If you’re still using a mechanical HDD on your gaming PC in 2023, it’s finally time for you to migrate to an SSD, as the first games that require one to function properly, even on the minimum configuration, began to appear.
One such example is Starfield, which will need 125GB of SSD storage to be played when it launches on September 6th. This is not a recommendation to run the game, but the minimum specification to play Bethesda’s title on PC.
At the same time, CD Projekt updated the minimum settings from Cyberpunk 2077 and requires the player to install the game on an SSD if they want to play properly. The change is related to the Phantom Liberty expansion, which will not be released for PS4 and Xbox One (which use HDDs and not SSDs), but soon the base game on PC will be updated with the many changes provided by the new content, which will probably need an SSD to run properly.
Another PC title that has SSD as a minimum requirement is the recently released Diablo IV. However, the game works on HDDs (so much so that there are versions for PS4 and Xbox One), but according to Blizzard this can leave the experience “significantly reduced”.
Fortunately, we are in a great time to buy SSDs, as their price has never been as affordable as it is now. So if you’re still using an HDD, it’s good to consider upgrading, as at some point it’s likely that games will appear that stop working completely if they’re installed on the already obsolete HDDs.
