SSD v. HDD in PS3 for Gran Turismo 5 - A Comprehensive Look
- Thread starter padadiso
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- 2,567
- Upstate NY
- BWX232
Since larger capacity HDDs are faster than smaller ones of the same type because of denser platters.. or higher "areal densities", I wonder what the difference would be compared to a 360 GB or larger 7200rpm drive?
If I upgrade from my 120GB slim I think I'll still get a 7200 rpm 500GB or larger drive just because of the price/performance ratio advantage over a SSD. Even though the SSD might have higher overall performance, the difference would still be less than the above test.
If I upgrade from my 120GB slim I think I'll still get a 7200 rpm 500GB or larger drive just because of the price/performance ratio advantage over a SSD. Even though the SSD might have higher overall performance, the difference would still be less than the above test.
Wow! Lots of responses in the past week (I was busy with finals). And haha Jumpace, nice catch (I've changed it back to HDD).
There seem to be 3 main questions, two of which are easily answered:
1.) Can you save your data when switching hard drives? You can transfer your save data, but you need to do a "complete" restore with an external hard drive. You cannot simply transfer it to a flash drive.
2.) Faster SSDs are out there-- why Kingston? Actually, because the PS3 uses a SATA1 port for the drives, the increased speed of the other drives would theoretically make no difference. It's maxed out at 150 MB/s.
3.) TRIM. I'm not sure about this. I know it'll slow the drive down, but I doubt by THAT much. Kingston's read and write speeds are 200 MB/s and 160 MB/s, respectively. I'll research this more though and get back to you all.
There seem to be 3 main questions, two of which are easily answered:
1.) Can you save your data when switching hard drives? You can transfer your save data, but you need to do a "complete" restore with an external hard drive. You cannot simply transfer it to a flash drive.
2.) Faster SSDs are out there-- why Kingston? Actually, because the PS3 uses a SATA1 port for the drives, the increased speed of the other drives would theoretically make no difference. It's maxed out at 150 MB/s.
3.) TRIM. I'm not sure about this. I know it'll slow the drive down, but I doubt by THAT much. Kingston's read and write speeds are 200 MB/s and 160 MB/s, respectively. I'll research this more though and get back to you all.
- 2,567
- Upstate NY
- BWX232
Well I ordered this yesterday:
Western Digital Scorpio Black WD5000BEKT 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136692
I hope I can get all the stuff on my PS3 backed up.... Formatting a large HD into FAT32 for the backup seems like it will be the biggest issue. Crossing fingers...
Western Digital Scorpio Black WD5000BEKT 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136692
I hope I can get all the stuff on my PS3 backed up.... Formatting a large HD into FAT32 for the backup seems like it will be the biggest issue. Crossing fingers...
Good luck! Also, use a program to format your external hard drive to FAT32. Windows takes FOREVER and, on top of that, won't format more than 32GB. I used: http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm
It took a few seconds.
It took a few seconds.
- 891
- Revelation1115
- 21
Just put in a 60gig OCZ Vertex SSD drive, super easy. Althought I did get a format error that required me to first download an update onto a pen drive inorder to get everything working again.
Theoretically, the read access speed shouldn't be hindered, given that SATA 1.5 speeds are 1.5 GB/s. Unfortunately this is the real world, and SATA 1.5's read and write speeds max out at 130-140 MB/s.
The C300 may show improvement with regards to write speeds (Kingston's SSD is ~110MB/s), but that'll be it; considering write speeds are not nearly as important in this case, I chose the cheaper route.
- 40,899
Just figured that I would mention that my new hard drive for my PS3 actually manages to narrow the gap even further (by a few seconds on average) between what my load times are and the ones in the OP. It is also pretty cheap, so I would recommend it.
- 2,567
- Upstate NY
- BWX232
I think I'd beat some of those test results with my new 500GB 7200rpm HD, not sure.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136692 ...but my PS3 does just about everything faster than it did with even the 120GB 5200rpm HD that came in it.
- 295
- WebWolf
It won't be faster than a SSD. The problem with the HDD Disk is that the more rpm it has the warmer they get.
And there is not much cooling space in your PS3.
But it is faster than what is originally in the PS3 mainly due to the increased RPM but also better acces time to your data with the new HD of your's.
But the leader will be the SSD Disk.
Just wondering if the price Tag makes the speed incrase ok?
I'm not using 32 or 64 Gb SSD in my PS3 only for GT5
I want at least 250Gb and the price tag of a SSD is than higher than the whole PS3, haha.
No Go for me there
- 295
- WebWolf
I changed in my first PS3 the 40GB immidiatly to a 250Gb 7200rpm so I never had a chance to compare.
What is the speed increase you notice? also the loading times.
I think that it has to do with the maximum of data stream the PS3 can handle.
a SSD can send way more data than the PS3 can handle due to the Sata limitation.
Maybe the SSD and the 7200 rpm HDD are at the max what the PS3 can handle.
Just good to know it doesn't pay of to invest in a expensive SSD.
Thanx
What is the speed increase you notice? also the loading times.
I think that it has to do with the maximum of data stream the PS3 can handle.
a SSD can send way more data than the PS3 can handle due to the Sata limitation.
Maybe the SSD and the 7200 rpm HDD are at the max what the PS3 can handle.
Just good to know it doesn't pay of to invest in a expensive SSD.
Thanx
Last edited:
Bit of a late reply, but I do have an SSD in my PS3, I know the PS3 is only Sata II compatible, but I have installed a 60gb SSD 3, which I had laying around spare.
For GT5, the only game I actually play - it is awesome.
I have the signature edition, as I am a big fan. To do the initial GT5 install it took around 3 minutes. I then ran all the updates, the updates took a while to download, but it installed them in literally seconds.
I have NEVER waited more than 5 seconds for a race to load and be ready to go, since the upgrade.
Luckily I have never claimed my chromeline or stealth cars, so starting fresh wasnt such a bad thing!
(on a side note, I did notice DLC codes expire 31/Dec/2011)
For GT5, the only game I actually play - it is awesome.
I have the signature edition, as I am a big fan. To do the initial GT5 install it took around 3 minutes. I then ran all the updates, the updates took a while to download, but it installed them in literally seconds.
I have NEVER waited more than 5 seconds for a race to load and be ready to go, since the upgrade.
Luckily I have never claimed my chromeline or stealth cars, so starting fresh wasnt such a bad thing!
(on a side note, I did notice DLC codes expire 31/Dec/2011)
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