External SSD for games

[kozz]

Been thinking about buying an external SSD for my steam library for my MacBook Pro since I have the 1tb version, just could not bring myself to pay an extra $400 for an additional 1tb of storage. This is just something I am toying with. Has anyone tried this? Looking at this drive specifically external-solid-state-drive-se920

Thanks in advance.

 

[dmccloud]

I did not purchase a drive like the one you linked, but I did pick up a Samsung 980 Pro M.2 SSD (2TB) and put it in an external enclosure for around $180 combined. My Steam library resides on that drive, and I also picked up a flushmount SD-MicroSD adapter and a 1TB MicroSD card to keep files I don't need fast read/write speeds for.

 

[kozz]

thanks, I actually have the drive coming this week to test out. I used to have a BaseQi MicroSD adapter but that got stuck in my Mac when the front broke off so I now have a 512gb transcend for music, movies, etc...

I actually tried running windows off the transcend but it was loading too slow for me.

 

[kozz]

I did not purchase a drive like the one you linked, but I did pick up a Samsung 980 Pro M.2 SSD (2TB) and put it in an external enclosure for around $180 combined. My Steam library resides on that drive, and I also picked up a flushmount SD-MicroSD adapter and a 1TB MicroSD card to keep files I don't need fast read/write speeds for.

What enclosure did you get for your drive?

 

[dmccloud]

What enclosure did you get for your drive?

I originally had an external enclosure from Best Buy (Insignia brand), then I switched to one I picked up off Amazon.

 

[kozz]

I originally had an external enclosure from Best Buy (Insignia brand), then I switched to one I picked up off Amazon.

Thanks, the cooling fan is what caught my eye on the data one. Ill see how it go's and if I don't like it I'll switch it up!

 

[Huntn]

Been thinking about buying an external SSD for my steam library for my MacBook Pro since I have the 1tb version, just could not bring myself to pay an extra $400 for an additional 1tb of storage. This is just something I am toying with. Has anyone tried this? Looking at this drive specifically external-solid-state-drive-se920

Thanks in advance.

I’m no longer gaming on my MBP, but on my 2012 MBP I had Windows installed on a partition which took up a lot of my internal hard drive space, so used an external portable mechanical HD to hold my Steam library when I using Bootcamp without issues.

 

[dmccloud]

Thanks, the cooling fan is what caught my eye on the data one. Ill see how it go's and if I don't like it I'll switch it up!

The biggest reason I switched is because the Inatek enclosure supports TB4, whereas the Insignia version does not. I still use the Insignia to hold video files, but my games are on the TB4 enclosure.

 

[kozz]

The biggest reason I switched is because the Inatek enclosure supports TB4, whereas the Insignia version does not. I still use the Insignia to hold video files, but my games are on the TB4 enclosure.

Ahh, how hot does it get? Been looking and keep seeing by ones with fans and wondering if I should go with a fan one.

 

[bousozoku]

Thanks, the cooling fan is what caught my eye on the data one. Ill see how it go's and if I don't like it I'll switch it up!

That's probably a good idea, from my experience. I've got the same Crucial external drive with similar data and usage but it tends to get hot on the Mac only. The other, same model drive on Windows doesn't heat up much at all.

 

[dmccloud]

Ahh, how hot does it get? Been looking and keep seeing by ones with fans and wondering if I should go with a fan one.

Both enclosures are metal, so they draw the heat to the outside of the case by design. I would say both get noticeably warm, but neither one gets to the point at which burns would be a concern. One thing to remember is that even high end SSDs in high end PC desktops usually are only cooled passively rather than via fan - most motherboards include heatsink covers for M.2 SSDs, and some SSDs even come with their own passive heatsink preinstalled.