Have you ever had that epic disappointing feeling of not being able to install more games, because you’re lacking space on your internal drives? I know I have, and sometimes the only possible remedy to this heartache involves uninstalling a beloved game. You might think, hmm that sounds doable! I can just install it again, when I want to play it again. Yes, this is possible but not at all convenient. Imagine having to repeat this process millions of times and on top of that if your type of games are like Mass Effect 2 with a freaking ton of DLCs… then the word “tedious” is an understatement.
So, another possible solution arises. Can I install games on an External HDD instead?
Consequently, I typed the previous question verbatim on Google search. I got a couple of results from forums with many people claiming that it is possible but it severely affects the performance of your game since normal External HDDs are equipped with a slow transfer rate (which makes sense). Thus, most people online were suggesting to purchase with an External HDD with a Thunderbolt Adaptor (Mac) or one that has USB 3.0 capabilities (PC). My reply? Hell to the no! Do you know how much those things cost? 200 t0 600 benjamins. As much as I love video games, I’m not that foolish to spend so much and I’m sure you guys are smart enough not to as well.
Note: Before continuing, this post assumes your platform has Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 capabilities since most models are already designed to include this feature.
Here comes the shocker kiddos! Since most of you know I am a stubborn nut, I tried to install games on my ordinary External HDD anyway despite warnings of performance issues. Guess what? It worked and my games run as smooth as it normally would on my laptop.
So there, as they say… the cake is a lie. You can install games on External Hard Drives so bid adieu to painful farewells brought upon by uninstalling. However, I do have a theory that one possible reason this worked for me was because my computer’s specs are pretty recent (Macbook Pro i5 13″ 2011 model w/ Windows) so if you’re running a 2006 laptop this probably won’t work for you too.
How much do you need?
What I’m currently using right now is a Western Digital WD Elements 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive. Amazon currently has it listed for $119.95 and that’s expensive I admit. Don’t judge, this hard drive was given to me as a gift. However, I would advise you to buy one second hand from Craigslist or any other similar site.
I hope this post helps you! However, if you want a more cost-effective method… I might post something about building your own External Hard Drive.
Stay tuned!
Did you notice any performance degradation at all?
Hi Brad,
I didn’t notice any performance degradation whatsoever. All my video games ran in its highest performance and graphics settings with no problems whatsoever.
If you want to move a game to an external drive there are three things to consider. The first is how much extra CPU overhead your system can handle from the data management of the USB. The second would be the read/write times of the drive you are using, some manufactures might use slower drives to save money because of the theoretical limitations of USB compared to SATA. The third is the frequency of loading that needs to occur with a particular game you are using and when and how that could potentially impact game play.
Thanks for this useful information!!
LOL, just came to clarify what I had experienced
Many people telling me “You can’t run games from an external hard drive”. The truth? Yes, I can.
I saved more than 200 games to an external hard drive and have run just about all of them with no problems and no performance issues.
I still wonder why people believe this can’t be done?
This is good–Actually great news! I’ve been i-searching all over, because I’m planning on moving 500gb to an external hard drive, and finally found this post. It would lend credence, though, if you could post fps, min, av, max, with a game on the internal hard drive and then again via that same game on a external hard drive.