There’s never been a better time to buy an SSD for your gaming PC

Getting an SSD for your gaming PC should be right at the top of your list if you want to make sure that modern games run smoothly, and here’s why it’s time for gamers to ditch hard drives.

Right, it’s about time that we draw a line in the sand. Don’t get a hard drive for your gaming PC. Unless you are running a mass cold-storage server on it. There is very little point in putting one into your traditional gaming PC, especially in 2023, when games are demanding more out of your hardware than ever before. An SSD is just the best option out there right now.

New games demand SSDs

Bethesda / AMD / Nvidia

Furthermore, games like the upcoming Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will require you to have an SSD to get up and running. Having an SSD running in your games could improve load times, texture streaming, and a host of other features, such as DirectStorage. Though, only one game currently supports it.

No one wants to lumber along with an SSD in 2023 anyway, PC ports of games are not getting any better, and to achieve anything near console parity will require an SSD, especially when it comes to loading times. This can be extremely important in games like Fortnite, where slow load times could mean that you have already dropped into the map before getting a chance to pick where you go on the battle bus.

Hardware limitations mean that an HDD could be as fast as 160MB/s, whereas NVMe Gen 4 SSDs like the Samsung 990 Pro can achieve up to 7450MB/s. That’s a staggering 191% difference in read speeds, and you should expect a similar ratio for write speeds too. There’s just no contest between the two technologies.

If 2023 titles like Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty are a sign of things to come, you should get equipped sooner rather than later. We’ve even talked before about how you might want to upgrade your whole PC once Starfield finally releases.

You should expect DirectStorage to also make its way into newer games in the future, too. With ballooning installation sizes, we’d understand why you might be hesitant to move away from the tried and true HDD, but SSD storage is now available at up to 8TB variants, to boot. But, they’re also not going to be too harsh on your wallet.

SSD prices are in freefall

Dexerto

Not only that, but the prices of SSDs are also dropping like a rock. You can now pick up a 1TB Sabrent Rocket PCIe 4.0 SSD for less than half of its price this time last year, according to CamelCamelCamel. Combine that with the fact that we’re now able to get faster, newer products like the Lexar NM790, and you’re onto a winner.

The drop in SSD pricing can be attributed to the cost of NAND flash memory becoming much lower, and those cost savings are being passed onto customers. An additional factor is a slowdown in demand for high-performance gaming PCs, which has caused an oversupply of drives, pushing prices even further down.

So, there’s no excuse. Don’t drag your heels with an ancient HDD, when an SSD awaits you.

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