Re: Steam already taking up 23GB of memory for TF2 and GMod alone -- please help!

[[BMS] Alberto Garcia Perez Ayma]

I just got my new MacBook Air today. 128GB SSD, 2GB RAM, intel core i5, mid 2011 model. I had been told by some other Steam users previously that the 128GB capacity would be "more than enough" for the Steam app as well as all my 5 Steam games -- Team Fortress 2, Garry's Mod, Portal 2, Amnesia (the Dark Descent), and Sid Meier's Civilization V.

Sadly, this supposed "more than enough" disk storage space does not seem to have been the case. I have already installed TF2 and GMod, and am now just starting to download Portal 2; and as it is already, my SSD on this MacBook Air is becoming full -- I have only 65.41GB of free space on my SSD even as I type this. I have not installed any other third-party applications; iLife is also not on this Mac, and my media (pictures, music, videos) on this Mac alone are altogether not more than 25GB at the very most.

I suspect that the five afore-mentioned Steam games take up altogether far more space than I had originally been told. Could somepony out there please advise me as to how much space all those 5 games would take up altogether, so that I can have a better idea what to do next? Your help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. Cheers, Y'hudah

[eram]

I'm guessing around 40gb for all those games.

[[BMS] Alberto Garcia Perez Ayma]

Thanks eram.

I've just checked it again. This is what I see: Audio = 3.72GB; Movies = 9.44GB; Photos = 6.18GB; Apps = 1.94GB; Other (supposedly the games) = 36.94GB.

So far I've only downloaded about 40% of Portal 2. I've already fully installed TF2 and GMod, but I have not yet downloaded/installed Amnesia and Civilization. Do those two take up much more space than the others?

[eram]

Civ will take up some room yes but not the other 1. Id say tf2 and gmod is going to be about the same size as civ+amnesia. (portal 2 isnt too big. smaller than gmod and tf2)

[[BMS] Alberto Garcia Perez Ayma]

Yeah. So if I take into consideration that TF2 and GMod are already taking up easily 37GB, can I then rightfully say that with Civ and Amnesia and Portal, all five games could easily be up to 80GB thereabouts?

[eram]

Thats seems like too much, did you go to the steam folder and check the total size?

I guess it is whatever your mac is saying it is but thats sounds like a bit too much. Average 10gb per game id say considering amnesia is smaller and tf2 maybe a little more.

[[BMS] Alberto Garcia Perez Ayma]

Yes, I went to the Steam folder to check again. According to the most recent check on the Steam folder (in Library/Application Support), it is now hovering around 27.57GB in size and is getting bigger and bigger. Also, when I made my previous post, the available memory on my MacBook Air was 62.6GB; now even as I type this, it's dwindled to 61.64GB. And Portal 2 is still like only about 45% downloaded.

Just curious, but does the downloading process itself affect the storage capacity?

[[BMS] Alberto Garcia Perez Ayma]

@Muppet among Puppets: Yes, I checked the Steamapps folder, it's 27.48GB. Also, when you say that files are put on my drive, do you mean temporary files?

[[BMS] Alberto Garcia Perez Ayma]

@Muppet among Puppets: I followed your instructions. I looked at each game and right-clicked to see how much each was using. This is what I got:

TF2 = 13013MB
GMod = 3601MB
Portal 2 = 11361MB (it's still only about 66% downloaded even as I type this)

So if I calculate correctly as above, the total I should have so far should come up to only 27GB thereabouts.

Yet ironically, when I check my disk usage (Apple menu, going to "About this Mac" and selecting "More Info" and then "Disk Storage"), I see that the total space taken up by "Other" is amounting to easily around 40GB. Note that my media (pics / music / videos) disk usage has not changed at all, and I have not installed any third-party applications apart from Steam and its subsidiaries.

If the 3 games above take up 27GB, and yet the "Other" in the Disk Storage is listed as 40GB, where does the remaining 13GB come into the picture..?

[[BMS] Alberto Garcia Perez Ayma]

@Muppet among Puppets: I've checked other folders. Can't find anything else that takes up so much memory. It can't be my pics / music / videos, because those don't fall under the "Other" category. And my documents don't take up that much space either.

There's only one speculation left that comes to mind, though I don't exactly like to talk about it: It might be due to some sort of data corruption on the SSD somewhere. I do know that corrupted data on both Macs as well as iPhones/iPads is also listed as "Other"..... correct me if I am wrong there?

[ELLIS]

this happens maybe every time dota 2 updates ....its just piling and piling with unused files ..