Using an external harddrive to store games

[linkmon99]

Hi guys,
so I have a 5k IMac with a 512gb ssd and honestly it just isn't enough to hold all the games I want. I'm running it in windows bootcamp so I have even less space on the windows side for games, so I need an external harddrive. My question is do I have to opt for a SSD to get good performance or will an HDD still work pretty well. The issue I have is the cost difference is enormous.

 

[jeanlain]

Drive speed will only affect loading times, not performance, since games try to avoid reading from disk during game play.
I guess that loading times may be around twice shorter or more on an SSD. It all depends on how much you are willing to pay to get shorter loading times.

 

[linkmon99]

Drive speed will only affect loading times, not performance, since games try to avoid reading from disk during game play.
I guess that loading times may be around twice shorter or more on an SSD. It all depends on how much you are willing to pay to get shorter loading times.

Hmm, what kind of loading, like when you first start the game or join a server?

 

[jeanlain]

The time to join a server depends on the network, not your drive speed.
I was referring to the loading of a level, but this also applies to launching the app (though you don't do that very often).

 

[Huntn]

Hi guys,
so I have a 5k IMac with a 512gb ssd and honestly it just isn't enough to hold all the games I want. I'm running it in windows bootcamp so I have even less space on the windows side for games, so I need an external harddrive. My question is do I have to opt for a SSD to get good performance or will an HDD still work pretty well. The issue I have is the cost difference is enormous.

HDDs are bigger and cheaper and work fine for external storage of games. I assume you know how to set up an additional steam library on an external drive, not difficult at all.