Still don't know about gaming in particular with 960EVO SSD because no games on it. However, on my Ryzen build I've used an 840SSD and a 7200RPM hard drive for the Windows 10 installs (playing with installs). And, I used them for other application installs and everyday stuff.

In everyday use, the 960 blows the HD out of the water (we knew that). In addition, the 960 is noticeably faster than the 840 when loading programs and installing software.

By "noticeably faster" I mean that it gets things done so much faster that I can "feel" it without needing to "measure" it. For example, installing a new version of Windows goes far faster. I can just sit there a few minutes rather than go upstairs for more coffee. For example, my Firefox browser seems to "jump open" in a couple seconds (only took a few seconds in the first place).

The improvement is small in the big scheme of things. But, I "feel" I have upgraded with the 960 and am happy I bought it.

All opinion and feelings, FWIW.

Thanks Allen!!

I'm not too bothered by the speed at which programs get installed, as I'll only be doing that a couple of times. What about how fast programs get "loaded"? I mean, is there any difference between the time when you clicked the icon and the time when the program is ready to use? Is it faster with the 960? For example, loading up Photoshop on a HDD takes a few seconds of patiently waiting... when I transitioned to the SSD, the wait time was noticeably shorter even without a stopwatch. Is this wait time even shorter for NVMe?

Interesting video....

link

It was Ice.In some of the comments there are doubters.

I benchmarked all my drives a while ago.

WD Black 750GB Read Speed 100 MB/sec (52 min/129 max) Access time 15.70 ms

Crucial 256 MX100 SSD Read Speed 503 MB/sec (294 min/516 max) Access time 0.08 ms

Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCI-e 3.0 x 4 NVMe Read Speed 1,900 MB/sec (1,370 min/2,200 max) Access time 0.06 ms

Clearly there is a great difference between the 3 types of drive when it comes to reading and moving data,although a very tiny amount in difference between the 2 solid state drives when it comes to access times.

It doesn't look from the video that in the real world,there is much difference at all between a traditional SSD and an M.2.

It still 'feels' quicker to me though in general use.

I think there was a big bump up from the 840 to the 850 with the switch to 3D, and then again to the 960 with the switch to NMVe.
I don't doubt x40 to x60 you'd notice it, but I understand going from x40 to x50 or x50 to x60 it's less noticeable.



The Jedi Master