Modern games are becoming increasingly demanding. In particular, an upgrade will likely become a necessity for players in the future. And it’s not just about a graphics card.
New games now set high requirements for gaming PCs. However, many games now require not just a reasonably modern processor and a fast graphics card, but in many cases also an SSD. But why do games even need an SSD?
Modern games like Starfield already list an SSD among the minimum requirements to be able to play.
An SSD is now (almost) as important as a fast computer
More and more games require an SSD: It has been the case for some time that developers recommend an SSD to players. Games like Hogwarts Legacy state in their system requirements: An SSD is preferred, but HDDs are still supported.
However, more and more developers now require an SSD for their games. This includes
- Forza Motorsport
- Starfield
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for the recommended requirements.
Why is an SSD so important? SSDs offer much faster access times than a traditional hard drive (HDD). On average, modern games load significantly faster from an SSD than if they are installed on an HDD.
More and more PC games now require an SSD, which is also due to the new DirectStorage technology from Microsoft. Simply put, DirectStorage allows games to load faster because the processor can process the data more quickly. However, this requires an NVMe SSD and a graphics card with DirectX 12.
What else does DirectStorage offer?
- Games can be loaded significantly faster.
- With faster rendering, objects in the game world no longer pop up suddenly, but can be pre-loaded.
- Developers can design larger and more expansive game worlds because the hardware can process more data simultaneously.
By now, every gamer should have an SSD in their computer
For a long time, gamers believed the wisdom: Install your operating system, the system partition, and important programs on your SSD to benefit from fast boot times. Your games, movies, and such then go onto a cheap HDD mass storage.
Gamers who want to play all current titles in the future will therefore inevitably need an upgrade if they haven’t installed an SSD yet. Some games can be started without an SSD, even though they require one according to the system requirements.
For example, Baldur’s Gate 3 can be started with an HDD, but you will notice the noticeably longer loading times. Whether developers will exclude players without an SSD is still (for now) questionable.
How much does such an SSD cost? The advantage is that a new SSD doesn’t cost a fortune. For an NVMe SSD, you now pay around 100 euros. For a regular SSD, you even pay a few euros less.
100 euros is still a lot of money, but it is not comparable to the 1,000 euros you could spend on a new, fast graphics card.
By the way, there are other affordable upgrades if you want to upgrade your PC but don’t have much money available. We list sensible upgrades in the following article on MeinMMO:
No money for a new PC? Here’s how to properly upgrade your gaming PC
