Aces High and the Hard Drive

[Chalenge]

Been asking that for awhile BoilerDown. Specifically a CD-ROM/DVD solution for other reasons but it would accomplish the same thing.

[killrDan]

I'm not a computer guru but I did build a relatively decent gaming PC and installed AH on the SSD.  No problems for a year.  Then I decided to install a cheap WD 2TB HDD for some data storage.  I recalled reading this thread so I installed AH on the HDD and had problems with frequent micro stutters.  It happened almost every time I pulled the trigger which was quite frustrating.  I ended up re-installing AH on my SSD and the problem went away.  I guess if it means my SSD is sacrificial and I'll have to replace my SSD every year and a half or two years, I'll just do it.  Considering the short lifecycle of PCs in general it will probably be due for an upgrade anyway.

[save]

If you want to give up features, no problem.  I suppose the game does not need to know what the last field you launched from was.  You could tower back to the same field every time.  Why would plane loadouts need to be remembered?  Just go back to the tower and configure the loadout every time.  Get rid of the rearm pad as well.  No need for it.  Probably pretty silly that each plane is allowed its own views configuration and allowing it to be changed whenever you want.

Given that you do not run recording of in-game AH, how many writes does AH do per minute/second/hour ?

[guncrasher]

I'm not a computer guru but I did build a relatively decent gaming PC and installed AH on the SSD.  No problems for a year.  Then I decided to install a cheap WD 2TB HDD for some data storage.  I recalled reading this thread so I installed AH on the HDD and had problems with frequent micro stutters.  It happened almost every time I pulled the trigger which was quite frustrating.  I ended up re-installing AH on my SSD and the problem went away.  I guess if it means my SSD is sacrificial and I'll have to replace my SSD every year and a half or two years, I'll just do it.  Considering the short lifecycle of PCs in general it will probably be due for an upgrade anyway.

out of curiosity and since the old thread you replied to doesnt probably apply anymore.  what are your system specs? what is your cpu/mobo, etc.

semp

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Modern SSDs are rated for 10GB a day writes for the duration of garantee (5 years) so even if AH would do microwrites that would 'eat' a 4kb block every time that's a lot of writes to do per day in order to reach the rated level.

[Skuzzy]

Given that you do not run recording of in-game AH, how many writes does AH do per minute/second/hour ?

That is going to vary, depending on the game configuration and how often you launch a sortie.

[artik]

That is going to vary, depending on the game configuration and how often you launch a sortie.

Skuzzy, I think that even if you record a session and safe 10-20 small files on land/takeoff or config update it should be quite negligible. Far less than saving a document during work or 101 other daily stuff we use with a computer.

[killrDan]

out of curiosity and since the old thread you replied to doesnt probably apply anymore.  what are your system specs? what is your cpu/mobo, etc.

semp

Actually I've been running AH on that SSD a lot longer than I thought...time flies!

ASUS P8Z68-V Pro Gen III Mobo with water cooling in case I ever want to overclock

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 7/2/2014, 17:39:26
       Machine name: xxx
   Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.140303-2144)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 02/05/10 19:13:52 Ver: 08.00.10
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
             Memory: 16384MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 16360MB RAM
          Page File: 2184MB used, 30531MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 64bit Unicode

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Display Devices
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       Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
          Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x6738)
           DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_6738&SUBSYS_31081682&REV_00
     Display Memory: 1759 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 2027 MB
      Shared Memory: 3827 MB
       Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
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         Monitor Id: PHL0000
        Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (60.000Hz)
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Driver File Version: 8.17.0010.1280 (English)
     Driver Version: 14.100.0.0
        DDI Version: 11
       Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
  Driver Attributes: Final Retail
   Driver Date/Size: 4/17/2014 21:42:54, 1343272 bytes
        WHQL Logo'd: Yes
    WHQL Date Stamp:
  Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives
------------------------
      Drive: C:
 Free Space: 42.1 GB
Total Space: 114.4 GB
File System: NTFS
      Model: Corsair Force GT ATA Device

      Drive: D:
 Free Space: 1817.2 GB
Total Space: 1907.6 GB
File System: NTFS
      Model: WDC WD20EZRX-00D8PB0 ATA Device

      Drive: E:
      Model: ASUS DRW-24B1ST   c ATA Device
     Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7601.17514 (English), 11/20/2010 22:23:47, 147456 bytes

[TequilaChaser]

I am only coming up on 6 months for my Crucial m4 128 Gig SSD

its rated endurance is 72 TB over 5 years  which equals  40 GBs a day for 5 years....... since the firmware rev 9 update its performance has increased a good bit with Crucial claiming seq Read @ 500MB/s ( mine is around 526 MB/s ) and seq Write @ 175 MB/s ( mine is around 248 MB/s )  on my AMD Phenom II 975 x4  build.....  with AH installed on the SSD

I have (2) of these same SSD's in RAID 0  on my i7-2600K  but I have not bothered to run any indepth tests in this raid setup.......... I did run them when it was just a single SSD, and got close to the same as with my AMD......

using Windows 7 64 bit, it has  GC ( Garbage Collection), Trim & SMART  abilities............ and I have not experienced any slow down as of yet...... ( I play more steadily on the Intel PC than I have on the AMD since July......  

now, I do recommend people doing a reboot more frequently than you might when using a old platter/disc  type  Hard Drive......

I currently have my AMD hooked into my 4 way KV switch with my old work PC and 2 other pc's all sharing same keyboard/mouse/monitor/speakers via USB/DVI  hookup cables...... )....  

will let y'all know in another 6 months or so how things are going....... if interested.....

edit:  I also must note that I do not play Aces high as FREQUENT as I used to do......... and for the majority of people I would probably suggest they install AH on a secondary data drive,  let their SSD be used as a booster for it....

TC   ( btw - I was aware that running AH on my SSD wouldput more wear / use on it faster, it was the 40 GB a day for 5 years endurance claim by Crucial that let me go ahead and decide to install Aces High on the SSD )

just an update, although a lot longer than 6 months or a year since my above post, in which I built that PC in like between April & June of 2011....

Still not one single problem and using Adia64Extreme and testing, the Crucial SSD is still operating at near 99.4% efficiency....... and I record and save every single log-in and flight , etc and save them on the SSD, until I reach between 150 to 200 films, then I archive/move them to my hitachi 1 TB data storage drive.....

since I built the above AMD and then my Intel i7-2600k system around August of 2011........... I have not lost any SSD's ( I bought 4 of them ) nor any of my hitachi HDD's have failed on any system going back to the late 90's when I started using them

In the last 2 to 2 1/2 yrs , I have lost 1 WD 450 GB Raptor,  3 WD Black 250 GB, 320,GB, 1TB  drives,  2 320 GB Seagate drives ..... and 2 of the last PC Power & Cooling PSU's I bought have failed  ( the other 3 older ones are still kicking tail )..... none of the lost parts had even reached 4 yrs old yet......edit: and none of these parts were on or used on either of my 2 main PC's the AMD 975 quadcore or the Intel i7-2600k ... They were used on other computers, like for Family and friends or work computer, etc....

I did think I had lost the main primary most used Crucial SSD on my Intel System..... but later found it to be a glitch in the old firmware , and was immediately fixed/solved with a firmware update....

anyhows......... just updating  my AMD 975 quad core with Crucial 128GB m4 series SSD usage with Aces High loaded........ it has been running just fine, and I have been using it as my primary PC ever since bout July of 2013.......... ( knocks on wood still, though ;-) )..... I got the intel System put up in storage, ready to go if I need it... but the AMD is just as fast as the Intel, only difference is it has a 1GB videocard, the Intel has a 2 GB videocard ( and blurray DL rewriter )

TC

[BoilerDown]

I think modern SSDs have proven to be very reliable, more reliable than spinning hard drives.  And we can leave it at that.  Its perfectly safe to install Aces High on an SSD from 2011 onwards.

[morfiend]

I think modern SSDs have proven to be very reliable, more reliable than spinning hard drives.  And we can leave it at that.  Its perfectly safe to install Aces High on an SSD from 2011 onwards.

 Phew......  I was worried there for awhile!  I hadnt noticed the date of this post and was reading it as I use an ssd and have for 3 and a half years now.  Just glad I can stop worrying now.......