I'm using a really old 7200 RPM HDD, and am having various issues with models, animations, and audio not loading in some circumstances. While still in the very earliest stages of the game, I've restarted/reloaded several times and keep experiencing issues in the same places, and would like to know if this is something that could be helped by upgrading to an SSD, or if it'll have to be patched.
My specific problems:
1) The cut scene with Jackie after the initial life path introduction mission(s) sometimes isn't loading character models (and textures have brief issues when my character looks in the mirror). Ironically, my very first time through it all seemed fine, and everything made sense. But going through it several more times, the guy walking down the street at the very start of the cut scene always appears to have bumped into the invisible man, and it looks as though I'm walking into a house all by myself - Jackie and his mother (I think?) load in very late in the scene, if at all. If this is something that is prone to happening in later cut scenes, it might be difficult to tell what's going on with the story at times.
2) The scripted car chase event that happens at the end of the very early mission, "The Rescue," usually has missing audio, missing weapon models, and missing animations for the enemies. It seems as though the issues are lessened somewhat if I let the tutorial screen stay up for a bit just before the chase starts, but I don't know if that's because assets are actually loading in when I wait or if it's just a coincidence that the bug isn't as bad sometimes.
While adding in an SSD could certainly help in a variety of ways that have nothing to do with Cyberpunk, I was considering waiting until I replace my motherboard and CPU as well, since my current setup doesn't have an M.2 slot available and I'd be limited to a SATA drive. But if it'll help with things not loading in a timely manner (M.2/NVMe vs SATA isn't a meaningful difference for gaming, after all) I'll probably go ahead and pick one up. I've experimented with the "Slow HDD" mode both on and off and really can't tell a difference in gameplay during the very earliest portions of the game.
My specific problems:
1) The cut scene with Jackie after the initial life path introduction mission(s) sometimes isn't loading character models (and textures have brief issues when my character looks in the mirror). Ironically, my very first time through it all seemed fine, and everything made sense. But going through it several more times, the guy walking down the street at the very start of the cut scene always appears to have bumped into the invisible man, and it looks as though I'm walking into a house all by myself - Jackie and his mother (I think?) load in very late in the scene, if at all. If this is something that is prone to happening in later cut scenes, it might be difficult to tell what's going on with the story at times.
2) The scripted car chase event that happens at the end of the very early mission, "The Rescue," usually has missing audio, missing weapon models, and missing animations for the enemies. It seems as though the issues are lessened somewhat if I let the tutorial screen stay up for a bit just before the chase starts, but I don't know if that's because assets are actually loading in when I wait or if it's just a coincidence that the bug isn't as bad sometimes.
While adding in an SSD could certainly help in a variety of ways that have nothing to do with Cyberpunk, I was considering waiting until I replace my motherboard and CPU as well, since my current setup doesn't have an M.2 slot available and I'd be limited to a SATA drive. But if it'll help with things not loading in a timely manner (M.2/NVMe vs SATA isn't a meaningful difference for gaming, after all) I'll probably go ahead and pick one up. I've experimented with the "Slow HDD" mode both on and off and really can't tell a difference in gameplay during the very earliest portions of the game.