External HHD for gaming.

[Torg73]

So am running out of HHD space for games and I hate to install-unstall-install all the time so was thinking, would it be worth using my WD 1 TB external HHD for gaming, its a few years old so its got USB 2.0 but its at 7200rpm.

 

Do you think its worth it or is it a silly idea, was going to buy Skyrim from Steam but I really don't have the space for the game and the 3 DLC you get for the £24.99

[Cacao]

Well you might as well try it out, I doubt the experience will be very good though, especially with a game like skyrim, you'll get really long loading times.

[Coombzy]

I would not recommend this loading times and sometimes bugs I would say if you can buy a second hard drive for games.

[rustikles]

If space is that much of an issue, I'd prioritize my games between the internal and external drives. Over USB 2.0, the load times will be atrocious. Therefore, lighter and less frequently played games should be stored there.

 

BTW: that's a great deal for Skyrim and the DLC. Maybe summer sale will bring the price down a few more bucks even?

[Scia]

I'm using an e-sata Caviar Black, since I ran out of space when watercooling ;P

For older / less demanding games it's fine, but for games with long loading times, you're better off getting an internal HDD or even SSD to have them load somewhat reasonably fast ^^

[Dr3nz4r]

External USB 3.0 SSD :P if the storage gets full , i always pull one of those out with all my games installed haha^^

[Torg73]

Well it looks like my best option is to get a new HHD, both my HHD are 5+ years old so it might be time to upgrade to a 2 or 3 TB HHD then it seems, see how it goes in the next few weeks, Steam sale could hurt my wallet too.

[rustikles]

Well it looks like my best option is to get a new HHD, both my HHD are 5+ years old so it might be time to upgrade to a 2 or 3 TB HHD then it seems, see how it goes in the next few weeks, Steam sale could hurt my wallet too.

It always does to me too haha...

[PartyBlake]

Have you done any research to see what drive is actually inside your external? I needed a new 1TB, so I ended up being able to crack open my external 1TB (this happened to be a full-sized 3.5" external), remove the drive, and put it in my system. It was a regular 7200 RPM Seagate Barracuda inside. 

[Makaseo]

+1 to PartyBlake's idea. Use the external as an internal! Save yourself the cost of a new hard drive and brace your butt for the Steam summer sales.