Fortnite requires some time to fully download on the hard drive.
Fortnite requires some time to fully download on the hard drive.
I've started experimenting with more Fortnite on my PC after upgrading to the RTX 4060. The game launches normally but takes around 15 minutes to start, often prompting a restart. It also throws errors during the process. I've noticed my 5400 RPM HDD is nearly at full capacity when loading, which suggests it's working hard but still a solid drive. I'm curious if there are any solutions to try, like switching to an SSD or performing a clean install. Is the HDD failing completely or is it just needing a restart? Any advice would be appreciated.
Because of large file sizes, starting modern games and programs will take a long time on HDDs... I’d only use it for storage, and anything launching from NVMe/SSDs would run faster.
I believe the game shouldn't take too long to load on an HDD. I recall it barely loading into the pre-game lobby until I was already in a bus, which happened because I had a Quad Core Ryzen and the game ran on an SSD. Probably not a CPU problem here. Someone suggested trying DX11 instead of DX12 if you're on DX12, though it's possible the issue lies with the HDD. PCs usually use 7200 RPM drives, while most laptops run at 5400 RPM. Let's see if others can suggest alternatives before we have to reinstall everything.
I thought the HDD would slow things down, but storing games on it has been fine. Recently playing Fortnite improved a lot since my last PC session, so I’m testing DX11 now. I’m also installing streamed textures, though they might not really speed up loading. It’s just something I’m trying.
From an HDD you receive 60-120 MB per second... reading from an average SSD you get about 550-600 MB per second. That’s roughly ten times quicker. NVMe drives range from Gen3 to Gen5, covering 3000 to 12000 MB/s. So an SSD is essentially ten times faster, while NVMe is about one hundred times faster.
Fortnite now loads quicker thanks to the streaming assets, but it's still limited by my slow HDD in this game.