Rockstar doesn't recommend installing GTA5 'Play' disc on 360
If you're looking to get the most out of your Grand Theft Auto 5 experience on the Xbox 360, you'll want to hold off on installing both discs to the console's hard drive. Rockstar recommends that players refrain from installing the game's "Play" disc after completing the first disc's required 8GB install.
Eurogamer's tech analysis team Digital Foundry illustrates the consequences in the above comparison video, which shows that an installed Play disc results in missing objects and texture pop-in, among other in-game issues.
"Optimal streaming is achieved by making use of all the available bandwidth in the system," Digital Foundry chief Richard Leadbetter explains. "Why stream just from the hard drive when you can run in data simultaneously from both the disc and the HDD?
"Based on what we're seeing on the Xbox 360 version, perhaps running both DVD and HDD assets from just the one source slows down access times, impacting streaming performance. It's not game-breaking stuff, but it does take you out of the moment when it does manifest and for that reason we can't recommend installing the play disc."
