The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Does Hard Drive Speed Affect Game Performance?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Stevo790, Aug 4, 2007.

  1. Stevo790

    Stevo790 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hey,

    I was wondering if the hard drive speed (e.g 5400 RPM, 7200 RPM) has any effect on in-game performance and frame rate stability? Or is it just how fast games and apps load?

    Thanks,

    Steve :)
     
    Stevo790, Aug 4, 2007
    #1
  2. Sleepy_Sentry

    Sleepy_Sentry Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    8
    Messages:
    42
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    As far as I know, it just affects how fast games and maps load. It probably has a minor impact on frame rate.

    However, if you max a laptop out with the best video card, CPU, and memory, than it would be wise to get a 7200 RPM hard drive also. Otherwise the 5400 RPM drive would be a huge bottleneck.
     
    Sleepy_Sentry, Aug 4, 2007
    #2
  3. jetstar

    jetstar Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,095
    Messages:
    7,034
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    No, hard drive speed does not govern in-game performance. This is governed principally by the graphics card and the amount of RAM.

    And, as you rightly mention, a faster hard drive results in Windows booting up faster and software applications loading quicker.
     
    jetstar, Aug 4, 2007
    #3