SSD intended to carry the operating system is really poor advice. Unless they have no EPs, no added content to manage, and won't be accumulating saved games there, they will have to redo all of this so that the game is installed on the HDD before long. There just is not enough room for Win 10 with its frequent updates and the game to co-exist and leave enough free space on the drive for both of them to maneuver. There may be enough space on 128 GB after Windows is installed to satisfy the "official" minimum requirements EA states, but from a practical standpoint in the real world this becomes unworkable.

On 256 GB...okay, maybe on the program install, provided that the player still redirects their Documents library and hence their TS3 user game folder over to the HDD. Again, the SSD has enough space to satisfy the stated requirements and things won't be impossible as they would be the one half that size, but having to constantly monitor free space will still drive the average to avid player crazy if they run the entire game from it.

I "vote" for a larger drive and, if a larger SSD is not reachable at this time, then forget about it and go with a nice 1 or 2 TB HDD only. And we still need to see the other specs of the systems truly under consideration. The drive configuration becomes moot if its processor is too weak, there is not enough RAM, or it has no dedicated graphics card of sufficient strength.

enterprise1927

igazor wrote: »

enterprise1927 wrote: »

128GB and 256GB SSD price different is negligible today. So I vote for 1TB HDD + 256GB SSD.
128GB work well for Windows + Sims 3 + CC + many expansions and maybe some small programs. You will have problem when you want to install more games.

I'm sorry but while it doesn't matter so much what the size of a too small (less than 512 GB) SSD is if a large HDD is provided and should be used instead, I would have to say that advising a player to install TS3 directly onto a 128 GB SSD intended to carry the operating system is really poor advice. Unless they have no EPs, no added content to manage, and won't be accumulating saved games there, they will have to redo all of this so that the game is installed on the HDD before long. There just is not enough room for Win 10 with its frequent updates and the game to co-exist and leave enough free space on the drive for both of them to maneuver. There may be enough space on 128 GB after Windows is installed to satisfy the "official" minimum requirements EA states, but from a practical standpoint in the real world this becomes unworkable.

On 256 GB...okay, maybe on the program install, provided that the player still redirects their Documents library and hence their TS3 user game folder over to the HDD. Again, the SSD has enough space to satisfy the stated requirements and things won't be impossible as they would be the one half that size, but having to constantly monitor free space will still drive the average to avid player crazy if they run the entire game from it.

I "vote" for a larger drive and, if a larger SSD is not reachable at this time, then forget about it and go with a nice 1 or 2 TB HDD only. And we still need to see the other specs of the systems truly under consideration. The drive configuration becomes moot if its processor is too weak, there is not enough RAM, or it has no dedicated graphics card of sufficient strength.

I have 256GB SSD since 2014 and still use that capacity till today I don't have to "move" document library to HDD.
The 256GB SSD is enough for Windows 10 / TS3 plus tons of expansions and CC / Some of my other main games like Cities Skylines / Totalwar Rome II / Attila / Warhammer. So it shouldn't have problem with TS3 alone.

While I don't recommend 128GB SSD to OP due to terrible price/capacity in today compared to 256GB or higher I can tell you that it is enough for TS3. I have 128GB SSD in 2013 with Windows 7 64 bit / TS3 plus tons of expansions and CC and there is still enough space for TW Rome II / some of my MMORPG game at that time and a little space left (~15GB) for preventing SSD slow down reason.

igazor

@enterprise1927 - Again, sorry but your results alone do not match up with that of the vast majority of players, perhaps your usage pattern is different. And 15 GB free space is not nearly enough for Win 7 and the game to operate smoothly, Win 10 will require more like 35 GB as a minimum just for itself. From a technical standpoint, you should actually be correct (on most counts). From a practical standpoint, from what we have seen it just doesn't work that way for most players.

You are free to disagree based on your own experiences of course, but be prepared for other tech responders here to point out the same thing. We don't always exactly agree on what the game needs to run smoothly, but being mindful of space on drives that are too tight compared to real life players' patterns of usage is something that has never really sparked much debate.

There also isn't much point in continuing this discussion until such time as the OP returns with more information on these systems or has follow-up questions.


Edit: You know what? Never mind. It took me a while to connect the dots, but I believe you are the same advanced level systems builder (not sure if hobbyist or professional though that doesn't really matter) who periodically posts on MTS under a similar screen name to tell every one of us who advises players over there that we are doing it wrong.

If so, then you do have an impressive skill set, know what you are doing, and are able to react to minute differences in system performance and maintenance before problems spread that the average TS3 player will not be able to comprehend or be interested in undertaking. Sorry, I should have been able to figure that out just from your signature block.

The audience here is not going to benefit from theoretical performance on expertly maintained systems, again this is real world where overworked system components do have a tendency to weaken with age and burn out. Players can potentially waste a lot of time and money (to them) purchasing off the shelf systems that are just never going to perform for them the way that they might for someone with such deeper levels of understanding. That is why it might look like we over-compensate on recommended system specs here and that includes the drive space thing. We are here to help the players who come to us at the levels of computer system understanding that they have, not to provide advice that may well be technically correct but impractical for the actual end-users.