SSD vs HDD vs NVMe Storage Tier Picker

Exact boot drive, game drive, and mass storage combo with load times and total cost shown. Designed for this hyper specific issue that plagues PC users, especially gamers and those who need hyper efficient machines.

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• Great for gamers looking to maximize PC potential by ensuring perfect storage hierarchy.
• Also an essential tool for anyone needing high efficiency out of their PC.
• Mostly catered to those gamers who have huge expanding game libraries, whether they keep them all downloaded or not, this tool will construct the perfect storage system.

We catered this towards gaming and include the most effective variables for this problem such as the size of your game library, storage preferences, and storage that is required. This is more than enough information for our tool and logic to recommend the perfect storage hierarchy for your use case.

Here is a sample output for somebody looking for 4TB of storgae, has a massive steam library, and chose fast SSD boot drive speed.

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Recommended Storage Hierarchy

1. Boot Drive

Model: Samsung 970 EVO Plus
Size: 1 TB (NVMe SSD)
Type: Fast NVMe SSD

• Usable Space: ~931 GB (formatted)
• Estimated Cost: $90
• Load Time: Boot time typically under 10 seconds
• Notes: Ideal for OS and frequently-used applications, offering top-tier performance.

2. Game Drive

Model: Crucial MX500
Size: 4 TB (SATA SSD)
Type: Fast SATA SSD

• Usable Space: ~3.64 TB (formatted)
• Estimated Cost: $350
• Load Time: Game load times significantly reduced (20-50% faster than HDD)
• Notes: Perfect for a massive Steam library, ensuring quick access and reduced loading times.

3. Mass Storage

Model: Seagate IronWolf 10 TB (HDD)
Size: 10 TB

• Usable Space: ~9.1 TB (formatted)
• Estimated Cost: $250
• Load Time: Slower than SSDs, typically 100-200 MB/s read/write speeds
• Notes: Best for backups, media storage, and less frequently accessed files.

Total Storage Summary

• Total Usable Space: 14.7 TB
  • (1 TB Boot Drive + 4 TB Game Drive + 10 TB Mass Storage)

Total Cost

• Total Estimated Cost: $690
  • (Boot Drive: $90 + Game Drive: $350 + Mass Storage: $250)

Performance Comparison

• Boot Drive Load Time: ~10 seconds
• Game Drive Load Time: 20-50% faster than HDDs
• Mass Storage Load Time: Slower, suitable for archiving

This hierarchy provides a balanced approach, offering speed for your operating system and games while maintaining ample space for mass storage needs.

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The Tool Collective team are a group tech gearheads at heart and we all game heavily and understand the importance of proper storage of your game files not only for organization, but many people don't realize how important it is for you PC's performance as well. So, we made this tool to help gamers like us ensure their PC storage is perfectly optimized.

Made with The Tool Collectives signature model. We layout all factors required to make the best possible decision for this particular question and construct the inputs and choices accordingly. We then build a custom system prompt that incorporates logic if needed and clear output criteria. We then use an AI engine to power the tool, resulting in expert human crafted responses, designed by real enthusiasts.

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