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27' imac, external HDD for boot camp?

X

Xeleon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 10, 2013
21
0
Hi !

I'm just about to order the new 27' iMac with the following specs:

3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5

However, I was considering running bootcamp for a few games, but since the SSD is only 256GB it might become problematic in terms of space.

I therefore thought of purchasing a 1TB thunderbolt external HDD to solve this issues, however...
- Is it possible to run/install a window partition and run bootcamp from an external hdd connected via thunderbolt to play/install a few windows games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield and WOW (I'm aware wow is compatible with OX X).

Thanks in advance!
- X
 
Xeleon said:
Hi !

I'm just about to order the new 27' iMac with the following specs:

3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5

However, I was considering running bootcamp for a few games, but since the SSD is only 256GB it might become problematic in terms of space.

I therefore thought of purchasing a 1TB thunderbolt external HDD to solve this issues, however...
- Is it possible to run/install a window partition and run bootcamp from an external hdd connected via thunderbolt to play/install a few windows games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield and WOW (I'm aware wow is compatible with OX X).

Thanks in advance!
- X
Click to expand...

Yes, you can certainly install and run Windows from an external hard drive. Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 should also provide a connection quick enough to run things very smoothly.
 
MikeChicago said:
Yes, you can certainly install and run Windows from an external hard drive. Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 should also provide a connection quick enough to run things very smoothly.
Click to expand...

Installing it in a USB 3.0 drive is out of the question, because I always get to the BSOD upon startup. It seems that Windows blocks installation on external media. However, you can install it fine in a Thunderbolt drive, because Windows does not recognize it as an external drive, but as an internal PCIe drive. Which is essentially what Thunderbolt is.
 
yjchua95 said:
Installing it in a USB 3.0 drive is out of the question, because I always get to the BSOD upon startup. It seems that Windows blocks installation on external media. However, you can install it fine in a Thunderbolt drive, because Windows does not recognize it as an external drive, but as an internal PCIe drive. Which is essentially what Thunderbolt is.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm thinking about doing. Pardon my lack of knowledge, but what would an external thunderbolt setup like that (external @ least 500gb) go for?
 
I got the 512GB SSD and am running Windows 8.1 Pro through boot camp currently. I have 180GB partitioned for Windows and have blown through about 90GB's with the OS, BF4 and CoD Ghosts alone.

Here's my solution. Once the SSD portion is full, just begin installing games to an external. Keep the OS installed on the internal SSD at all times, but use the external drive for game installations. You won't have any OS related problems and the games will run just fine through USB 3 or even 2.

Hope this helps.
 
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