Use of SSD with mod organisers

[spontaneite]

Advice on SSD interaction with virtual file systems please.

 

So I've always had Skyrim installed on my SSD. Unmodded, it performs as expected, with exceptionally fast load times. Modded, it often takes up to a minute to start up and all of the load screens are kind of immense. I'm not asking for help with that - it's my choice to mod Skyrim as heavily as I do.

 

What I'd like opinions on is if there's any point actually having it on my SSD. I use Mod Manager at present, which naturally organises everything through virtual file systems. I don't have enough room on my SSD so MO and my mods are not on the SSD in the first place - does going through a virtual file system on a separate drive invalidate the SSD's speed?

 

Do I actually get any benefit to having Skyrim itself on the SSD, at this point? Would it load more slowly were I to move it?

[Purr4me]

Advice on SSD interaction with virtual file systems please.

 

So I've always had Skyrim installed on my SSD. Unmodded, it performs as expected, with exceptionally fast load times. Modded, it often takes up to a minute to start up and all of the load screens are kind of immense. I'm not asking for help with that - it's my choice to mod Skyrim as heavily as I do.

 

What I'd like opinions on is if there's any point actually having it on my SSD. I use Mod Manager at present, which naturally organises everything through virtual file systems. I don't have enough room on my SSD so MO and my mods are not on the SSD in the first place - does going through a virtual file system on a separate drive invalidate the SSD's speed?

 

Do I actually get any benefit to having Skyrim itself on the SSD, at this point? Would it load more slowly were I to move it?

Options ?

What I can tell you about integrated circuits like that of an SSD..IS, I use a chip, for a cell phone extension in a usb card as a storage drive to contain all of my tools used in gaming.

 

I use an extended USB WD Passport Ultra as a game drive, al downloads are sent to that drive and this drive along with the SSD flash / cell extended drive card are fool proof.

 

Load times are..for me.. the same, UN-modifid or modded.

 

Screen resolutions there might be an incorrect / out of bounds fight between the games raw settings and the hardware it's self, thus sets up a processing conflict...can be, may not be.

 

But, if your cross compiling the data and the thru put is not all the same...that will cause strange things to happen.

 

NOTE: these 2 devices i use are for the purpose of consistency.

 

The speed losses between the USB interfaces are given at a set value, hence I have no issues.

If I change things too much in the mods or game code to go over the limits of the graphics card / force it..then the consistency changes for the worse.

 

The main drive is currently here a WD Scorpio Black laptop drive, but the data flow remains the same no matter what PC is loaded or what OS is loading the data.

 

Not sure if this helps you figure out the choices for you.

 

Kitty

 

[iXenite]

You should be able to set the downloads folder (if you're suing Mod Organizer) to use your HDD rather than take space up from your SSD. If your SSD is packed with files it will be slower than if it were less bogged down. I currently use an M.2 SSD for my entire Skyrim installation and mods, and I do notice a difference in load times in comparison to when I used an older HDD. However, it should also be noted that Skyrim in general will be slower the more mods you put in it. The load times will always increase the more mods you have, it's not something you can avoid. You can shorten that time by using an SSD, but it will not load as fast as a Vanilla Skyrim. It's the nature of the beast. You do want all of your other Mod Organizer files on the same drive as Skyrim though, otherwise you will lose any benefit the SSD has over an HDD in speed. Hopefully all of this makes sense.

[spontaneite]

@Purr4me: thank you for the reply.

 

@DaddyDirection: Thank you, that was what I was wanting to know. My MO files are on the same drive I keep the mods on - so, separate drive to Skyrim installation/SSD. I'll be rejigging my MO installation shortly, hopefully I'll see an improvement in some area of performance.