Question External SSD gaming viability?

[Rance Claire]

Hi,

I've come across some games that have incredibly long load times unless they're installed on an SSD, Warhammer II Total War specifically. My main drive is an SSD but it's far too small to install games on.

I am considering getting an external USB connected SSD, but I'm concerned that maybe they do not perform as well as internal SSDs do.

Can anyone please give me some advice?

Thanks in advance

 

[RCFProd]

An external SSD will be limited by the speeds your USB ports can transfer. Normally the SATA ports found directly on your motherboard are much faster.

 

[Rance Claire]

An external SSD will be limited by the speeds your USB ports can transfer. Normally the SATA ports found directly on your motherboard are much faster.

Ah I thought as much, so there would be little to no difference in terms of speed between an internal HDD and an external SSD?

 

[RCFProd]

Not by much, I don't think it would be worth it personally.

 

[Rance Claire]

Alright guess I'll opt for an internal SSD at some point. Thanks for the reply mate.

 

[popatim]

Depends on what you have for USB ports. USB2 would be much slower then Sata whereas USB3 would be comparable.

 

[Rance Claire]

I do have one USB 3.0 port, or at least I think I do. It's marked with SS on the case and in device manager I have "Etron USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller/Root Hub"

Would getting an external SSD be a good option in this case? Because I'd rather do that for now if it's a viable option

 

[popatim]

I would google your motherboard and slow USB3 and see if there are many complaints first. Also try usb3 benchmarks
example: google " Asus H370 pro slow usb3 " and "Asus H370 pro usb3 benchmarks"

If you do go this route, you get the best speed in Windows by enabling "write caching" for the drive. You connect it to USB, and then you have to turn on write caching in device manager, but you have to use the "safe removal" feature of Windows before unplugging it everytime (just like you did in Win7 days) .

 

[mdd1963]

when you say internal 'hard drive' do you mean a conventional spinning drive? Those will always be limited to ~180 MB/sec peak sequential transfers even if/when connected to a SATA3 port...

naturally, an SSD would always be faster (than any spinning drive) when the SSD is on a USB3.0 port...

 

[Rance Claire]

I'm on a Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, Googling this and USB 3.0 has many complaints. I suppose my motherboard is a bit dated, I think I might have no choice but to upgrade it if I'm going to get an external SSD.

I think I might just buy a external SSD for the moment and see how it works with my current motherboard. Is there a way I can currently test my motherboard/USB 3.0 port to see if it's working correctly?

 

[prophet51]

Hi,

I've come across some games that have incredibly long load times unless they're installed on an SSD, Warhammer II Total War specifically. My main drive is an SSD but it's far too small to install games on.

I am considering getting an external USB connected SSD, but I'm concerned that maybe they do not perform as well as internal SSDs do.

Can anyone please give me some advice?

Thanks in advance

usb 3.0 can be up to 90% as fast as sata 3 so it should perform fine as an external drive, don't see how you wouldn't have room for an internal sata ssd though?

 

[prophet51]

I'm on a Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, Googling this and USB 3.0 has many complaints. I suppose my motherboard is a bit dated, I think I might have no choice but to upgrade it if I'm going to get an external SSD.

I think I might just buy a external SSD for the moment and see how it works with my current motherboard. Is there a way I can currently test my motherboard/USB 3.0 port to see if it's working correctly?

you could just buy an internal sata ssd and a sata to usb 3.0 adapter. That way if you have problems as an external drive you can still use the ssd as an internal drive.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Onvian-Dr...ocphy=1000148&hvtargid=pla-674297287829&psc=1

 

[Rance Claire]

you could just buy an internal sata ssd and a sata to usb 3.0 adapter. That way if you have problems as an external drive you can still use the ssd as an internal drive.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Onvian-Dr...ocphy=1000148&hvtargid=pla-674297287829&psc=1

In that case wouldn't it be better to just buy an internal SSD on its own? I was only opting for an external SSD for the portability. I think I'm just going to buy the Samsung 860 QVO 2 TB Internal SSD in that case. The only issue is that my motherboard only has one mSATA slot and I already have a smaller storage SSD. I could just connect a new internal SSD to one of my SATA2 ports though right? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

 

[prophet51]

In that case wouldn't it be better to just buy an internal SSD on its own? I was only opting for an external SSD for the portability. I think I'm just going to buy the Samsung 860 QVO 2 TB Internal SSD in that case. The only issue is that my motherboard only has one mSATA slot and I already have a smaller storage SSD. I could just connect a new internal SSD to one of my SATA2 ports though right? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

If you only have sata 2 then an external usb 3.0 drive would be faster actually.

 

[hang-the-9]

In that case wouldn't it be better to just buy an internal SSD on its own? I was only opting for an external SSD for the portability. I think I'm just going to buy the Samsung 860 QVO 2 TB Internal SSD in that case. The only issue is that my motherboard only has one mSATA slot and I already have a smaller storage SSD. I could just connect a new internal SSD to one of my SATA2 ports though right? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

I would install a second SSD or replace the main one with a larger one. Silly to use an external drive to install programs on when you can use an internal. It won't be "portable" since you can run those programs just on any system you pick. You should have a backup drive through, but that would be a different thing than expanding space for programs.

 

[popatim]

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Tool-free-Enclosure-Optimized-EC-UASP/dp/B00OJ3UJ2S

I recommend getting an internal 2.5" ssd with a USB3 enclosure also.