Does ESO run better on an SSD?

bosmern_ESO

I remember there was a good amount of people asking this question the first couple of months when ESO first came out but I couldn't remember what people discovered.

I just got a SSD today (my first one ever) and I wanted to know if ESO has better or the same performance on the SSD card.

Sallington

Everything runs better on an SSD. It might affect very little, but you have the space to install it on an SSD you'd be crazy not to.

MissBizz

Hard to compare. I built a new PC and put ESO on an SSD. Regular perforance I don't see a difference, but my loading screens are less frequent and are shorter. However, it's also very likely that's from the brand new PC rather than the old one.

Potenza

I did notice a bit of performance improvement when I upgraded to an SSD a few months ago. Less stutter I used to get when moving.

bosmern_ESO

MissBizz wrote: »

Hard to compare. I built a new PC and put ESO on an SSD. Regular perforance I don't see a difference, but my loading screens are less frequent and are shorter. However, it's also very likely that's from the brand new PC rather than the old one.

So its a buff to kill the loading screen boss?! I'll take it any day!

bosmern_ESO

j.murro2ub17_ESO wrote: »

I did notice a bit of performance improvement when I upgraded to an SSD a few months ago. Less stutter I used to get when moving.

Did it increase overall performance or did it seem to make everything run smoother?

Cazic

It may help, depending on what type of drive you were running ESO on prior to the SSD. But, I've run it on both and didn't notice much difference, if any at all.

Originally my PC only had a SSD so that's where my ESO install was. I then bought a 2TB Western Digital "Black" HDD and moved my ESO install there - didn't notice any difference in performance or loading times. The WD drive I'm using is fast though. If the HDD you're moving it over from is a slower type, then there may be a more noticeable difference between it and your SSD.

Nestor

Any game is better on an SSD.


You will still have issues with the Internet and the Servers from time to time.

Dekken_Blake

j.murro2ub17_ESO wrote: »

I did notice a bit of performance improvement when I upgraded to an SSD a few months ago. Less stutter I used to get when moving.

Do you ever get stuttering or fps drops in the centers of towns? Like the fountain In Craglorn? That's where I get it, even in empty cities.

GreySix

My Mac Pro runs ESO like a champ, and it's an older model - about five years old, no SSD. Did put an SSD in my MacBook Pro, and it seems to have improved gameplay a bit.

Really think it has to do with overall machine construction, though an SSD will still generally be value-added.



Personally, I'm waiting for the days of 3D optical data storage on crystals, which would allow instantaneous access and huge amounts of storage.

JamilaRaj

Perhaps it launches a bit faster, but not as much as I would expect. In game, I did not notice any improvement. Most importantly, if you experience issues like you set up siege engine in zergy battle in Cyrodiil and have to wait 30 seconds for it to load and be usable, SSD will make no difference whatsoever.

Sacadon

Chances are high you'll get something out of it.
But as always realizing performance from an upgrade depends upon where the bottleneck is on your system.
If you post your current system specs we could give you a better answer.

Armitas

I have an SSD and still get incredibly long load times when I enter cyrodiil and travel to a keep. Regardless go SSD, you will never go back. Your boot times will be incredibly fast, and you won't have to listen to those terrible hard drive clicks. I have a quiet case and I can still hear my Raptor clicking away when I boot my hard drive to play the PTS.

Potenza

bosmern_ESO wrote: »

j.murro2ub17_ESO wrote: »

I did notice a bit of performance improvement when I upgraded to an SSD a few months ago. Less stutter I used to get when moving.

Did it increase overall performance or did it seem to make everything run smoother?

Everything on the computer runs smoother now. Anything that requires a read/write to the drive is instant.

In any part of the game where there is a read to the drive, it is fast. Specifically loading times have been faster.

Reilech

TESO doesnt benefit that much: loading screens won't be any shorter. Your computer is just faster at waiting.

Potenza

Dekken_Blake wrote: »

j.murro2ub17_ESO wrote: »

I did notice a bit of performance improvement when I upgraded to an SSD a few months ago. Less stutter I used to get when moving.

Do you ever get stuttering or fps drops in the centers of towns? Like the fountain In Craglorn? That's where I get it, even in empty cities.

I have seen a reduction in the stutter I used to get in Belkarth (spelling) in Craglorn. But I don't know if it is because of the SSD drive upgrade or if ZOS did something to improve it. Overall I think the game runs better on the SSD.

BBSooner

I'd put your OS and your most used applications on your SSD (ESO counting as one presumably).

Troneon

I have used a 250gb SSD for years now for my OS and games, would never go back, the difference is probably not as big as I think it is but it feels huge difference, OS runs smoother, boots super quick, more responsive and game loading times are dramatically reduced.

My next PC I build I will go for a 1TB SSD or higher though if the speeds increase on them anyway. When I built my last PC a few years ago 250GB was best way to go.

It's worth using an SSD even just for the operating system alone. Just make sure you do your research on what type of tech each SSD has, speeds, reliability and reviews from others as there are good and bad choices for SSD drives.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/internal-hard-drive/

For finding parts, suppliers and compiling PC builds alot of builders use this site, there is a US version of the site as well. Not sure about Europe version. This is UK site.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

zward887_ESO

Personally, I find this game has enough loading screens to make the SSD worth it.

Faugaun

I run on fiber optic line 1gbps with ESO on a ssd, I don't experience cyrodil lag or other issues I see people complaining about....that said I've never played it on my 7200 rpm drive....umm I do frequently group with people and they walk into a door and I follow them on the other side I have to wait for them to load. I think the main advantage you will see are in shorter launch times and shorter load screen times ....the rest is more ram, and GPU and processor functions...

o_0

SSD will always improve performance if the delay is caused by read/write actions on the hard drive.

thesilverball_ESO

Yes. On a standard PC a SSD will definitely help with software performance.

phtony06b14_ESO

Having upgraded from a regular hard drive to an SSD while owning ESO, I can say that it definitely has speeded things up as far as load screens etc. But it won't help out with any connection/lag/latency issues whatsoever. My next bottleneck to be upgraded is processor.

danno8

Generally you will load areas faster. During gameplay you will not notice much difference.

Faster processor will net you better results if frame rate is what you are after.

Seraphyel

The issue here is:

You need 80GB free space to install it. Most people tend to have 128 - 256 GB SSDs and it's quite unlikely that you have 1/3 or more free space on it.

I wanted to switch ESO from HDD to SSD, but my free space is only 60GB and I can't get more by now.

Audigy

SSDs don't have any necessary benefit for gaming as of now. If games would be developed with an SSD in mind, 80% of the gamers couldn't play anymore - this would be a terrible decision by gaming companies.

Fact is, the CPU is the most limiting factor in gaming these days - especially in regards of MMOs. This has to do with the architecture of PCs and the API we are forced to use.

If you have a few hundred bucks to spare, get a decent cooling solution, a strong CPU for OC and a decent GPU. This makes gaming and not an SSD.

SSDs however shine if you work with your PC, I love mine and can highly recommend them to people if you need fast access and instant availability in your workflow.

TehMagnus

It's more or less the same, I run Live on SSD and PTS on SATA and i barely see any difference (besides the lag). Still SSD will always run a bit better in any case .

Apokh

@Topic: Not really! Nope.

Merlin13KAGL

If your OS is on the SSD, you'll see an overall improvement. The game itself will run well on an SSD or on a high performace SATA3 drive.

Your OS is going to be the main thing accessing your drive regularly. Same goes for any background processes you have running, as well.

You may see a slight performance increase in loading screens and initial startup.

Beyond that, the delays you experience are likely server side (waiting for data transfer), as opposed to client side.

Anything you want to access frequently or want a bit more responsiveness out of, put on the SSD. Infrequently accessed data, put on a standard.

Decent sized (and fast) SSD's are inexpensive for primaries (I'd go no smaller than a 256 Gb), and large SATA3 mechanical's are cheap and much more reliable than they once were.

Also, odd as it sounds, while you're in your case, take the time to re-seat your memory cards. Just pop them lose, one at a time, and put them back securely. This will clear any oxidation that may have formed on the contacts and can make a notable difference, depending on how long they've been in there.

I've the same setup as @TehMagnus , Live on SSD, PTS on fast SATA3.

Nomad79

I play on Xbox One. Would an external ssd be of much benefit for me?

Thornen

The long load times you get in cyrodiil and very occasionally overworld are server client communication issues and have nothing to do with how long the game takes to load from disk. That being said eso will load faster on a ssd.