I completed this testing to help folks make a more informed decision when buying a new drive (or drives) when their primary focus is gaming.
 
I know this won't be popular with some, but I took several hours to complete game load time testing on an EVGA X99 Classified board (2.03 BIOS) between a 8 drive RAID 6 array with an Adaptec 8805 RAID controller running at PCIE 3.0 X8, a 512GB Samsung 950 Pro NVME drive in a PCIE 3.0 X4 expansion card with passive heatsink (running at PCIE 3.0 X4 speeds), a SATA III 512GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD (RAPID mode isn't enabled), and a 42 or 55.8GB RAM drive (64GB of 3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32).
 
Full computer specs can be found in the ModRigs link on the left.
 
All games were moved using Steam Mover (an awesome tool!) - it does work on both Steam and Origin games (and should work on any game as long as you point it to the correct game directory).
 
All results are given in seconds - e.g. 13.44 seconds, or 13 point 44 seconds. Times were taken using a stopwatch app (yes, there is a slight human reaction time error inherently built into each result).
 
All game loads were tested three times in a row.
 
No, I can't test all of the games with a RAM drive since many games are larger than 50GB (I only have 64GB of RAM you know! - unless you want to spot me 128GB or the cash for it!).
 
Yes, I'll test a game for you if I have it! (just ask)
 
 
Batman Arkham Knight 1080P
Savegame of 5% at Ace Chemicals, in game settings manually set to max and 1920X1080.
My timer was started when I clicked Continue Story and was stopped when I was loaded into the game.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
9.17
9.06
8.89
 
512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
9.75
9.14
9.07

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for B:AK)
9.69
9.44
9.38
 
42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
9.41
8.94
8.94

Batman Arkham Knight 4K
Savegame of 5% at Ace Chemicals, in game settings manually set to max and 3840X2160.
My timer was started when I clicked Continue Story and was stopped when I was loaded into the game.
 
8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
9.91
9.02
9.10

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
9.95
9.34
9.22
 
512GB 850 Evo (empty except for B:AK)
9.71
9.12
9.26
 
42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
11.56
9.16
11.27 (ran several times more to see, always between 9 and 11 seconds)

Shadows of Mordor 1080P
Storymode savegame of 3% (24 mins), in game settings manually set to max and 1920X1080.
My timer was started when I clicked Continue Story Mode and was stopped when I saw (ESC) Skip in the lower right corner.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
6.48 (I restarted the computer after this first result to be sure there wasn't anything cached as I did the RAM drive first, the NVME second, then the RAID third)
6.85
6.24
 
512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~135GB free)
5.86
5.80
5.88

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for SOM)
5.86
5.99
5.88
 
55.8GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32) (~62 of 64GB in use)
6.08
6.32
6.37

Shadows of Mordor 4K (appears to be DSR)
Storymode savegame of 3% (24 mins), in game settings manually set to max and (200%) 3840X2160.
My timer was started when I clicked Continue Story Mode and was stopped when I saw (ESC) Skip in the lower right corner.
 
8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
5.95
5.91
5.88

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~135GB free)
6.08
5.97
5.85
 
512GB 850 Evo (empty except for SOM)
6.18
5.85
5.96
 
55.8GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32) (~62.5 of 64GB in use)
6.01
5.95
6.34
 
 
Batman Arkham Origins 1080P
Savegame of 0% at Blackgate Prison, in game settings manually set to max and 1920X1080.
My timer was started when I clicked Continue Story and was stopped when I was loaded into the game.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
5.31
4.60
4.59
 
512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
5.30
4.49
4.61

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for B:AO)
4.62
4.56
4.35
 
42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
5.30
4.69
4.66

Batman Arkham Origins 4K
Savegame of 0% at Blackgate Prison, in game settings manually set to max and 3840X2160.
My timer was started when I clicked Continue Story and was stopped when I was loaded into the game.
 
8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
5.56
4.70
5.07

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
5.06
4.76
5.02
 
512GB 850 Evo (empty except for B:AO)
5.63
4.86
4.88
 
42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
5.63
4.72
4.89
 
Fallout 4 1080P (no mods)
Used a save game from one hour thirty minutes into the game. (1920X1080 and all game settings manually set to max)
Timer started when press Enter to Confirm (load) was pressed and stopped when the game loaded in.
 
8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
29.11
22.61
22.91

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
7.65
7.01
6.68

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for FO4)
7.49
6.81
6.67
 
42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
6.9
6.54
6.63
 

Fallout 4 4K (no mods)
Used a save game from one hour thirty minutes into the game. (3840X2160 and all game settings manually set to max)
Timer started when press Enter to Confirm (load) was pressed and stopped when the game loaded in.
 
8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
27.83
22.74
23.07

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink)  (boot drive, ~75GB free)
8.33
7.87
7.75

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for FO4)
8.98
7.92
7.88
 
42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
7.89
7.92
7.93
 
 
DOOM 1080P
DOOM Campaign, Advanced Research Complex save game (1920X1080 and in-game settings manually set to max)
Timer started when Continue Game pressed and stopped when press spacebar was displayed in the upper right corner.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
13.12
11.07
11.02
 
512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
11.86
11.64
11.67
 
512GB 850 Evo (empty except for DOOM)
12.26
12.13
12.02
 
 
DOOM 4K
DOOM Campaign, Advanced Research Complex save game (3840X2160 and in-game settings manually set to max)
Timer started when Continue Game pressed and stopped when press spacebar was displayed in the upper right corner.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
12.99
11.18
11.28

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
11.89
11.78
11.73

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for DOOM)
12.22
12.24
12.19
 

Dragon Age: Inquisition 1080P
1920X1080 and in-game settings manually set to max.
Timer started when Continue was pressed and stopped when game loaded.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
25.16
12.87
13.00

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
13.09
12.52
13.06

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for DA:I)
16.13
12.59
13.02
 
42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
12.96
13.08
13.07
 

Dragon Age: Inquisition 4K
3840X2160 and in-game settings manually set to max.
Timer started when Continue was pressed and stopped when game loaded.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
20.11
20.08
19.29

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
22.24
19.68
19.63

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for DA:I)
18.09
19.63
18.71
 
42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
21.82
18.96
19.73
 
 
Titanfall 1080P (Multiplayer)
All match loads were into the Attrition map, in game settings manually set to max and 1920X1080. 
My timer was started when I clicked on the attrition map and was stopped when I was loaded into the match, with two exceptions where I had to wait several minutes in a lobby to get a match - for those I started the timer when the match counter read 0.
 
8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
12.24 (no lobby)
11.56 (no lobby)
11.97 (no lobby)

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
9.25 (lobby load, timer started at 0)
11.88 (no lobby)
12.31 (no lobby)
 
512GB 850 Evo (empty except for Titanfall)
7.28 (lobby load, timer started at 0)
12.11 (no lobby)
12.52 (no lobby)
 

Titanfall 4K (Multiplayer)
All match loads were into the Attrition map (edit: all games loaded into were already in progress, no lobby time), in game settings manually set to max and 3840X2160.
My timer was started when I clicked on the attrition map and was stopped when I was loaded into the match.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
14.38 (no lobby)
12.67 (no lobby)
12.59 (no lobby)
 
512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
14.32 (no lobby)
12.35 (no lobby)
12.81 (no lobby)

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for Titanfall)
14.73 (no lobby)
13.69 (no lobby)
13.57 (no lobby)
 
 
To back up my overall findings and prove that I'm not full of it, here are some reviewers who actually did some game load testing as well as Windows boot time testing - which almost NO reviewers actually do (I wonder why that is, ehhhhhh?):
http://techreport.com/review/29221/samsung-950-pro-512gb-ssd-reviewed/4
 
http://www.pcgamer.com/samsung-ssd-950-pro-review/ 
 
http://techreport.com/review/30642/toshiba-ocz-vx500-512gb-ssd-reviewed/5 
 
 
 
Some folks over on HardOCP were wondering if just using Steam Mover might have bottlenecked the game load times as Steam would go through the original drive to find out where the files/folders have moved to.
 
Well, I redid the one test that showed the most variation by moving over Steam and FO4:
 
 
Fallout 4 1080P (no mods)
Used a save game from one hour thirty minutes into the game. (1920X1080 and all game settings manually set to max)
Timer started when press Enter to Confirm (load) was pressed and stopped when the game loaded in.
 
Tested with steam install + FO4 moved (no other common folder steam games). Verified that other games could not be opened by trying to open one within Steam.
 
Order of testing: NVME, SSD, RAM, RAID. RAM drive only enabled for RAM drive test.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
30.25
23.34
21.74
 
512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~135GB free)
7.54
7.26
6.9
 
512GB 850 Evo (empty except for Steam + FO4)
7.33
6.80
6.95

48GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
7.06
6.76
6.89
 

FOR REFERENCE HERE IS THE ORIGINAL TEST
Fallout 4 1080P (no mods)
Used a save game from one hour thirty minutes into the game. (1920X1080 and all game settings manually set to max)
Timer started when press Enter to Confirm (load) was pressed and stopped when the game loaded in.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
29.11
22.61
22.91

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
7.65
7.01
6.68

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for FO4)
7.49
6.81
6.67

42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
6.9
6.54
6.63
 

It doesn't seem to have changed the results much at all, wouldn't you say?

Nice write up! I use a 950 Pro M.2 512gb and didn't notice any speed difference but wouldn't have bought it had I not sold my old computer. For the money I spent, I could have gotten 2 SSDs for RAID0 with more capacity  :D

sethleigh
Bah humbug! And here you've shot down my dream of having a huge RAM disk for loading games from as well!

You're no fun. I want to not only buy a fast drive, but imagine that it's actually doing something for me too!

Actually I'll probably still buy a 960 EVO when they come out, or wait a little and buy it cheaper, when I'm finally out of space on my 850 EVO.

That's exactly why I have 64GB of RAM and not 16 or 32 so I could use a RAM disk for some games. Then I wanted more space and figured that a NVME drive was the ticket. Well, now I know it doesn't matter that much!

I agree with results of your research. Always said that NVMe is -in general- pointless for gaming. At least 950Pro is optimized for low QD because it was designed to, while i750 is a beast but only at QD of 4+.
 
However you missed one obvious route to prove that normal SSD (from Samsung) is far superior way of doing things. I see no RAPID mode on 850 Evo in your tests. I don't know how it will improve gaming experience on titles mentioned above as I never played single one of them, but I can testify that RAPID improves load/save/response time for certain titles (configuration/script/texture heavy) far beyond NVME performance. No surprise really, given 5000-7500MB/s R/W with RAPID on various QDs.

Samsung's Magician software is kinda junk when it comes to enabling/disabling RAPID as it gets stuck and never, ever can be enabled once it gets grayed out like it is on my computer. Believe me, I've tried to get it back up and running.
 
Suffice to say, it uses your RAM. See the difference between my RAM drive and the EVO? There might be a difference of a second at most if RAPID mode could be enabled.

I agree very informative being said that I still like using the M 2 . 

EVGATech_DaveB
Great review!
I would be curious to see where you DO see a difference.  3d rendering, or video editing/compiling?  I know a lot of that is CPU driven, but I am curious where it will come into play for non-gaming for a home user, even a power user.  Especially things like where does a M.2 bypass a RAM drive, and vice versa.  Not really *needing* the info, I just find these kinds of tests interesting.

Thank you!
 
For my usage it's very obvious that file transfer speeds between my RAID and the NVME are much better than with my old SSD. So anything that can make use of that would benefit.
 
I know, from reviews, that large databases can greatly benefit from the massive IOPS gains with higher queue depths. I'd hazard a guess that photo/video editing might benefit from an NVME drive as well - yet, as you mentioned, they'd probably be limited more by the CPU. Always a bottleneck somewhere!

Some folks were over on HardOCP were wondering if just using Steam Mover might have bottlenecked the game load times as Steam would go through the original drive to find out where the files/folders have moved to.
 
Well, I redid the one test that showed the most variation:
 
 
Fallout 4 1080P (no mods)
Used a save game from one hour thirty minutes into the game. (1920X1080 and all game settings manually set to max)
Timer started when press Enter to Confirm (load) was pressed and stopped when the game loaded in.
 
Tested with steam install + FO4 moved (no other common folder steam games). Verified that other games could not be opened by trying to open one within Steam.
 
Order of testing: NVME, SSD, RAM, RAID. RAM drive only enabled for RAM drive test.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
30.25
23.34
21.74
 
512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~135GB free)
7.54
7.26
6.9
 
512GB 850 Evo (empty except for Steam + FO4)
7.33
6.80
6.95

48GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
7.06
6.76
6.89
 
 
 
FOR REFERENCE HERE IS THE ORIGINAL TEST
Fallout 4 1080P (no mods)
Used a save game from one hour thirty minutes into the game. (1920X1080 and all game settings manually set to max)
Timer started when press Enter to Confirm (load) was pressed and stopped when the game loaded in.

8 Hard Disk RAID 6 Array (WD Black 5TB 128MB Cache 7200RPM drives) (18.1TB of 27.2TB free)
29.11
22.61
22.91

512GB 950 Pro NVME in PCIE 3.0 X4 slot (with passive heatsink) (boot drive, ~75GB free)
7.65
7.01
6.68

512GB 850 Evo (empty except for FO4)
7.49
6.81
6.67

42GB RAM drive (3200MHz DDR4 16-18-18-32)
6.9
6.54
6.63
 
 
It doesn't seem to have changed the results at all, wouldn't you say?

Cool GTX
Interesting tests.
 
The RAM drive test, was that loading it into RAM drive (from a HD) then opening the game?
 
Or were you setup to automatically populate the RAM drive at boot, and it took that long for the game to open from within the RAM drive (memory) ?
 
If the RAM drive is that slow, the CPU / or coding of the game, must be limiting the game opening

The RAM drive was created solely for the test, and the games (and for the one test, Steam plus the game) were moved onto the RAM drive and opened from the RAM drive. I was checking save game load speeds only, and not "open the exe, wait for cut-scenes, etc.")
 
I'm not sure what the bottleneck is exactly but these tests show that after seek times are eliminated, game load times plateau - regardless of how fast a drive is.

Are all your testing platforms connected together at the same time or are you separately connecting them to the MB for testing purposes?

With regard to RAMDrive.
 
It's usefulness today is rather limited. I was running RD on 1366 with few old software pieces (SSDs were working only in SATA2 mode). With 2011-3 switch I found there is nothing to be gained. Fast CPU + good SSD is enough. I'm not a cyborg to detect that 0.2371s difference. ;) Perhaps like CoolGTX said it'll help with large CAD projects - but only with software immediately creating backup on non-volatile medium. I've decided against 64GB of RAM before switch. With 32 I ran some tests early on and differences (1366+RD vs 2011-3+SSD) were in the margin of statistical error (3%) which makes whole hassle of running & populating RD every time pointless in the extreme.
 
To some extent I feel like 32GB is vast overkill at this moment in time, even if I attempt to run everything at once.

This dropped off of the forum, and I couldn't search for it. So, I am tapping this to the top to let some more folks know about it - if they are interested.