I wasn't really talking about HDDs at all though, just how SSDs are going to be used in the future. Basically small transfers vs one bigger transfer. I'm assuming SSDs are going to be the default in a few years. Even with SSDs, constantly streaming from them just doesn't make sense unless you're limited by RAM. You can load up huge chunks of data relatively quickly on SSDs today, and once it's transferred to RAM, just don't deallocate it. As RAM sizes increase on PCs, there's going to be less and less need for that kind of streaming.
I imagine you'd load up what's necessary to boot the game as fast as possible, then start loading everything else (as much as you can at least) in the background while the players begins. After that, you touch the SSD as needed. The way some people are talking up the PS5, it seems like you'd be constantly touching the SSD and loading smaller chunks instead of one large piece from the start. Again, makes sense if you're RAM limited, not so much if you can fit half your game there anyway.
I imagine you'd load up what's necessary to boot the game as fast as possible, then start loading everything else (as much as you can at least) in the background while the players begins. After that, you touch the SSD as needed. The way some people are talking up the PS5, it seems like you'd be constantly touching the SSD and loading smaller chunks instead of one large piece from the start. Again, makes sense if you're RAM limited, not so much if you can fit half your game there anyway.