Sims 3 installed on SSD while Add ons on HDD?

[Monolito]

As in the topic - has anyone tried it? We all know SSD make things WAY faster but their main problem is space. I've got a 110GB Kingston V300 which really loses space fast. Sims 3 with all the add ons eat a lot of space so my question is: can I benefit from SSD speed by installing the main Sims 3 game on my SSD and all the add ons on a normal HDD?
I've currently upgraded my PC to an Intel 3550P CPU, Radeon 7780 Sapphire 2GB DDR 5 GPU, 8GB 1666 Mhz RAM and it really doesn't seem to matter to to game. It still loads for ages and it's really annoying
If the answer to my questions is a "yes" then how can I delete the main Sims 3 game, install it on my SSD and bind the add ons to it afterwards?

[Randox]

Does the game even let you install the EP's in different places from the main game? (without using simlinks as a workaround).

Assuming that's all fine, it would have limited impact. Anything that is a part of the base game would be loaded faster, anything a part of the HDD (the EQ's) would load slower. With all the EP I think the base game is a little less than half the content, or maybe a little more, so there would definitely be some expected improvement. If you wanted something faster than a hard drive, but don't want it all on the SSD, then you can compromise with a flash drive (memory stick). It's faster than a hard drive (maybe 2 or 3 times as fast), and you can get a 32GB without paying too much.

[Monolito]

I've installed all the EP where I wanted (custom paths). Thanks for the answer.

[Angélique]

With all the EP I think the base game is a little less than half the content, or maybe a little more, so there would definitely be some expected improvement.

On my computer, C:/Program (x86)/Electronic Arts, it looks like this:

1. Base game only: 6.96 GB

2. All expansions released so far: 22.3 GB

3. All expansions and all stuff packs released so far: 23.7 GB

4. All the stuff packs released so far: 1.44 GB

5. Base game and all expansions and all stuff packs released so far: 30.7 GB

[Aspen]

Does the game even let you install the EP's in different places from the main game? (without using simlinks as a workaround).

Assuming that's all fine, it would have limited impact. Anything that is a part of the base game would be loaded faster, anything a part of the HDD (the EQ's) would load slower. With all the EP I think the base game is a little less than half the content, or maybe a little more, so there would definitely be some expected improvement. If you wanted something faster than a hard drive, but don't want it all on the SSD, then you can compromise with a flash drive (memory stick). It's faster than a hard drive (maybe 2 or 3 times as fast), and you can get a 32GB without paying too much.

On my last rig I have two 128GB SSD drives in a RAID. It's only for O/S and system related apps (Adobe, Java, etc)...BUT...I did install Sims3 there as well, the difference in load times alone was shocking, there was still the eventual crash but no stuttering at all. It was nirvana. Anyway turns out the SSDs I ordered had a problem where they would lock every hour on the hour. Turned out a simple firmware update fixed it but in troubleshooting I reinstalled my O/S, lost my raid configuration (and all my CC/Packages). So while it was totally awesome and made a huge difference, that huge loss of all the houses and sims I created has since made me install the game to another HDD and leave the SSDs strictly for the O/S. Safer (but slower) that way.

[Randox]

Hmm, forgot the base game was that small (I was thinking it was closer to 9GB of 20, though I am missing the last two EP and any SP after seasons).

I bet the load time on an SSD is shocking. Much much faster rear and write times. Heck, putting things on flash drives is pretty awesome, and an SDD is still was faster than that. This game is actually making me to want an SDD now, but I really want a new GPU first. I need to pick up a 32GB flash drive though, something to hold me over until I grow my own money tree 

[Angélique]

I bet the load time on an SSD is shocking. Much much faster rear and write times. Heck, putting things on flash drives is pretty awesome, and an SDD is still was faster than that. This game is actually making me to want an SDD now, but I really want a new GPU first. I need to pick up a 32GB flash drive though, something to hold me over until I grow my own money tree 

I was looking at SSDs the other day, and it turns out that they're not at all that expensive as I thought they'd be. Only 745 Swedish kronor (= around 109 US dollars) for a Kingston 120 GB or SanDisk 128 GB. If I was 100 % sure that I could install it in my computer, I would go ahead and buy one right now. Unfortunately I'm not one of those computer experts who effortlessly builds their own computers from scratch all the time.

[Twinmum]

Yes, solid state hard drives have come down in price. When Twin1 bought her computer about 12 months ago, the SSD, was still highly priced, so she went without. When I got my computer earlier this year, the price had come down a good deal. I think I paid about $120 Australian dollars. I have Windows and all my Sims installed on the SSD and everything else goes on to the standard drive. I will however have to have a mixed installation once Into The Future is released because I just checked and I have 998 MB free space left on the SSD!

[Angélique]

I will however have to have a mixed installation once Into The Future is released because I just checked and I have 998 MB free space left on the SSD!

Ouch, that sounds a bit ominous! Are you sure that the big difference in speed isn't going to mess up the game somehow? Have you considered replacing your existing SSD instead, with a larger one of the same physical size?

[Twinmum]

Ouch, that sounds a bit ominous! Are you sure that the big difference in speed isn't going to mess up the game somehow? Have you considered replacing your existing SSD instead, with a larger one of the same physical size?

I don't really know how it will effect the game. If it does something terribly horrible, then I guess I will just have to install the game and all the add-ons onto the standard drive and maybe look at saving for a larger SSD, but at the moment, a larger SSD is not high on my list of priorities. A new computer for Twindad will come before upgrades to mine. I lived with the game on a standard HD up until just recently, I can go back to that if it becomes necessary.
@Monolito, so have you installed add-ons onto a standard drive and the base game on the SSD? If so, how are you finding it?

[Monolito]

No. If S3 was the only game then OK but I've got a few games which are higher on my priority list (Guild Wars 2 with 15GB size, X Com Enemy Unknown and probably Company of Heroes 2). The loading times aren't horrible. The game takes around 3-4 min to start and around that to load a save.
As for SSD drives I can't stress that enough: if you don't have one GET ONE!!

[samoht04]

This is a technical question so I'm moving this thread to the Technical Help board. 

[Angélique]

I don't really know how it will effect the game. If it does something terribly horrible, then I guess I will just have to install the game and all the add-ons onto the standard drive and maybe look at saving for a larger SSD, but at the moment, a larger SSD is not high on my list of priorities. A new computer for Twindad will come before upgrades to mine. I lived with the game on a standard HD up until just recently, I can go back to that if it becomes necessary.

Lets hope that the mixed installation will work okay, then. And if you don't buy a new and larger SSD for half a year or maybe longer, it will most certainly have gone down in price a lot by then, and that's always nice, isn't it?

[Sharonde03]

  You will be able to tell by my question I haven't a clue of what I am doing but I do know this much.. My SSD is not big enough to hold my O/S and all my Sim stuff.  Can I just take my sim games and the whole electronic arts file and put it on my SSD leaving my O/S where it is?  I am sorry for the question but I really need some help.  I have a 64bit Windows 7 PC  8g ram , Radeon HD 7750, intel cor i5 processor, 120g SSD . I put Origin, the base game and expansions on the SSD and have 63 g left. My game still sticks with or without any custom content.  Doesn't seem to make a difference.     ...Everything else is on disk C:  it still hangs up for a few seconds every min.     ...I just want it to run smoothly .. If I don't have to move my O/S  I would really be happy about that...I know this is an old thread but it was the perfect conversation for my questions. Unfortunately I just  found this ....can anyone help me understand whats wrong that would be wonderful...

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Sharonde03,
 
You will need to uninstall and then reinstall the game where you want it to be. As it won't work otherwise due to the registry settings.

I'd suggest after you uninstall Sims 3 to run a registry cleaner. Something like Ccleaner, 
It's free - http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download. This helps clean up temporary files, internet cache files and other files that are left behind that are no longer being used, after uninstalling.

I hope this helps,

MrsFlynn