Warning

 

Close
Confirm Action

Are you sure you wish to do this?

Cancel Confirm
AR15.COM
11/30/2025 9:48:05 PM EDT

  My computer only has a 1 TB SSD and I would like to run a Crucial X10 external 4 TB SSD for gaming.  Is this okay for gaming or just old games like Fallout 4 / Skyrim?

   The computer if it matters has a 12700k and 7900 XTX.  Thanks for any advice.

11/30/2025 10:45:36 PM EDT
[#1]
You’re going to be limited by your interface speed, so that’s an issue. You may be better of throwing an NVMe stick on a PCI-E adapter.
God's children are not for sale.
11/30/2025 10:48:28 PM EDT
[#2]
Like the above poster said - if you have any free PCIE slots you can use an adapter card. They are cheap and fairly passive devices. Otherwise, if you have to go external, use a thunderbolt to NVME adapter or a thunderbolt based external SSD.
12/24/2025 8:39:40 PM EDT
[#3]
If it absolutely must be external for some reason, you can install a SATA to eSATA adapter plate to expose one or more internal SATA connectors, then add an external eSATA drive. You'll have significantly less overhead and greater throughput than just using a USB to SATA drive enclosure.

For 99% of tasks the bandwidth limitations of SATA vs NVMe are not noticeable by most people, and a lot of inexpensive NVMe modules aren't fast enough to max out the theoretical bandwidth of NVMe.
12/24/2025 9:00:50 PM EDT
[#4]
A friend recently helped me switch from a 256g ssd to a 4tb ssd, cloned the data on the 256g and swapped the drives. The OS was on the 256g

It was beyond my understanding of computers, but he completed the process in like 15 minutes.

So that could be an option.
12/24/2025 9:22:11 PM EDT
[Last Edit: PepePewPew][Edited] [#5]
If you mirror the game files to a RAMdrive while you play, you will get awesome transfer speeds.
(for game data that you actually have enough free memory to store in RAM).
Exposure to views that distress and offend is a form of education unto itself. -U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Reges v Cauce
12/28/2025 6:28:11 PM EDT
[#6]
It's very likely your motherboard (MB) has more than 1 nvme slot. I'd look at the documentation online for it to verify and prioritize using that vs external.

Unless you already have the external in-hand. I think for older games where there are not a lot of textures loading and online multiplayer, you should be fine.

Your GPU has plenty of VRAM to load them all at startup.
"I'm not from Earth, I'm from Missouri" - Star-Lord

Sign up to continue the discussion

Create a free account to share your thoughts, follow topics, and connect with the AR15.COM community.

Already a member? Sign In