For moderator: Due to no reaction from Turbine Support to my request to move
original thread from General Discussion forum to this one I have created new thread. If you don't want cloned threads, please delete the one from General Discussion forum and keep this one.
Hard Drive Comparison
There are a lot o myths around about hard drives and how they are affecting gameplay, loading times and framerate, so I decided to make some measurements to find out how important it is to have fast drive in LOTRO. Benchmarks contain performance and loading times measurements on SSD, HDD, and while playing on client launched directly from my Pendrive, via both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0.
For detailed analysis on game performance and performance guide visit
Performance Guide and Stuttering Analysis
For detailed description on what each graphics setting does visually, visit my
Graphics Settings Breakdown.
Basic computer Specs:
CPU: Intel i3-4150 3.50 Ghz 3.50 Ghz
GPU: Asus Radeon R9 270x 2GB DDR5 (256 bit)
RAM: HyperX 2x4GB 1600MHz DDR3
System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (installed on SSD disk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD3
Hard drives used:
SSD: Crucial MX100 256GB SATA3 2.5" 550/330 MB/s 7mm (CT256MX100SSD1)
HDD: Seagate 1TB, SATAIII, 7200RPM, 64MB cache (ST1000DM003)
Pendrive: Kingston 32GB USB 3.0 DataTraveler G4 - (DTIG4/32GB)
Graphics settings:
DX 11, 1920x1080, 60 Hz, Ultra High, AA x8
Used programs:
AS SSD Benchmark
HD Tune
Fraps
Measurements from AS SSD Benchmark of Read and Write rates
|
SSD |
HDD |
USB 3.0 |
USB 2.0 |
Write[MB/s] |
329,43 |
140,63 |
68,34 |
39,35 |
Read[MB/s] |
508,87 |
207,90 |
149,26 |
42,34 |
As you can see, differences between them are very noticeable.
Measurements from HD Tune for Average Transfer and Average Access Time:
|
SSD |
HDD |
USB 3.0 |
USB 2.0 |
Average Transfer[MB/s] |
300 |
168 |
115 |
42 |
Average Access Time[ms] |
0.1 |
15.7 |
0.5 |
0.2 |
As you can see, differences between Average Transfer rates are very noticeable. But what is the most noticeable its a great difference in Average Access Time rates between HDD and the rest of hard drives. Average Access Time of HDD disk is 79 times longer than time of Pendrive via USB 2.0, 31 times longer than via USB 3.0, and 157 times longer than access time of SSD. What is also interesting, access time of USB 3.0 is longer than of USB 2.0, while all previous rates are better for USB 3.0 option quite decisively.
Measurements of loading times for SSD, HDD, USB 3.0 and 2.0:
Launcher Load Time - from clicking on Lord of the Rings Online icon to pressing Start Button in Launcher(entering password doesn't count)
Character Screen Load Time - from pressing Start Button in launcher to Character Screen appearance(everything skipped on the way)
Game World Load Time - from pressing Enter Middle-Earth Button to entering game world(moment when everything around me is fully loaded and FPS stabilized)
|
SSD |
HDD |
USB 3.0 |
USB 2.0 |
Launcher Load Time[s] |
20.6 |
34 |
43.3 |
59.5 |
Character Screen Load Time[s] |
19.6 |
30.7 |
24.1 |
24.9 |
Game World Load Time[s] |
30.7 |
71.1 |
33.2 |
32.5 |
As you can see, SSD disk is the fastest in every single measurement. What is very noticeable here is that Pendrive via both USB 3.0 and 2.0 has a very bad Launcher Load Times. For USB 3.0 you need to wait 2 times longer than on SSD, and almost 3 times longer if you are using USB 2.0 option. But everything changes with Character Screen Load Times. SSD is again the fastest, but you need to wait only 5 seconds longer with USB 3.0 and 2.0 options. You can also see that USB options have almost the same loading time of Character Screen. HDD is the slowest one in this measurement, and you need to wait 10 seconds longer than on SSD, and 5-6 seconds longer than on USB options. But the most decisive difference in those measurements are Game World Loading Times, where HDD disk is over 2 times slower than all other options. What is also worth seeing, USB options are almost as fast as much more expensive SSD disk.
However, you can disable launcher loading screens. Simply right click on
lotro_ad_pregame file in
Program Files\Turbine\The Lord of the Rings Online\raw\en\logo, click
Get Info and check
Locked to make it read-only. From now your launcher is not going to download en, de and fr loading screens every time. It reduces Launcher Load Time significantly and makes differences between SSD and USB option less noticeable:
|
SSD |
HDD |
USB 3.0 |
USB 2.0 |
Launcher Load Time[s] |
9.96 |
12.10 |
14.31 |
22.45 |
Launcher Load Time is reduces twice for SSD and thrice for other options. Now even on USB 2.0 launcher is loading quickly which decreases disadvantage of very long Launcher Load Time for this option.
Performance and stuttering:
For detailed analysis on this matter visit
Performance Guide and Stuttering Analysis. There you will see that stuttering frequency is over 3 times higher on HDD than on SSD.
Conclusion
As you can see, differences are quite substantial. While launcher loading time and character panel loading time may not be that important, because you are loading it once, game world loading times and stuttering frequency are very important things to consider. Three times reduced stuttering frequency on an SSD is a true game changer, and loading times affecting everything, whether your relog, use swift travel or enter the instance, you will be doing that 2 times longer on HDD than on SSD and Pendrive.
Recommendations
If you have some money to spend and for some reason you don't have SSD yet, buy it and setup your system on it. HDDs are slow and very loud, while SSDs are very fast and are not making any noises. Going from HDD to SSD is the one if the biggest upgrades you can make to your machine. Especially for LOTRO that is hugely benefiting from faster drives.
If you are not willing to spend on an SSD or your machine is not compatible, Pendrive is fast, easy and cheap solution. It is almost as fast as SSD with loading times, doesn't require any knowledge, and you can take your game anywhere with you.
Running LOTRO on HDD is not recommended because of much higher stuttering frequency. You can have the fastest CPU and GPU on the market but if you run LOTRO on HDD, you will be getting much more stuttering than on an SSD.