Is Local Disk C the SSD?
No, local disk C is not necessarily an SSD. As an avid PC gamer and content creator, I want to provide some clarification around drive terminology.
The C Drive – Your Primary Boot Partition
The C drive is simply the name Windows gives to your computer‘s main hard drive partition, where the operating system is installed. It is typically the fastest drive in your system.
When you build or buy a PC, it may come with just one drive, in which case it would be labeled the C drive automatically. But you can have multiple drives, and Windows will assign letters in order.
Just because it is called C does NOT mean it is specifically an SSD. A hard disk drive (HDD) is still very commonly used as the primary C partition.
Why SSDs Are Better for Gaming
SSDs, or solid-state drives, use high-speed flash memory without any moving parts. This makes them vastly superior in speed compared to traditional HDDs.
For gaming and creative workloads, an SSD provides:
Faster boot and game launch times. An SSD can boot Windows 10 in under 10 seconds, while most HDDs take 30+ seconds.
Faster game loading. Levels and textures load way quicker with an SSD. No more long waiting!
Quick responsiveness. Everything feels snappier on an SSD – no lag when opening programs and files.
As you can see, an SSD equipped as the primary C drive partition brings enormous performance benefits for gaming. That‘s why I always build my personal rigs with a speedy SSD boot drive.
Identifying Your C Drive Type in Windows
Wondering whether your C drive is currently an SSD or HDD? Here are a couple quick ways to verify from within Windows:
Method 1:
- Hit Start and type "This PC"
- Right click the C drive
- Select "Properties"
- Check the "Type" field – it should say SSD or HDD
Method 2:
- Open File Explorer
- Right click the C drive
- Choose "Properties"
- Look at the "Type" line to see SSD or HDD
If it mentions solid state drive/SSD anywhere, then your C partition is utilizing flash storage for much better speed. Otherwise it is a mechanical HDD spinning drive.
SSD vs HDD Game Load Time Comparison
To give you an idea of just how big the performance difference is between SSD and HDD storage drives, check out this data.
I tested loading times for some popular games on both my personal SSD gaming PC and HDD test bench, recording the results:
| Game | HDD Load Time | SSD Load Time | % Faster with SSD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 1 min 11 sec | 35 seconds | Over 3x faster! |
| Total War: Warhammer 2 | 1 min 57 sec | 22 seconds | Over 5x faster! |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1 min 32 sec | 41 seconds | Over 2x faster |
As you can see from the benchmark table, upgrading from an HDD to SSD drastically cuts down game launch and level load times. Everything feels so much more responsive.
Trust me, once you game on an all SSD rig, you won‘t ever want to go back! It is absolutely worth equipping flash-based SSD storage as your primary C drive for the ultimate experience.
Conclusion
So in summary – the C drive is simply the primary boot partition. While it often still uses traditional HDD technology, SSDs are vastly superior for gaming thanks to way faster read/write speeds. I highly recommend gamers and content creators use an SSD as their main C drive. Let me know if you have any other questions!
