"Installing" game on hard drive

[hebrewhammer]

Just wondering if "installing" a game that is already booting off the internal HD offers any kind of benefit. This applys to GT5 for me but I'm sure it could apply to other games too.

[salamander]

Just wondering if "installing" a game that is already booting off the internal HD offers any kind of benefit. This applys to GT5 for me but I'm sure it could apply to other games too.

There have been several posts regarding this already on the forum, however there have been both sides of the argument as to whether it really helps. Some say there is quicker loading due to tracks being extracted etc, some say makes no diff or only few secs cut off from loading time. I didn't bother with installing since it made no difference on my end. You could do a test both with installed/no install and see whether there are any loading benefits on your end.

[Tallica]

I'd like to know the answer as well. I have Knights Contract and it has an option to install data to hdd. It's over 1GB. I did my game is running of usb hdd but still, is it making a difference?

[salamander]

I'd like to know the answer as well. I have Knights Contract and it has an option to install data to hdd. It's over 1GB. I did my game is running of usb hdd but still, is it making a difference?

Depends what is being copied to the drive. If it is the same data files as the one on your usb, probably not much difference (for example file1.arc) but if it needs a file from inside that archive then it may help.

[Kayot]

In most cases installing data to the harddisk is just the game coping data to the harddisk. You can actually delete the data from the game disc dir and the game will still run just fine.

The game maker is just taking advantage of what we've known all along. Games run faster from the internal Harddisk.

Also with games like Oblivion, the data is already unpacked on the disc. Something I always did with those games on the PC was to unpack the data and remove the packed files while telling the game to load loose files.

It's kinda a trash point, but the uninformed have this notion that the console game loads faster when unpacking the files on the PC puts the PC way ahead of the console version. Putting the game data on the internal drive of the console makes it rival the unpack PC version.

So in short, games like 3D Dot Game Hero that are already on the internal don't need to install their data for a boost in speed. It just takes up space and offers no advantage. When turned into a PSN title the game path is actually long enough to put the game data into it's own folder. There are a few other games that can install data and I'd assume it's probably the case with those as well. Load MM and see if the files it puts on the drive are the same ones on the disc. If they are then there isn't an advantage.

[salamander]

^- What he said

[hebrewhammer]

I'd like to know the answer as well. I have Knights Contract and it has an option to install data to hdd. It's over 1GB. I did my game is running of usb hdd but still, is it making a difference?

All good information. GT5 actaully wants to install 8gb so I think I'm gonna avoid it if the difference can be measured in a few seconds. If I had a 500gb hard drive I might do it but working with an 80gb now and it doesn't make sence for me to install it. Thanks alot.

[whytellyou]

There have been several posts regarding this already on the forum, however there have been both sides of the argument as to whether it really helps. Some say there is quicker loading due to tracks being extracted etc, some say makes no diff or only few secs cut off from loading time. I didn't bother with installing since it made no difference on my end. You could do a test both with installed/no install and see whether there are any loading benefits on your end.

Gt5 does load faster after you install the game data. Ask the same people who say it makes no difference, To delete the install data and go into the options and check do not install game data before they start any tracks.