Internal or External does it matter now?

[Count_Zero99uk]

I was wondering about fitting some extra storage into my case, which is possible but a bit tight. But it dawned on me that with the transfer speeds of usb now is an external USB dock capable of running games as well as being used as bulk storage?

 

[Minstadave]

USB has got so fast that's it's absolutely viable to have external game storage.

 

[Tythus]

Only issue I can think of is I don't think direct storage works over USB only pcie

 

[Count_Zero99uk]

Only issue I can think of is I don't think direct storage works over USB only pcie

Sorry what do you mean by this?

 

[Minstadave]

Sorry what do you mean by this?

Direct storage is meant to be an improved way that games access storage with less overhead. It's not designed to work over USB and only a handful of games support it so far.

The State of Microsoft DirectStorage

DirectStorage promises big things for the future of gaming, but we're not there yet. Here are the games that support it and which might in the future.

www.corsair.com

 

[Gray2233]

You can get USB C/3.2 drives that'll do around 1,050 MB/s read/write for relatively cheap tbh.

You can also buy enclosures + NvME's that have small footprint.

Direct Storage might be a concern but I can honestly say I've never made use of it, how big of a deal is it in genuine terms as of right now? Tons of modern games don't care, if it becomes more common you could just be more particular about what you installed where.

 

[Tythus]

You can get USB C/3.2 drives that'll do around 1,050 MB/s read/write for relatively cheap tbh.

You can also buy enclosures + NvME's that have small footprint.

Direct Storage might be a concern but I can honestly say I've never made use of it, how big of a deal is it in genuine terms as of right now? Tons of modern games don't care, if it becomes more common you could just be more particular about what you installed where.

Direct storage is meant to be an improved way that games access storage with less overhead. It's not designed to work over USB and only a handful of games support it so far.

The State of Microsoft DirectStorage

DirectStorage promises big things for the future of gaming, but we're not there yet. Here are the games that support it and which might in the future.

www.corsair.com

Sorry what do you mean by this?

Yeah not many at the moment but more are starting to use it I think getting close to 30 real games (steam db link) I admit not many games support it yet but I feel it's one of those things where at the start no game supports it like dlss etc but it will become more common

 

[FredFlint]

Probably be years till Direct storage is a must have.

 

[OspreyO]

I've really struggled to get consistent fast speeds on external drives. Swapping enclosures, drives cables, ports. Maybe if you've the latest spec of everything it would be ok. I see reviewers getting incredible consistency on the latest gear. Whereas on 3.0, 3.1 or 3.2 USB ports mine are all over the place.

 

[nlel1975]

I've got three external SSD drives.

A Corsair Force MP510 in a 40 Gbps NVMe enclosure connected to a Mac mini M4 Thunderbolt 4 port (40 Gbps)

A fanxiang 1TB External USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C drive connected to a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port (20 Gbps).

Lastly a Crucial 2TB X6 External SSD connected to a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port (10 Gbps)

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Bit late now
But the corsair EX400U is about
The fastest external you can find that isn't
Crazy expensive like the new thunderbolt 5 drives

EX400U is 4GBs/4000Mbs
Over usb4
Also magnetic so can stick to pc case
No more drive dangling there
Can stick to mag safe phone cases too
For direct video recording for example

2tb is just under £200
Which doesn't actually seem a ridiculous price
Given the speed of it

An external enclosure
And a 2tb nvme drive would be close to that anyway

 

[Minstadave]

Bit late now
But the corsair EX400U is about
The fastest external you can find that isn't
Crazy expensive like the new thunderbolt 5 drives

EX400U is 4GBs/4000Mbs
Over usb4
Also magnetic so can stick to pc case
No more drive dangling there
Can stick to mag safe phone cases too
For direct video recording for example

2tb is just under £200
Which doesn't actually seem a ridiculous price
Given the speed of it

An external enclosure
And a 2tb nvme drive would be close to that anyway

That looks pretty decent to be fair.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

That looks pretty decent to be fair.

Yeah been eyeing it up all day lol
Very very tempted
Read so many reviews about external nvme enclosures
And issues with heat etc
Ones like the owc are actually more expensive
Than the corsair
And they all seem to top out at around 3GBs or just over anyway
Only thing stopped me so far
Is it doesn't (or i missed it) seem to give
Endurance/tbw
Just mtbf (mean time before failure)

 

[Minstadave]

"Corsair warranties the EX400U for three years, or 250 TBW (terabytes that may be written before it becomes a read-only hockey puck) for every 1TB of capacity. That’s less than half the TBW rating we normally see with TLC NAND, and more in line with what QLC SSDs are rated for. (I’m kidding about the hockey puck!)"

It's not the fastest USB4 drive, but it might be the cutest and most affordable

While Corsair's EX400U is on the slow side for a USB4 SSD, it’s also less expensive. It’s faster and more compatible across platforms than 20Gbps USB 3.2x2 SSDs as well.

www.pcworld.com

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

"Corsair warranties the EX400U for three years, or 250 TBW (terabytes that may be written before it becomes a read-only hockey puck) for every 1TB of capacity. That’s less than half the TBW rating we normally see with TLC NAND, and more in line with what QLC SSDs are rated for. (I’m kidding about the hockey puck!)"

It's not the fastest USB4 drive, but it might be the cutest and most affordable

While Corsair's EX400U is on the slow side for a USB4 SSD, it’s also less expensive. It’s faster and more compatible across platforms than 20Gbps USB 3.2x2 SSDs as well.

www.pcworld.com

thanks for that mate


250 for each tb of capacity
so for the 2tb version
500tbw which would be ok

hmmmm says on the slow side for usb4
will have to go reread some reviews

 

[nlel1975]

I had a spare 1.92TB Corsair Force MP510 from 2019 available that’s why I bought the 40 Gbps NVMe enclosure. I could replace the drive with a faster one which would give me higher benchmark scores but I don’t see the point.

It’s fast enough, faster than any USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 drive and I would also run the risk of introducing heat issues and fan noise. As it is it’s performing well as the boot drive of my Mac mini M4.

My USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 drive is connected to my PCs USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port getting the most out of it. Don’t really need a USB4 drive for my PC.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Read more reviews
That pcworld ones only one I read
That says on the slow side
For a usb 4 drive
Might decide to just get one and find out

 

[nlel1975]

Might decide to just get one and find out

Yeah go for it and let us know the benchmarks, CrystalDiskMark for PC or AmorphousDiskMark for Mac. What motherboard do you have? Just make sure it has USB4 and that they work.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Yeah go for it and let us know the benchmarks, CrystalDiskMark for PC or AmorphousDiskMark for Mac. What motherboard do you have? Just make sure it has USB4 and that they work.

X570 crosshair extreme viii
One of the first boards to get usb4 i think
Got 2 x usb4 ports
Not sure how to make sure they work as such
Fastest thing i currently have to test them is 1GBs/1050 MBs
They max that out no problem

 

[nlel1975]

Not sure how to make sure they work as such

When I plugged my USB4 NVMe enclosure into one of the USB4 ports on my motherboard nothing showed up, I had it formatted as exFat I think. Didn't spend too much time troubleshooting it as it's permanently connected to my Mac mini m4 as the boot drive.

If you've plugged a 10 Gbps drive into one of the ports and it detected it that's a good sign. As I say I haven't spent much time troubleshooting it as it will never spend anytime connected to my PC.