Downloading large game on Steam

[Max Caulfield]

My bae Chloe is coming back this Thursday 19. (Life is Strange: Before the Storm EP2 releases)

My current dorm in Blackwell has a really shitty internet, around 2-3MBps. 

I can however go to the library and have blazing fast internet here, they have PCs with speed up to 500-600MBps, but their computer is not capable of gaming (Core i7-4790 with iGPU, Life is Strange: Before the Storm requires around GTX 1050 level of GPU).

I can't bring my PC with me to utilize that internet either, since Wi-Fi sucks (gets same or worse speed like my home and even not reliable) and it's a pain in the ass to carry + you would get noticed. 

The game is approximately 5GB in download and what I did in the past with Ep1 was:

• Go to the library and download the game
• Copy it to a USB stick
• Copy it back to my PC

Problem is it takes 15mins one way to get there (so 30mins). The game apparently have no preload option for Steam (except console somehow).

And it also takes 30mins to get the game copied (one way) since it's USB 2.0

 

1. Some PCs are capable of adding an external rack with full 3.5" HDD on it. Though I think you can't read the drives of normal session, just load an OS and boot from those drives. I already have HDD so not a problem much.

2. I can get a USB 3.0 to increase transfer speed? Someone do a math for me please?

3. Screw it and wait for eternity? (in perfect scenario where it reaches that mysterious 3 Mbps it would take around 4 hours)

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

USB 3.0 will definitely increase transfer speeds.

 

I suppose you could also try setting it up to download before you go to bed and let it download through the night

[Max Caulfield]

Just now, Crunchy Dragon said:

USB 3.0 will definitely increase transfer speeds.

 

I suppose you could also try setting it up to download before you go to bed and let it download through the night

Steam doesn't allow preload. So I want to play it right away. Remember, I preordered the game.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, Max Caulfield said:

Steam doesn't allow preload. So I want to play it right away. Remember, I preordered the game.

Set up your PC in your dorm and download overnight is what I meant

[mariushm]

My 32 GB Sandisk Ultra USB 3.0 averages around 15 MB/s write speeds, and around 40 to 70 MB/s read speeds

5GB would be written to the stick in ~ 5000 / 15 = 333 seconds or 6 minutes

 

My stick is old, there's newer ones which can do even better.

 

[Max Caulfield]

1 minute ago, mariushm said:

My 32 GB Sandisk Ultra USB 3.0 averages around 15 MB/s write speeds, and around 40 to 70 MB/s read speeds

5GB would be written to the stick in ~ 5000 / 15 = 333 seconds or 6 minutes

 

My stick is old, there's newer ones which can do even better.

 

i guess usb stick would be the least painful solution than installing an os and download it that way (and removing drives)

[Suika]

I mean if you had a USB 3.0 drive, you could just make a Steam library on the drive, download the game, plug it into your PC, and play. No fussing over making a backup, it just won't be the best gaming experience lul.

 

Or if you have a mobile phone with faster-than-3Mbps data speeds you could just tether if you have the data.

[Max Caulfield]

Just now, Suika said:

I mean if you had a USB 3.0 drive, you could just make a Steam library on the drive, download the game, plug it into your PC, and play. No fussing over making a backup, it just won't be the best gaming experience lul.

 

Or if you have a mobile phone with faster-than-3Mbps data speeds you could just tether if you have the data.

I have a 2GB data limit every month. I would be paying more than buying the game itself if I go over lol.

 

Never thought of using USB sticks to play, great idea. Though would it interfere if my PC already have Steam?

[mariushm]

No, game would load much slower from USB.  Just copy the files over in the Steam folder and then if you have to, just run "Verify integrity of game files..." once (right click on Game, Properties , Local Files)

 

Or, on the computer at library, download it in steam, then use Steam > Backup and Restore Games to create your game zip or whatever, then at home select this option again and point Steam to your USB stick and it will import the game from your backup

 

 

[Max Caulfield]

Just now, mariushm said:

No, game would load much slower from USB.  Just copy the files over in the Steam folder and then if you have to, just run "Verify integrity of game files..." once (right click on Game, Properties , Local Files)

 

Or, on the computer at library, download it in steam, then use Steam > Backup and Restore Games to create your game zip or whatever, then at home select this option again and point Steam to your USB stick and it will import the game from your backup

 

 

But the game isn't that demanding. I actually ran CS GO in the past of USB 3.0 and it was fine.

But since it's already a USB 3.0 I guess copy it over won't be a problem.

[Suika]

6 minutes ago, Max Caulfield said:

Never thought of using USB sticks to play, great idea. Though would it interfere if my PC already have Steam?

As long as you don't have the local copy of Steam running at the same time as the USB drive's it should be fine. Worst case I'm sure you could make a guest account you can run it off of. HardwareCanucks has a video on it but the instructions are slim. But keep in mind, the gaming experience depends on the drive, if you have a slower USB 3.0 drive or a USB 2.0 drive I wouldn't recommend it.

 

 

[Enderman]

LMAO that's some great role play you got going on with your profile there

[Max Caulfield]

3 minutes ago, Suika said:

As long as you don't have the local copy of Steam running at the same time as the USB drive's it should be fine. Worst case I'm sure you could make a guest account you can run it off of. HardwareCanucks has a video on it but the instructions are slim. But keep in mind, the gaming experience depends on the drive, if you have a slower USB 3.0 drive or a USB 2.0 drive I wouldn't recommend it.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Maybe I could buy an external NVME drive just for this game and refund it. Hmm...

[Suika]

Just now, Max Caulfield said:

Maybe I could buy an external NVME drive just for this game and refund it. Hmm...

I actually almost wanted to recommend that if you had a local Best Buy LMAO.

[Max Caulfield]

Just now, Suika said:

I actually almost wanted to recommend that if you had a local Best Buy LMAO.

How long would it take to transfer the files over?

[mariushm]

Dude, you're going to copy the files from the usb stick into your pc in about 1-2 minutes.  Most sticks are slower at writing, but they'll be much faster at reading.. so if you get a modern stick you'll write at 10 to 30 MB/s to it, but you'll read at up to 70-100 MB/s from it.

Whatever time you're gonna save by running the game directly, it will be wasted by slower saved game loads or level loads pretty fast. Within a few hours, you've wasted the two minutes or so that would have been needed to copy the files into your computer.

 

Buy a usb stick of some reasonable size, let's say at least 16 GB... a 32 GB or higher stick is more likely to use a better controller inside with faster write speeds.

I'd suggest

 

The exact stick I have but in 16 GB size is 9$ : https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171978&ignorebbr=1

 

Or spend 25$ on an external USB DVD writer and burn a couple of discs at your library

[Max Caulfield]

1 minute ago, mariushm said:

Dude, you're going to copy the files from the usb stick into your pc in about 1-2 minutes.  Most sticks are slower at writing, but they'll be much faster at reading.. so if you get a modern stick you'll write at 10 to 30 MB/s to it, but you'll read at up to 70-100 MB/s from it.

Whatever time you're gonna save by running the game directly, it will be wasted by slower saved game loads or level loads pretty fast. Within a few hours, you've wasted the two minutes or so that would have been needed to copy the files into your computer.

 

Buy a usb stick of some reasonable size, let's say at least 16 GB... a 32 GB or higher stick is more likely to use a better controller inside with faster write speeds.

I'd suggest

 

The exact stick I have but in 16 GB size is 9$ : https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171978&ignorebbr=1

 

I'll check the reviews of some of the USB 3.0

Thanks. 

[Suika]

5 minutes ago, Max Caulfield said:

How long would it take to transfer the files over?

I mean, if it's an NVMe drive, its write speeds should be faster than the download speed.

[mariushm]

nvme just means the hard drive can talk to the computer through pci express. It has nothing to do with the speed.

 

You're still going to have a chip in an adapter that would talk to the ssd using pci express but will talk to the computer using usb 3.0 - if that chip is slow, it makes no difference that the ssd can reach fast speeds because it will still wait after that adapter chip.

Of  course, that chip will most likely give you reasonable read and write speeds, would expect 100-200 MB/s (2..2.5 gbps out of 3.3 .. 3.7 gbps which is the maximum possible for usb 3.0)  but a high end usb stick may be able to achieve 80-100+ MB/s as well and will be cheaper.

 

[SquintyG33Rs]

34 minutes ago, Max Caulfield said:

My bae Chloe is coming back this Thursday 19. (Life is Strange: Before the Storm EP2 releases)

My current dorm in Blackwell has a really shitty internet, around 2-3MBps. 

I can however go to the library and have blazing fast internet here, they have PCs with speed up to 500-600MBps, but their computer is not capable of gaming (Core i7-4790 with iGPU, Life is Strange: Before the Storm requires around GTX 1050 level of GPU).

I can't bring my PC with me to utilize that internet either, since Wi-Fi sucks (gets same or worse speed like my home and even not reliable) and it's a pain in the ass to carry + you would get noticed. 

The game is approximately 5GB in download and what I did in the past with Ep1 was:

• Go to the library and download the game
• Copy it to a USB stick
• Copy it back to my PC

Problem is it takes 15mins one way to get there (so 30mins). The game apparently have no preload option for Steam (except console somehow).

And it also takes 30mins to get the game copied (one way) since it's USB 2.0

 

1. Some PCs are capable of adding an external rack with full 3.5" HDD on it. Though I think you can't read the drives of normal session, just load an OS and boot from those drives. I already have HDD so not a problem much.

2. I can get a USB 3.0 to increase transfer speed? Someone do a math for me please?

3. Screw it and wait for eternity? (in perfect scenario where it reaches that mysterious 3 Mbps it would take around 4 hours)

 

download over night? 4h don't matter if you're sleeping plus it's more likely to be time when dorm internet is unused so max speed

[Max Caulfield]

1 minute ago, SquintyG33Rs said:

download over night? 4h don't matter if you're sleeping plus it's more likely to be time when dorm internet is unused so max speed

Please read. 

 

31 minutes ago, Max Caulfield said:

Steam doesn't allow preload. So I want to play it right away. Remember, I preordered the game.

 

36 minutes ago, Max Caulfield said:

Problem is it takes 15mins one way to get there (so 30mins). The game apparently have no preload option for Steam (except console somehow).

 

[SquintyG33Rs]

Just now, Max Caulfield said:

Please read.

i did.... i'm saying i'd choose option 3 wait rather than lug around my machine. you didn't say anywhere you can't leave it on during the night... either way you'll end up waiting. if it opens download at midnight you just have to be there to click download. between waiting in the library then going back to dorm and shit i can't be bother by the 2 hours i saved. i'd end up too tiered to play.

 

it's an opinion question to start off. if you're that impatient and excited for it you'd end up going to mcdonald's to download it if you had to, you don't care! but that also means you don't have much of a reason to ask except for the technical side of USB 3.0 speeds vs USB 2.0 and the tldr of that is 10x the speed. you can google that EZ

[Max Caulfield]

Just now, SquintyG33Rs said:

i did.... i'm saying i'd choose option 3 wait rather than lug around my machine. you didn't say anywhere you can't leave it on during the night... either way you'll end up waiting. if it opens download at midnight you just have to be there to click download. between waiting in the library then going back to dorm and shit i can't be bother by the 2 hours i saved. i'd end up too tiered to play.

 

it's an opinion question to start off. if you're that impatient and excited for it you'd end up going to mcdonald's to download it if you had to, you don't care! but that also means you don't have much of a reason to ask except for the technical side of USB 3.0 speeds vs USB 2.0 and the tldr of that is 10x the speed. you can google that EZ

1. You can also google off the release time of BtS E2 easily, it's 12pm ET, 5pm BST... 

2. I end up waiting 4 hours vs less than 1 hour. 

3. If you are not willing to help or see that my post is useless to you then don't bother replying. 

[SquintyG33Rs]

2 minutes ago, Max Caulfield said:

1. You can also google off the release time of BtS E2 easily, it's 12pm ET, 5pm BST... 

2. I end up waiting 4 hours vs less than 1 hour. 

3. If you are not willing to help or see that my post is useless to you then don't bother replying. 

calm down you'll see max fast enough. watch some memes or videos while waiting or something. you could even crack a book open to not touch your bandwidth. wouldn't that be a new thing for 2017

[Max Caulfield]

Just now, SquintyG33Rs said:

calm down you'll see max fast enough. watch some memes or videos while waiting or something. you could even crack a book open to not touch your bandwidth. wouldn't that be a new thing for 2017

Max Caulfied isn't in Before the Storm, another thing you could google. *sad face*