Can I use an external SSD for gaming?

[Jeighke]

Hi Steam Community! I only have a 250GB internal SSD and, as I am now missing some storage space to install new games, I was wondering if it would be feasable to install and play games from an external SSD drive. And if so, what would be the best choice:

Samsung T5 1TB external SSD
or
Samsung 970 EVO PLUS M.2 NVME 1TB with enclosure
or
Samsung 960 EVO 2.5'' SATA III 1TB with enclosure

Honestly, I am a total neophyte with those things, and don't know which gear/setup would be the fastest, have the best performance.

Thank you all in advance!

[Bad 💀 Motha]

There is a big difference to having some games on ssd, but no, not any reason to go buy an Nvme type of ssd just for games. Any ssd will help compared to any mechanical drive.

Only way to have an external based nvme drive even come close to its possible internal speeds is by using usb 3.1 gen 2. And even then you still would never get the full speed an Nvme ssd was designed for. With sata 2.5 inch or sata m2, those are plenty fast for things such as running games off of.

[Jeighke]

Then I guess I know what to buy/use now! Thank you for the great explanation and help!

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Let us know which ssd you had in mind to buy and we could then better suggest an external enclosure to buy for it

[Jeighke]

I was thinking about the Samsung 960 EVO 1 or 2TB. Any suggestions for the enclosure are more then welcome! Thank you!

[Dwerklesberry]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από TellurianWall4:

I was thinking about the Samsung 960 EVO 1 or 2TB. Any suggestions for the enclosure are more then welcome! Thank you!

Usb 3.0 docks tend to support UASP and are just more reliable because they are self powered.
https://www.newegg.com/wavlink-wl-st334u-dock/p/0VN-0069-00001
https://www.amazon.com/WAVLINK-Dual-Bay-External-3-5-inch-Duplicator/dp/B07C9RSZFM

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/21904-enable-disable-disk-write-caching-windows-10-a.html and enable caching for better performance.

Don't worry about power consumption, dual bay with ssd's is maybe 2 watts idle, 5 watts while active.

[Jeighke]

I was thinking of something more « portable », is possible..!

[tacoshy]

A Samsung 960 is a NVMe drive with the issues we already stated.

Go for a 2.5" Samsung 860 Evo. It's pretty much the best SATA SSD you can get.

[tacoshy]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Dwerklesberry:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από TellurianWall4:

I was thinking about the Samsung 960 EVO 1 or 2TB. Any suggestions for the enclosure are more then welcome! Thank you!

Usb 3.0 docks tend to support UASP and are just more reliable because they are self powered.
https://www.newegg.com/wavlink-wl-st334u-dock/p/0VN-0069-00001
https://www.amazon.com/WAVLINK-Dual-Bay-External-3-5-inch-Duplicator/dp/B07C9RSZFM

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/21904-enable-disable-disk-write-caching-windows-10-a.html and enable caching for better performance.

Don't worry about power consumption, dual bay with ssd's is maybe 2 watts idle, 5 watts while active.

An USB 3.0 dock will heavily limit the performance of a SSD. It simply doesn't have enough and with.

[Jeighke]

That’s what I meant, but It was not clear sorry. A 2.5” Samsung 860 Evo with 1 or 2TB storage space. The enclosure I found, and seemed interesting, was this one:

UGREEN USB C Hard Drive Enclosure USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C to SATA External Hard Drive Disk Case Adapter Housing for 9.5mm 7mm 2.5 Inch SATA I II III, PS4, HDD, SSD, 6Gbps Fast Speed UASP Tool Free https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D2BHVBD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2eikDbQ8N819K

Let me know what you think!

Thanks again!

[Bad 💀 Motha]

960 is only available in m2 form
860 is available is m2 or sata, but is cheaper since it's not nvme

[Jeighke]

Same typo again, I am really sorry. Just edited my previous comment. Samsung 860 Evo!!!

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Yes that would do the job well and be fine to use

[Dwerklesberry]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από tacoshy:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Dwerklesberry:

Usb 3.0 docks tend to support UASP and are just more reliable because they are self powered.
https://www.newegg.com/wavlink-wl-st334u-dock/p/0VN-0069-00001
https://www.amazon.com/WAVLINK-Dual-Bay-External-3-5-inch-Duplicator/dp/B07C9RSZFM

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/21904-enable-disable-disk-write-caching-windows-10-a.html and enable caching for better performance.

Don't worry about power consumption, dual bay with ssd's is maybe 2 watts idle, 5 watts while active.

An USB 3.0 dock will heavily limit the performance of a SSD. It simply doesn't have enough and with.

Not in the real world, application access is 4k random, and that tends to be below usb's ceiling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNMcW2tL3r4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCDQaE9N-eo

The straight line numbers lie.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Still better to have an enclosure that supports usb 3.1, especially if your desktop or laptop has it, which most do now. And it's backwards compatible with 3.0 for pcs or devices that don't have 3.1

[Dwerklesberry]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Bad 💀 Motha:

Still better to have an enclosure that supports usb 3.1, especially if your desktop or laptop has it, which most do now. And it's backwards compatible with 3.0 for pcs or devices that don't have 3.1

3.0 is 3.1.... almost no one has gen 2.