All Discussions > Steam Forums > Hardware and Operating Systems > Topic Details
Bill the Butcher Dec 8, 2024 @ 8:24am
Are external SSDs worth it?
Like can a good one be used to play multiplayer games online? Or are they best for single player? What would you recommend?
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Showing 1-15 of 21 comments
Mad Scientist Dec 8, 2024 @ 8:45am 
"It depends".

You should always try to have drives internally for the best overall performance. There's also that drives must be connected and active before Steam is launched.

The bottleneck would be the interface rather than the dedicated motherboard port, so it really depends on the achievable speeds, the game, and if the game requires an SSD or not.
For example; if you're going to play Starfield, use an SSD/NVME directly to the motherboard, not as an external. But if the speed was good enough, it's not optimal but it could theoretically work.

They're great overall if the speeds you can achieve delivers the performance demand; something like RUST or 7 Days to Die should use an ssd/nvme for best performance, and would likely be fine as an external, but its not recommended to have those externally.

I recommend them for Internal use, exterior it's really up to how you're connecting it, any limitations of that, etc. Bunch of stuff basically would be "Yes", "Maybe", or "No" depending on the results.
#1
smokerob79 Dec 8, 2024 @ 9:01am 
it depends on you having USB-C and if its a 5g 10g 20g or 40g plug.....40g USB-C is almost the same bandwidth as 4 lanes of gen 3 PCI-E.....
#2
Mr White Dec 8, 2024 @ 9:28am 
Laptops yes but for desktop No.
#3
nullable Dec 8, 2024 @ 9:46am 
Originally posted by Sleepy Bear:
Laptops yes but for desktop No.

What's your logic there?
#4
smokerob79 Dec 8, 2024 @ 10:34am 
Originally posted by nullable:
Originally posted by Sleepy Bear:
Laptops yes but for desktop No.

What's your logic there?

desktops should have M.2 slots....laptops will be limited....but with that said i have seen more then a few laptops lately with ether 2 M.2 slots or a 2.5 bay with a open SATA port in them....even the cheap gateway laptops from wall have 2 M.2 slots but some of them are limited to sata M.2's as they cheaped out on everything in those garbage laptops....but even the garbage had 2......
Last edited by smokerob79; Dec 8, 2024 @ 10:35am
#5
Quint Dec 8, 2024 @ 12:54pm 
If you have USB 3, 3.1 or 4 ports then yeah. For multiplayer games, a very high transfer speed is pretty much mandatory.

I'm not entirely sure of this but I heard that USB 4 is very fast so I THINK it can close the gap.
#6
Bill the Butcher Dec 9, 2024 @ 10:20pm 
Originally posted by Quint:
If you have USB 3, 3.1 or 4 ports then yeah. For multiplayer games, a very high transfer speed is pretty much mandatory.

I'm not entirely sure of this but I heard that USB 4 is very fast so I THINK it can close the gap.
Just looked at my Mobo specs and it says it has some USB 3.2 ports. So the 3.2 would be ok for an external SSD depending on the game?
Last edited by Bill the Butcher; Dec 9, 2024 @ 10:21pm
#7
Corona Scurrae Dec 9, 2024 @ 11:43pm 
for NVME that tend to get hot and you have no space on your motherboard to fit an aftermarket cooler then definitely but it depends on your IO. My MB has 3 40Gbit/s ports that I can use for my sn850s. Speed is the same as on the motherboard but it's 30 degrees Celsius cooler.

I also wouldn't buy dedicated external SSDs. they are expensive and perform worse than buying a cheap sn580 or sn770 and putting them in an external enclosure.

Never had any issues with my setup. can install and transfer files without problems.
#8
ReBoot Dec 10, 2024 @ 12:48am 
Just put in an internal SSD. Isn't more expensive than external ones and less hassle in the long run.
#9
Bill the Butcher Dec 10, 2024 @ 2:31pm 
Originally posted by ReBoot:
Just put in an internal SSD. Isn't more expensive than external ones and less hassle in the long run.
Yea you're right. I have several M.2 slots but I just got my PC and never installed one before. It also has a big heat guard cover on top I have to unscrew. I'm sure I can find a video somewhere to help me.
Last edited by Bill the Butcher; Dec 10, 2024 @ 2:33pm
#10
Corona Scurrae Dec 10, 2024 @ 10:06pm 
Originally posted by Bill the Butcher:
Originally posted by ReBoot:
Just put in an internal SSD. Isn't more expensive than external ones and less hassle in the long run.
Yea you're right. I have several M.2 slots but I just got my PC and never installed one before. It also has a big heat guard cover on top I have to unscrew. I'm sure I can find a video somewhere to help me.
Those don't help with heat dissipation. That's why I mentioned my external enclosures which I stuck to my case with cables - directly behind a fan - is much cooler and never throttles.

You still can give it a try.
#11
smokerob79 Dec 10, 2024 @ 11:08pm 
if you got open M.2 slots the one closest to the CPU is the best place to go.....dont worry about moving the OS just use it as a storage drive...and will work for any type of game....
#12
Sigma957 Dec 13, 2024 @ 11:00pm 
Yes.
#13
Tiberius Dec 13, 2024 @ 11:11pm 
No real reason to get external ssd if you dont need the portability
#14
AmaiAmai Dec 14, 2024 @ 1:05am 
I use an external SSD, but I use it with a SATA SSD + USB adaptor.

There is no reason to buy one pre-built when you can easily buy an adaptor and have the added benefit of being able to test drives when you suspect the are DoA and cannot rule out your MB's controller being bad.

I use it for games and don't notice any issue with it. I don't see the advantage of NvMEs, but people will tell you it's "faster." That's nice on paper, but does it actually change anything in reality?

Haven't seen it in gaming.
#15
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All Discussions > Steam Forums > Hardware and Operating Systems > Topic Details
Date Posted: Dec 8, 2024 @ 8:24am
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