(Answered) Internal Drive and External Enclosure for Gaming

[Grumb]

I’m trying to find a good drive and enclosure to keep games on, but I think I’m in over my head. I’m looking for 2-4TB and I really don’t wanna break the bank. If anyone has specific recommendations that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Illusion of Progress]

Values, not phrases, for budget would be more helpful.

Are you looking at getting an HDD or an SSD?

[Grumb]

引用自 Illusion of Progress：

Values, not phrases, for budget would be more helpful.

Are you looking at getting an HDD or an SSD?

Probably HDD cost-wise

[_I_]

for portable go ssd, no moving parts and can handle much more g-shock before being damaged

[Sigma957]

Get SSD, HDD has too much physical risk inherent.

[rigomrtsfx2001]

引用自 Sigma957：

Get SSD, HDD has too much physical risk inherent.

just use the case that comes with it some have them in the box and other dont
it cant fall no matter what hard drive you get just be careful where you put them some use heavy books laying down

[Supafly]

SSD may be more expensive but if using an external drive it's much more likely to get knocked and a HDD could easily be damaged when that happens.

I have a 2.5" SSD enclosure. Cost around £15 -£20, when I purchased it a few years back. Nice and simple Enclosure that does what is needed. Currently connected to my PS5 for when I play PS4 games as they don't benefit for the Nvme as much as the PS5

[Sigma957]

The nice thing about SSD is that you don't need enclosures for them. They are wafer thin and can just sit open air strutting their stuff.

[Grumb]

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/crucial-mx500-2tb-internal-ssd-sata/6321004.p?skuId=6321004&utm_source=feed&ref=212&loc=DecSale1&msclkid=e7485af035be1fd64e443f86c5a2fe08&gclid=e7485af035be1fd64e443f86c5a2fe08&gclsrc=3p.ds
Anyone know if this is a decent model/brand?

引用自 Sigma957：

The nice thing about SSD is that you don't need enclosures for them. They are wafer thin and can just sit open air strutting their stuff.

So I would just need a SATA to USB cable then?

[Sigma957]

引用自 Grumb：

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/crucial-mx500-2tb-internal-ssd-sata/6321004.p?skuId=6321004&utm_source=feed&ref=212&loc=DecSale1&msclkid=e7485af035be1fd64e443f86c5a2fe08&gclid=e7485af035be1fd64e443f86c5a2fe08&gclsrc=3p.ds
Anyone know if this is a decent model/brand?

引用自 Sigma957：

The nice thing about SSD is that you don't need enclosures for them. They are wafer thin and can just sit open air strutting their stuff.

So I would just need a SATA to USB cable then?

Yes, Crucial is good brand.

And yes you only need an SATA 3 to USB 3.0/3.1/C cable (depends on what you're connecting to).

[Grumb]

引用自 Sigma957：

引用自 Grumb：

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/crucial-mx500-2tb-internal-ssd-sata/6321004.p?skuId=6321004&utm_source=feed&ref=212&loc=DecSale1&msclkid=e7485af035be1fd64e443f86c5a2fe08&gclid=e7485af035be1fd64e443f86c5a2fe08&gclsrc=3p.ds
Anyone know if this is a decent model/brand?


So I would just need a SATA to USB cable then?

Yes, Crucial is good brand.

And yes you only need an SATA 3 to USB 3.0/3.1/C cable (depends on what you're connecting to).

Thanks. I have a “standard” usb port. Is there any way to distinguish between 2.0/3.0/3.1?

[Supafly]

引用自 Grumb：

引用自 Sigma957：

Yes, Crucial is good brand.

And yes you only need an SATA 3 to USB 3.0/3.1/C cable (depends on what you're connecting to).

Thanks. I have a “standard” usb port. Is there any way to distinguish between 2.0/3.0/3.1?

Colours show different types.

Image here shows them all
https://res.cloudinary.com/developingdaily/image/upload/v1664800160/ckor0b26tx2tb6x6wvtw.png

[Grumb]

引用自 Supafly：

引用自 Grumb：

Thanks. I have a “standard” usb port. Is there any way to distinguish between 2.0/3.0/3.1?

Colours show different types.

Image here shows them all
https://res.cloudinary.com/developingdaily/image/upload/v1664800160/ckor0b26tx2tb6x6wvtw.png

Thanks. My ports are 2.0. There shouldn’t be any issues if I used SATA to USB 2.0 right?

[PopinFRESH]

引用自 Grumb：

引用自 Supafly：

Colours show different types.

Image here shows them all
https://res.cloudinary.com/developingdaily/image/upload/v1664800160/ckor0b26tx2tb6x6wvtw.png

Thanks. My ports are 2.0. There shouldn’t be any issues if I used SATA to USB 2.0 right?

No it will just be somewhat slow due to USB2.0 speeds being limited to 480 Mbps (e.g. 60MB/s)

EDIT:
Also as Illusion of Progress asked, what does "I don't want to break the bank" mean to you?

If $250 is within your budget you can just get a 4TB SanDisk Extreme portable SSD.
Or the same model with a 2TB SSD for $135

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/portable-drives/sandisk-extreme-usb-3-2-ssd

These use an NVMe SSD in them and USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) connection. You can use a USB-C to USB-A adapter (comes with those SSDs in the box) and you'll still have no issues with using it on your USB 2.0 ports, again other than the limited 60MB/s speeds, but then if you upgrade your computer in the future these would give you much better performance than using a SATA SSD.

[Grumb]

引用自 PopinFRESH：

引用自 Grumb：

Thanks. My ports are 2.0. There shouldn’t be any issues if I used SATA to USB 2.0 right?

No it will just be somewhat slow due to USB2.0 speeds being limited to 480 Mbps (e.g. 60MB/s)

EDIT:
Also as Illusion of Progress asked, what does "I don't want to break the bank" mean to you?

If $250 is within your budget you can just get a 4TB SanDisk Extreme portable SSD.
Or the same model with a 2TB SSD for $135

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/portable-drives/sandisk-extreme-usb-3-2-ssd

These use an NVMe SSD in them and USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) connection. You can use a USB-C to USB-A adapter (comes with those SSDs in the box) and you'll still have no issues with using it on your USB 2.0 ports, again other than the limited 60MB/s speeds, but then if you upgrade your computer in the future these would give you much better performance than using a SATA SSD.

I’m trying to stay at or under $100, and that Crucial SSD is the only 2TB drive I’ve seen for under $100. I might actually have a USB C port if that works better, but I’m away from home rn and can’t check

Edit: I just found an NVMe 2TB on amazon for 98, so I might spend a bit more on that + an enclosure if the performance is significantly better
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Plus-PCIe-NAND-5000MB/dp/B0B25ML2FH/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=2HAKFCTW9ICSI&keywords=nvme+2tb&qid=1702309825&sprefix=nvme+%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1
Here’s the link to it

[PopinFRESH]

引用自 Grumb：

引用自 PopinFRESH：

No it will just be somewhat slow due to USB2.0 speeds being limited to 480 Mbps (e.g. 60MB/s)

EDIT:
Also as Illusion of Progress asked, what does "I don't want to break the bank" mean to you?

If $250 is within your budget you can just get a 4TB SanDisk Extreme portable SSD.
Or the same model with a 2TB SSD for $135

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/portable-drives/sandisk-extreme-usb-3-2-ssd

These use an NVMe SSD in them and USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) connection. You can use a USB-C to USB-A adapter (comes with those SSDs in the box) and you'll still have no issues with using it on your USB 2.0 ports, again other than the limited 60MB/s speeds, but then if you upgrade your computer in the future these would give you much better performance than using a SATA SSD.

I’m trying to stay at or under $100, and that Crucial SSD is the only 2TB drive I’ve seen for under $100. I might actually have a USB C port if that works better, but I’m away from home rn and can’t check

Edit: I just found an NVMe 2TB on amazon for 98, so I might spend a bit more on that + an enclosure if the performance is significantly better
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Plus-PCIe-NAND-5000MB/dp/B0B25ML2FH/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=2HAKFCTW9ICSI&keywords=nvme+2tb&qid=1702309825&sprefix=nvme+%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1
Here’s the link to it

for that you would also need an enclosure has an M.2 connection and supports NVMe to USB. Those enclosures are usually about $20 - $35 or more; which is why I suggested the WD/SanDisk drives I noted.

If you have USB-C on your system then you very likely also have at least a couple USB-A Gen3 ports as well. When you get back to your computer if you want to install CPUz and run the validator; and then post the link to the result here that should have all of the details for people to better help you.