So. I’ve seen ALOT of posts regarding SSD’s lately. Here’s a short breakdown as to WHY you should have a SSD other than YoU doNT HaS SdD?
Load time - Average OS load time
SSD 10-13 Seconds
HDD 30-40 Seconds
Power Usage -
SSD 2-3 watts (average of 30 mins extra battery life on a laptop)
HDD 6-7 watts
Read/Write Speed
SSD 200-550 MBs (higher with m.2 formfactor)
HDD 50-120 MBs
SSD’s aren’t affected by magnets 
SSD’s are generally MUCH smaller and lighter weight
Prices for an average SSD have dropped dramatically you can find 500GB 2.5in (edited for correct size) SSDs for around 50 bucks (less if you look around).
Yes Shadowlands will run on an HDD, but load times will eventually drive you mad enough to buy an SSD anyhow, so why not just upgrade now Hope this helps!
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Good post!
For those angry or worried over nothing: Overall, SL will be no more demanding than Legion.
It only recommends an RTX card for the shadows, which you can turn off. If you could handle Dalaran’s load times or played computer games before the year 2000, you’ll be fine sticking with an hdd.
Definitely upgrade when able, though. It’s not that expensive anymore.
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Even the whole “recommended RTX” thing is marketing. My GTX card outperforms most RTX cards. It goes neck/neck with the 2070 in many games.
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I’d also like to add that in a desktop PC you can have multiple internal drives in a single system, so if your on a desktop and you don’t want to mess with reinstalling windows or cloning your current drive then you can just plug an SSD into a different SATA port and use both drives. If you go that route instalation is VERY simple, just turn the PC off, mount the SSD, plug it in, turn the PC back on, and then use Disk Management to format the new drive.
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Dropping your laptop with a HDD will also be a ticket to HD failure, if not immediately, then very soon. SSD are far more sturdy. They won’t like it either… but it’s not 100% doom.
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1080 I presume?
Though, It’s only recommended for the RTX shadows, I’m sure. Otherwise the game runs just as well as Legion or BFA.
Would it honestly matter if the SSD was external or internal? Just checking since I was already looking in to getting one prior to the Shadowlands requirement.
HDD=20 sec loading screen. SDD=3-4 sec
The wiring matters. If it has to go through USB vs… whatever the internal connection is, it’ll slow it down.
I am only 40% techy… Know stuff, not terms. XD
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Not by itself, no. Depends more on storage capacity and the individual ssd than if its internal or not.
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I still don’t get the people being upset over this anyways. The game is going to get more demanding on machines as time goes on, as improvements means more taxing on resources…and much like how a flip phone cannot run current day games, a computer from those days won’t really run WoW soon
Samsung has some good ones.
If you don’t need the portability, I would definitely recommend internals just because they’re dirt simple to install and generally are better quality.
Whatever you look at, research it.
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Yep, 1080. My son has a 2070 and there are a couple games his performs about 10 fps better but most games, mine performs about 10 fps better. If he had a 2080, I’m sure his would beat mine on everything.
2070s is incredible value as opposed to the 1080 though, probably the best value mid range card for years. Better driver support as well, I’d imagine. Still cant deny that they are both insane cards.
I can’t use a floppy disc to store my addons!? I’m going to get the typewriter out to tell Blizzard what’s what, my courier will deliver it by wagon in ten years!
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I’m not super familiar with computer stuff, will having super high RAM and good graphics card make up for having a HDD? By shadowlands ill have 64GB RAM.
I was told RAM was directly related to the speed my computer would be able to perform tasks. Which is why I invested in lots of it.
Not sure if 147 gbs of free space in my ssd would be enough for wow.
This is about loading the game data. 64 gb will not help with games. That amount of ram is for editing 4K video or maybe compiling code.