Does an SSD Improve Game Performance or FPS?

You may have this question before purchasing this type of new hard drive. In this post, I’ll explain what the SSD is, whether it improves game performance, and how to replace your old hard drive with a new SSD.

Does an SSD make my games run better?

“Recently, SSDs are on sale and I’m dithering whether I should get one to replace the old hard drive that’s almost full for my PC. I’m a video game lover and really want to know whether an SSD makes my game look better by improving its performance and FPS.”

Overview of the SSD – does an SSD improve game performance?

SSD, short for Solid State Drive, is a new type of storage device similar to the earlier HDD. It uses non-volatile memory chips to help retain your information even if there’s no power. Compared with the traditional HHD, SSD has no moving part and thus it is quieter and more damage-resistant. Additionally, SSD provides faster data access and less power usage. 

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Many people ask “does an SSD improve game performance?” The answer is yes, due to faster data access, an SSD makes your video games load faster and suffer from less micro-stuttering. However, although an SSD brings much game performance improvement, FPS – frame rates – is not included. To boot up FPS, usually you have to upgrade your GPU and CPU to higher-end ones. 

How to replace an old HDD with a new SSD without data loss for free?

As the SSD comes with many advantages over the HDD, many PC users plan on replacing their old HDD with a new SSD. The disks replacement process isn’t quite difficult as you only need to unplug and plug disks. However, in this way, you have to reinstall all apps and software as they won’t go to the new SSD automatically. It’s a headache. Luckily, this time, the most powerful free third-party partition software – AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard – will be introduced to help with disk cloning. It enables users to copy everything from one hard disk to another no matter whether they’re HDDs or SSDs. 

Download the full-featured disk manager for HDD to SSD replacement.

Preparation before the disk clone

1) If the target SSD is new, please initialize it first; if it contains any important files, remember to back it up as, during the disk clone, all data will be overwritten and get lost.

2) Connect both the old HDD and the new SSD to your Windows PC and make sure they’re recognized.

3) Make sure the SSD has enough space to contain all data from the HDD.

4) Download the AOMEI product and then, install it.

Step 1. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard and when it’s fully loaded, go to “All Tools > Disk Clone Wizard”.

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Step 2. In the following window, select a disk clone method between “Clone Disk Quickly” and “Sector-by-Sector Clone”. Here, “Clone Disk Quickly” is a better option as it allows you to clone a hard disk to another smaller one and it’s faster as well.

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Clone Disk Quickly: You can clone only used space to another disk and adjust the size of partitions.

Sector-by-Sector Clone: You’ll clone all sectors to another disk, whether used or not.

Step 3. Select the HDD as the source disk and click on “Next”.

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Step 4. Select the destination SSD you’ve prepared. Meanwhile, tick of the option “Optimize the performance of SSD” so your SSD will run better. Click on “Next” to proceed.

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Step 5. Now, you’ll be asked to choose one clone option from the 3. Just choose any of them. Then, still hit “Next”.

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Step 6. After returning to the home interface. Hit “Apply > Proceed” as the screenshot shows.

To boot from the new SSD after the disk clone, you must change the boot order first from BIOS.

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Other ways to improve game performance 

If your games are laggy and sluggish when playing, there’re some other practical ways you can try to make the gameplay smoother. Here, I listed the top 3 ways for game optimization on Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7.

Clear cache and cookie files from the C drive

Disk Cleanup is a convenient and easy-to-handle disk cleaner by Microsoft. With it, you can delete any unwanted files including cookies and cache from any drives. When the C drive – the system drive – is full, the performance of your PC will be badly downgraded, which also affects your gameplay experience. Learning to clean junk files is the first step to making your games run smoother.

1. In the search box at the lower left of the desktop, type “disk cleanup” and select the result.

2. Select the C drive and hit “OK”.

3. Tick off the files you no longer need and click on “OK” again.

4. You’ll be asked to confirm the operation. Just confirm it to let the operation start.

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Move your games to the SSD

As an SSD always provides better overall performance for your PC, putting your video games on the SSD can also make the gameplay look better. By upgrading AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to the Professional edition, you can use the app mover to transfer any software including video games, Microsoft, and OneDrive from one partition to another without data loss.

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Conclusion

“Does an SSD improve game performance?” This is what video game fans keep asking. So, in this post, the most accurate answer is given, and meanwhile, the best way to replace an HDD with an SSD without data loss is introduced. Besides disk clone, this software also allows you to repair partition table and schedule defrag your partitions.

Salman Mustafa
Salman Mustafa

Hey! A big gamer at heart and one of the founding members behind this site. I've combined my passion for gaming and my love of design to bring you the best in gaming news, builds, and advice. When I'm not gaming or working on cool new designs, I'm always on the lookout for the latest tech updates. Join me as we explore the world of gaming and build the ultimate gaming rigs or explore indie games together!
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