Guild Wars 2

Ok – from the title you will note I am no computer expert. I am getting a new computer with an SSD and several comments have been made about an SSD decreasing load times. Do I install the entire game onto the SSD? Sorry for the basic question, but want to do it right the first time. Also, how much space does GW2 take? Can I put GW1 on the HDD to play for the few times I go back to see my old characters. Last question, any brands of SSD you all like. I have read that the Samsung 850 is good. Thanks in advance for taking time to help.

Yes, you just install the game on your SSD. It’s currently at about 20GB, so not small, but not huge, either (looking at you, Titanfall).
As for brands, my brother has three Samsung SSDs, I have a Kingston one, we are both happy with them. Make of that what you will; my personal impression is that Kingston generally is a kitteneaper, whereas the Samsung ones get better reviews (though not by much).

Edit: I think you don’t have to redownload the client, just copy the folder to wherever you want it, but I’m not 100% certain. Might also have been SWTOR.

Thank you for your response. I guess you cannot write a bit —- cheaper in the forums.

just move the gw2.exe and gw2.dat to a folder on your SSD and run the game. it doesnt need to be installed again. Or you can just copy the entire games folder to the SSD. just make sure the SSD is formatted with NTFS and not fat32.

Just to warn you before you get scammed. Do not buy the samsung 840 evo, 840

http://www.overclock.net/t/1507897/samsung-840-evo-read-speed-drops-on-old-written-data-in-the-drive

I wonder if any other kingston drives did a bait and switch yet.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7763/an-update-to-kingston-ssdnow-v300-a-switch-to-slower-micron-nand

I was looking at the Samsung 850 Pro — any bad reviews on that one. Thanks for the heads up.

loseridoit.2756:

Just to warn you before you get scammed. Do not buy the samsung 840 evo, 840

http://www.overclock.net/t/1507897/samsung-840-evo-read-speed-drops-on-old-written-data-in-the-drive

I wonder if any other kingston drives did a bait and switch yet.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7763/an-update-to-kingston-ssdnow-v300-a-switch-to-slower-micron-nand

840evo has firmware to fix that issue

v300 was a bait and switch, the 240G SSD v300 is worth about 80~ (not a buck more) as its still 1.5x faster then a traditional HDD.

Move the entire game’s folder to the SSD, not just those two files. The game is a bit more complicated now than it was in the past due to the Coherent UI interface.

Behellagh.1468:

Move the entire game’s folder to the SSD, not just those two files. The game is a bit more complicated now than it was in the past due to the Coherent UI interface.

If the other files are not detected when GW2.exe is ran then they are created before it loads the .dat file.

sirsquishy.8531:

loseridoit.2756:

Just to warn you before you get scammed. Do not buy the samsung 840 evo, 840

http://www.overclock.net/t/1507897/samsung-840-evo-read-speed-drops-on-old-written-data-in-the-drive

I wonder if any other kingston drives did a bait and switch yet.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7763/an-update-to-kingston-ssdnow-v300-a-switch-to-slower-micron-nand

840evo has firmware to fix that issue

v300 was a bait and switch, the 240G SSD v300 is worth about 80~ (not a buck more) as its still 1.5x faster then a traditional HDD.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/Samsung-840-EVO-Performance-Restoring-Firmware-Only-Partially-Effective

I do not think samsung can fix the fundemental nature of tlc drives and small process nodes with just firmware.

OP, I think 850 pro should be fine. Pro uses mlc instead of tlc cells.

The problem above does not appear on 840 pros. Like usual, the ssd is new and there is not that many real world numbers.

Also, do not buy a Pyro Patriot SSD.

I had one of those and it failed after 3 months on the dot. Computer recognized it, but drive path showed up as “unknown” instead of (C:/)

Also take note: never defrag an SSD.

SSD’s do cut down on load times, so enjoy!

It is important to have both your Windows system and client on SSD to speed up things. Your Internet connection will still be a part of how fast loading the client will work as some times it will need to update in between each time you restart it.

Don’t buy a too small SSD as you will need to have space for both Windows and GW 2 client and both are growing in size and you don’t want to have to little space for doing TRIM and other activities that both OS and other application use space on SSD to keep working.

GW1 Faction which I have on DVD from old days, is occupying around 6 GB of space as that is how much space DVD could storage.

Depending on price for SSD where you live, you should try to get something around 256 GB in space ( in reality you will have access to 238 GB for usage minus app. 20-30 GB that your should keep free for doing TRIM and that OS will need for different reason).

I would recommend Crucial MX100 as I have it myself.