Greetings all. I have a question for the whole NWN:EE community including the devs. I plan to buy a new PC in the near future, and I was wondering if I should invest in one with a solid state drive, or stick with a hard disk drive. Will there be much of a difference in price? Around this time, have SSD's become the standard for internal data storage? I appreciate any and all feedback.
I would also like to, hopefully, play new Beamdog-created adventures before WOTC gets a wild hair up its clean elven arse to pull the plug on new NWN:EE content. Thank you for reading, and happy gaming to all.
SSDs are pretty standard, but HDDs are still available, affordable, and good enough for many uses including old video games. They can even be preferable. The advantage of an SSD is faster load times and file copying. The disadvantages are SSDs have shorter lifespans as far as the amount of times data can be erased and are more expensive per gigabyte of data.
I personally just got an SSD for booting the operating system and other applications that are regularly used. I installed NWN and other games on my HDD. I'd recommend SSD if you only plan on one drive, but it will be pricier for more storage. For budget or lots of erasures, I'd recommend getting a low capacity SSD for the operating system and frequently used applications that need fast load times and an HDD too for everything else, especially data that changes a lot. Some users of NWN might do a lot of that (trying out betas, trying different servers, using the Workshop and Neverwintervault content a lot are examples of frequent changes that would use up those SSD limited erasures). If you get an HDD, get a good reliable one (check reviews) that is 7200 rpm.
i just looked up a solid state from newegg, and there was a 1TB solid state for less than 200 CAD and it has a life of 1.5 million hours ( or 171 years if on 24/7 )
if you don't need that much storage there was another one on newegg for around 85 bucks and it was 500 GB ( that one had a life of 1.75 million hours )
so when it comes to how long your drive is going to last you will not live long enough for either a hard disk or solid state to fail unless it was already a faulty drive to begin with
now when it comes to hard drives, usually people don't buy a HARD DRIVE unless they are using it for storage, aka; pictures, videos, documents, things that don't require speed to open or use
and then for other applications ( things that having more speed would be beneficial ) would use a solid state, aka; having your OS installed on it, games installed on it, programs installed on it, ect
it also depends on your budget and what type of gaming you want to be doing, because to be honest, the games that beamdog has produced dont require much intensive hardware, infact i would not be surprised if any PC you would buy from BestBuy worth 900 CAD could run any beamdog title perfectly fine
but if you want to do some more advanced PC game ( like modern AAA games ) or if you are doing some serious program editing stuff then you will need some more hardware
so the question is;
what is your budget,
what are you aiming to do with said PC, as in;
what is it mostly going to be used for; work, school, games, editing, streaming, a mix of things, ect
I fully recommend switching to a full, SSD. IMHO, HDDs shouldn't even exist in 2020. The only reason I would ever entertain the thought of using an HDD is for financial considerations. But, personally, I'd rather spend money on an SSD and eat lightly for a month, etc., to make up the cost - it makes that much of a difference to your computing experience.
My recommendation is to not lollygag on that purchase.
While that is one of my favorite channels, and I watched LTT a ton while preparing for my computer build, I'd recommend listening to the opposite argument as well:
The disadvantages are SSDs have shorter lifespans as far as the amount of times data can be erased and are more expensive per gigabyte of data.
Not necessarily true. Hard disks have moving parts that are prone to failure if the heads become misaligned or seize up. The average user will never approach enough writes to kill a decent SSD purchased in the last few years. Just don't cheap out and go with a small brand. Stick with something like Intel or Samsung. It's worth it to pay for their QA. I've been using SSDs for about a decade now and only had one fail (never buying mushkin again). I've had to replace most of the hard disks in one of my home server's RAID arrays probably somewhere between 6-8 times in about that same time period (Only place I'm still using old HDDs is for massive bulk storage).
@Prince_Raymond You might also want to mention what else you want to use the computer for and whether you're looking for a laptop or desktop. If it's a desktop are you building it yourself or buying a prebuilt?
The disadvantages are SSDs have shorter lifespans as far as the amount of times data can be erased and are more expensive per gigabyte of data.
Not necessarily true. Hard disks have moving parts that are prone to failure if the heads become misaligned or seize up. The average user will never approach enough writes to kill a decent SSD purchased in the last few years. Just don't cheap out and go with a small brand. Stick with something like Intel or Samsung. It's worth it to pay for their QA. I've been using SSDs for about a decade now and only had one fail (never buying mushkin again). I've had to replace most of the hard disks in one of my home server's RAID arrays probably somewhere between 6-8 times in about that same time period (Only place I'm still using old HDDs is for massive bulk storage).
I said limited erasures which is always true. And I meant this in the context of NWN which can be a lot of erasures. If you only play campaigns, can afford a larger SSD (so less rewrites per byte because there are more bytes), or upgrade hardware frequently anyway, that isn't going to be an issue.
What you say about HDDs is true too, but that's why I said to get one with good reviews. I've never had to replace one until the PC had met it's lifespan anyway, and it was time to upgrade. That doesn't mean I will never have earlier failure. I'm just saying they aren't so faulty that they aren't worth buying. And it doesn't sound like he's asking about RAID arrays which would be heavy use and more chance of failure.
Regardless, I totally agree with getting only SSD if you can afford the dollars per terabyte. And for AAA games I'd recommend them. But if you are mostly playing older games a secondary HDD is going to be just fine and you'll save money.
The disadvantages are SSDs have shorter lifespans as far as the amount of times data can be erased and are more expensive per gigabyte of data.
Not necessarily true. Hard disks have moving parts that are prone to failure if the heads become misaligned or seize up. The average user will never approach enough writes to kill a decent SSD purchased in the last few years. Just don't cheap out and go with a small brand. Stick with something like Intel or Samsung. It's worth it to pay for their QA. I've been using SSDs for about a decade now and only had one fail (never buying mushkin again). I've had to replace most of the hard disks in one of my home server's RAID arrays probably somewhere between 6-8 times in about that same time period (Only place I'm still using old HDDs is for massive bulk storage).
I said limited erasures which is always true. And I meant this in the context of NWN which can be a lot of erasures. If you only play campaigns, can afford a larger SSD (so less rewrites per byte because there are more bytes), or upgrade hardware frequently anyway, that isn't going to be an issue.
What you say about HDDs is true too, but that's why I said to get one with good reviews. I've never had to replace one until the PC had met it's lifespan anyway, and it was time to upgrade. That doesn't mean I will never have earlier failure. I'm just saying they aren't so faulty that they aren't worth buying. And it doesn't sound like he's asking about RAID arrays which would be heavy use and more chance of failure.
Regardless, I totally agree with getting only SSD if you can afford the dollars per terabyte. And for AAA games I'd recommend them. But if you are mostly playing older games a secondary HDD is going to be just fine and you'll save money.
Just was trying to clarify that a normal user wouldn't hit that erasure limit in the lifespan of an SSD. Even video games with lots of repeated saving aren't going to push an SSD into the number of rewrites that should make you worry about the drive. Also not suggesting he use a RAID array, just providing context for why I still have a lot of hard drives around and have had to replace so many over the last 10 years.
Greetings all. My apologies for taking so long to respond. The workload at the distribution center where I work has spiked due to a 20% increase in sales because of the coronavirus. Needless to say, I've been one busy freight handler. Anyway, I am looking to get a pre-built desktop for gaming. As far as budget, I'm not looking to play any of the bleeding edge games. With my schedule, I currently have enough time for only a couple to play. So, I only need a rig that can run NWN:EE and WoW at maximum settings. I hope this sheds some light on exactly what type of computer I would need. I appreciate all the feedback that has come so far. Thank you for reading, and happy gaming to all.
first, WoW and NWN EE dont really require top of the line PCs even for max settings, so again, based on how much you want to spend here is what i would go for;
this first one, is cheap ( 800 CAD ) and can probably run WoW on max ( if not, at least on high for sure ) and basically anything on this list should be able to run NWN EE on max ( although sometimes this game does arbitrarily lag, even with my 5500$ PC ) the only real disadvantage with this PC is that its hard drive is only 500 GB ( apparently WoW takes up 70 ) so i dont know how fast you will be filling that up, but it is a SSD which is good
next, his one is 1000 CAD, if you want to spend a bit more to get a bit more omph, this im pretty sure can run WoW at max ( which by default means NWN will have no sweat ) and again comes with a 500 GB SSD
and this last one is 1600 CAD if you dont mind spending some cash, but will definitely be able to blow both games out of the water without even remotely struggling ( im assuming 1920x1080 RES as your setup, although this PC could probably run both games at 2560x1440 RES and still run like a top ) and it comes with a 1 TB SSD so that should be more than enough storage space, plus if you want to play any other new age games you should be able to for decent settings
now with that said, you don't necessarily have to purchase one of the above, but those specs of the above PCs will get you in that ball park of what your games will play like, so for example; if you can find a PC whos specs match the 1600 dollar one and find one similar for 1200 bucks, then i would get that one sort of thing
@sarevok57 Thanks for all the info. I will have to see what the prices on New Egg will be in USD, since I currently live in Florida. Thank you for reading, and happy gaming to all.
@sarevok57 Thanks for all the info. I will have to see what the prices on New Egg will be in USD, since I currently live in Florida. Thank you for reading, and happy gaming to all.
at the current rate for every CAD dollar only costs 73 cents USD
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I would also like to, hopefully, play new Beamdog-created adventures before WOTC gets a wild hair up its clean elven arse to pull the plug on new NWN:EE content. Thank you for reading, and happy gaming to all.
I personally just got an SSD for booting the operating system and other applications that are regularly used. I installed NWN and other games on my HDD. I'd recommend SSD if you only plan on one drive, but it will be pricier for more storage. For budget or lots of erasures, I'd recommend getting a low capacity SSD for the operating system and frequently used applications that need fast load times and an HDD too for everything else, especially data that changes a lot. Some users of NWN might do a lot of that (trying out betas, trying different servers, using the Workshop and Neverwintervault content a lot are examples of frequent changes that would use up those SSD limited erasures). If you get an HDD, get a good reliable one (check reviews) that is 7200 rpm.
if you don't need that much storage there was another one on newegg for around 85 bucks and it was 500 GB ( that one had a life of 1.75 million hours )
so when it comes to how long your drive is going to last you will not live long enough for either a hard disk or solid state to fail unless it was already a faulty drive to begin with
now when it comes to hard drives, usually people don't buy a HARD DRIVE unless they are using it for storage, aka; pictures, videos, documents, things that don't require speed to open or use
and then for other applications ( things that having more speed would be beneficial ) would use a solid state, aka; having your OS installed on it, games installed on it, programs installed on it, ect
it also depends on your budget and what type of gaming you want to be doing, because to be honest, the games that beamdog has produced dont require much intensive hardware, infact i would not be surprised if any PC you would buy from BestBuy worth 900 CAD could run any beamdog title perfectly fine
but if you want to do some more advanced PC game ( like modern AAA games ) or if you are doing some serious program editing stuff then you will need some more hardware
so the question is;
what is your budget,
what are you aiming to do with said PC, as in;
what is it mostly going to be used for; work, school, games, editing, streaming, a mix of things, ect
My recommendation is to not lollygag on that purchase.
While that is one of my favorite channels, and I watched LTT a ton while preparing for my computer build, I'd recommend listening to the opposite argument as well:
@Prince_Raymond You might also want to mention what else you want to use the computer for and whether you're looking for a laptop or desktop. If it's a desktop are you building it yourself or buying a prebuilt?
I said limited erasures which is always true. And I meant this in the context of NWN which can be a lot of erasures. If you only play campaigns, can afford a larger SSD (so less rewrites per byte because there are more bytes), or upgrade hardware frequently anyway, that isn't going to be an issue.
What you say about HDDs is true too, but that's why I said to get one with good reviews. I've never had to replace one until the PC had met it's lifespan anyway, and it was time to upgrade. That doesn't mean I will never have earlier failure. I'm just saying they aren't so faulty that they aren't worth buying. And it doesn't sound like he's asking about RAID arrays which would be heavy use and more chance of failure.
Regardless, I totally agree with getting only SSD if you can afford the dollars per terabyte. And for AAA games I'd recommend them. But if you are mostly playing older games a secondary HDD is going to be just fine and you'll save money.
Just was trying to clarify that a normal user wouldn't hit that erasure limit in the lifespan of an SSD. Even video games with lots of repeated saving aren't going to push an SSD into the number of rewrites that should make you worry about the drive. Also not suggesting he use a RAID array, just providing context for why I still have a lot of hard drives around and have had to replace so many over the last 10 years.
first, WoW and NWN EE dont really require top of the line PCs even for max settings, so again, based on how much you want to spend here is what i would go for;
this first one, is cheap ( 800 CAD ) and can probably run WoW on max ( if not, at least on high for sure ) and basically anything on this list should be able to run NWN EE on max ( although sometimes this game does arbitrarily lag, even with my 5500$ PC ) the only real disadvantage with this PC is that its hard drive is only 500 GB ( apparently WoW takes up 70 ) so i dont know how fast you will be filling that up, but it is a SSD which is good
https://www.newegg.ca/skytech-st-blaze-ii-0001-ne/p/N82E16883289036
next, his one is 1000 CAD, if you want to spend a bit more to get a bit more omph, this im pretty sure can run WoW at max ( which by default means NWN will have no sweat ) and again comes with a 500 GB SSD
https://www.newegg.ca/skytech-st-shadow-2600-500gs/p/N82E16883289034
and this last one is 1600 CAD if you dont mind spending some cash, but will definitely be able to blow both games out of the water without even remotely struggling ( im assuming 1920x1080 RES as your setup, although this PC could probably run both games at 2560x1440 RES and still run like a top ) and it comes with a 1 TB SSD so that should be more than enough storage space, plus if you want to play any other new age games you should be able to for decent settings
https://www.newegg.ca/abs-mage-m-ala147-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16883102831
now with that said, you don't necessarily have to purchase one of the above, but those specs of the above PCs will get you in that ball park of what your games will play like, so for example; if you can find a PC whos specs match the 1600 dollar one and find one similar for 1200 bucks, then i would get that one sort of thing
at the current rate for every CAD dollar only costs 73 cents USD
so they should be quite cheaper for you