SSD vs HDD: Does Storage Affect FPS & Stuttering?

Role of Storage in Modern Gaming Performance

As we know that, storage plays an important role in gaming. The games store their important data on the system and this role is always misunderstood. Usually as with the GPUs and CPUs are given the preference and the storage is neglected. This directly influences rendering and frame output very badly. Storage is basically the space but it also affects the data processing speed, the data loading speed, and the data assessing speed.

When we launch any game it loads new level and assigns a digital storage to that if it is an online game but if it is an offline game then chooses the memory from our system and it requires permission if you have given the permission for the first time when it was going to download and it is good thing.

But often it uses neglectable space which it gets by itself. And the storage device must be so powerful that it can read large amounts of data efficiently and quickly. SSDs especially NVMe drivers offer fast rendering and processing and assessing of data with read and write abilities. This reduces the load time and minimizes the bottlenecks. But it is very much clear that storage space does not increase or decrease FPS. It significantly impacts the game which impacts the FPS and smoothness.

How Game Engines Use Storage and Why Speed Matters

Game engines usually put files and pull files in the background. These files are such as like texts, fonts, textures, shades, audio assets, or something other. HDDs use spinning disks, which creates latency due to physical movement, slows the data retrieval process. SSDs are fully electric and can deliver data faster with a minimal delay and is more beneficial.

Feature	HDD	SATA SSD	NVMe SSD
Read/Write Speed	Slow	Fast	Very Fast
Load Times	Long	Short	Ultra Short
Game Stuttering	High	Low	Very Low
Durability	Mechanical Wear	No Moving Parts	No Moving Parts
Ideal For	Storage Only	Gaming + OS	High-End Gaming
Price Per GB	Low	Moderate	Higher

If we talk about the difference in theory, it becomes difficult to explain and asset heavy games where constant streaming occurs, constant response is demanded, these things become bit difficult to handle. If the storage device is not capable to deliver the asset at extremely high speed, the CPUs, GPUs will wait and it will create a lag and can create a visible stutters and can be screen tearing and many other problems. Fast storage ensures smooth gameplay and due to the smoother gameplay, the FPS will also rise.

Does an SSD Increase FPS? The Real Truth Explained

It is a common myth and misconception that SSDs or RDDs usually increase FPS, but the reality is that they do not have to do something with them. In reality, FPS is usually controlled by the CPU, GPU, processor, cooling devices, and also depends on many other factors. But do not impact or depend on SSDs or RDDs.

SSDs do not help in rendering or generating frame rates or improve refresh rates. They improve the gaming experience, the data given and taken, and depending on the speeds and other matters. Storage effects that how quickly the game receives and retrieves data. If it is at slow pace, the game will stutter frequency, assistancy, loading, and responsiveness.

Due to these problems, the FPS will drop. So directly, it has nothing to do with the FPS, but indirectly, we can say it also depends on FPS. SSDs enhance the performance in GTA Vice City, GTA V, Cyberpunk, Red Dead Redemption 2, where the streaming must be constant.

Open-World Games: Why They Benefit the Most From SSDs

Most of the high-level games rely on different things and these different things also includes the load times. Load time is one of the main reason why storage devices are also getting coverage time, also getting very fame, because when a game asks for the data, the storage device must process it very fastly otherwise the delay will cause the lag and stuttering.

Objects and terrains data as the player moves also rely on the storage devices. HDDs often cause the game engines to struggle and having a very good PC but low-end storage device can cause destruction because it will not load properly, the data will not be fulfilled which will cause input lag and the assets will not render or will be incomplete or blank like a blackish screen.

It will create a very bad impact. SSDs solve this by reading the data fastly ; electronically. They do not depend physically and can do the work easily and fastly. Games like Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed, Valhalla, and Elden Ring perform significantly and smoothly on a device using high-end and fast load time storage devices like SSDs not HHDs as comparedly. So most of the users prefer SSDs instead of HDDs.

Signs That Your HDD Is Causing Stuttering in Games

As we know that HDDs always not perform well because they depend on the physically retrieving of the data. But even if you are using a low-quality HDD, it makes the system worse. It can create several gameplay issues, continuous stuttering when entering new areas, loud clicking or spinning noises, delayed textures loading, freezing when accessing new menus, and long time taking to load screens are the common symptoms that your HDD is now failed and please update it as soon as possible, otherwise take rid of it.

HDDs also pause very often when they are saving process or saving the results, especially autosave games are very much disturbed with the help of this HDD. This HDD usually makes the system worsen and if our game constantly struggles with asset streaming and if the device drive usage spikes to 100% in the task manager, it is 100% possible that you have a very bad HDD, you should update it or change it as soon as possible.

• SSDs offer significantly faster read/write speeds.

• HDDs cause longer load times and frequent stuttering.

• SSDs improve texture streaming and reduce pop-ins.

• HDDs rely on mechanical movement, increasing latency.

• NVMe SSDs provide the highest speed for modern game engines.

• SSDs improve overall system responsiveness during gaming.

• HDDs often reach 100% usage, creating bottlenecks.

• SSDs future-proof your system for upcoming game titles.

Lastly,

At last, I would say that prefer SSD over HDD and if you are using the system which is having HDDs replace it as soon as possible and you can check the main reasons as explained in the blog. If you are going to build a new PC then please use SSDs as it is using electronic methodology it will not create the noise. As the HDD is physically rotated so SSD is not making any rotation or any other. It will not make noise it will not produce heat and it is very good fast processing device so must use SSDs.