Preinstall Games for New Build

[jbkillable]

Hello!
Now that I've ordered and will be receiving the parts for my new build, I was wondering about games and such, I've looked into it but am finding a bit of conflicting results.
Since I'm going to be building it with a friend, of course, I'd like to begin being able to use it in higher intensity programs (games, specifically) as soon as possible. But don't want to wait the ages it takes to install games, as my friend would be there at the time (rude to keep a lady waiting, am I right)
So what I'm asking, as convoluted as it sounds, am I able to install games on one of the two hard drives installed in my CURRENT build, and once my new parts arrive (I will be reusing the same hard drives) be able to put said hard drive in, and play them immediately?
Will attempting that cause issues, or just flat out not work?

 

[Belphegore]

It could cause issues, and I wouldn't recommend going about it that way. Here's why.

I'm assuming you have a different motherboard, which will have a different driver set, BIOS, etc. This is setting up your new rig for failure, as any number of problems can come from not having the proper motherboard drivers. Specifically since your ethernet port is activated by having proper motherboard drivers, there's a huge chance that your internet connection won't work anyway.

It really doesn't take that long to download games, depending on what you're looking at. Sure a 50GB game like Wolfenstein: The New Order will take a couple of hours, but most games are 20GB at most.

So why not set up your PC properly, without risking anything, and maybe grab some lunch or dinner with your friend while the games are downloading? Besides... it's going to take a while to install Windows anyway.

 

[jbkillable]

If it helps, I seem to be seeing a few people saying it should work just fine, as long as I move my entire steam installation to my secondary hard drive (I will be formatting my primary one, installing a new copy of Windows 10) and log in to the same account, although the latter is a given.

 

[jbkillable]

It could cause issues, and I wouldn't recommend going about it that way. Here's why.

I'm assuming you have a different motherboard, which will have a different driver set, BIOS, etc. This is setting up your new rig for failure, as any number of problems can come from not having the proper motherboard drivers. Specifically since your ethernet port is activated by having proper motherboard drivers, there's a huge chance that your internet connection won't work anyway.

It really doesn't take that long to download games, depending on what you're looking at. Sure a 50GB game like Wolfenstein: The New Order will take a couple of hours, but most games are 20GB at most.

So why not set up your PC properly, without risking anything, and maybe grab some lunch or dinner with your friend while the games are downloading? Besides... it's going to take a while to install Windows anyway.

That makes sense enough, thank you.
Sadly, I've got quite a slow download speed, so it will surely take a good bit longer than I'd have hoped. Alas, it's better both not to risk any issues with it, and it's not like we'd be on a strict time limit, we can wait a bit.

 

[USAFRet]

If it is Steam games, then yes, maybe, sorta.
If and only if this drive is a secondary drive and not where the OS will be.

You can designate a folder on the drive that will end up in the new PC. Call it MyGames.
Configure this int he Steam client. Download and install your games to that.

Then, once the new PC is built, tell the new Steam client about that MyGames folder as an install location.


However....

as my friend would be there at the time (rude to keep a lady waiting, am I right)

IMHO...your priorities are a little bit off.

Which is more important? Spending time with your ladyfriend, or not waiting to play some video game?
Unless, of course, she is as involved in the game thing as you are.

 

[jbkillable]

If it is Steam games, then yes, maybe, sorta.
If and only if this drive is a secondary drive and not where the OS will be.

You can designate a folder on the drive that will end up in the new PC. Call it MyGames.
Configure this int he Steam client. Download and install your games to that.

Then, once the new PC is built, tell the new Steam client about that MyGames folder as an install location.


However....

as my friend would be there at the time (rude to keep a lady waiting, am I right)

IMHO...your priorities are a little bit off.

Which is more important? Spending time with your ladyfriend, or not waiting to play some video game?
Unless, of course, she is as involved in the game thing as you are.

The entire "lady" aspect was a joke, the friend is both a male, and the relationship is platonic. I know he sometimes reads the things I post, so it was just a joke he'd get. Although the better of the jokes here is the entire notion of me having a significant other.
I digress, we'll be building it within the next few days. All of the parts save for the cooler and OS have arrived, we'll just wait for the install times.

 

[USAFRet]

haha...OK