Yo Gamers! Here‘s the DL on Where to Stash Your Games
If you‘re a serious PC gamer like me, you need plenty of speedy storage space to hold your sweet collection of AAA titles, indie darlings, and old-school faves. Stocking all those 100GB installs can get tricky — you don‘t want precious saves or performance slowed down by a janky drive setup!
Based on my years of rig building and gaming, the best bet is keeping active games on a fast internal SATA or NVMe SSD, while offloading your library to a capacious external HDD or full-on NAS server. More details ahead on optimizing your game drives for any budget and playstyle!
Internal Drives: OS Responsibilities
Gaming on your Windows C: drive boots games lightning quick, but risks bloating the OS. An ideal setup is…
C: Windows, essential programs
D+: Games and data
I‘d highly suggest springing for a 500GB+ SATA SSD (or pricier but slammin‘ fast NVMe) just for key games in progress. A few standout models:
- Crucial MX500 (550MB/s sequential reads)
- Samsung 870 EVO (560MB/s seq. reads)
- WD Black SN750 NVMe (3400MB/s seq. reads!!)
Keep your fave titles and save files there for insane launch speeds. We‘re talking 25 seconds instead of 1 minute+ on an old HDD!
External Drives: Shelf Your Library
Once your C: and D: fill up with the latest releases, external USB drives are clutch for storing your whole catalog — no upgrading internal hardware.
Portable HDDs and SSDs come in massive 4TB+ capacities to house hundreds of games. And as solid state tech gets cheaper, 1TB+ external SSDs like the Samsung T7 Touch blaze transfers at over 1000MB/s!
Downsides? Externals can‘t touch internal drive speeds and need extra power/connections. I keep my played collection on snappy internals, while cold storage externals catalog the backlog.
Cloud Storage: Universal Backups
Jumping between a gaming laptop and desktop? Cloud storage like Google Drive lets you save/access game data seamlessly from anywhere.
Most cloud platforms offer their own sync apps for auto-backup of precious save files. And with internet speeds improving, streaming entire game libraries from the cloud could be the future!
Just don‘t expect seamless performance yet — even fast consumer internet lags behind local drives. I use the cloud as supplemental game save insurance rather than primary storage.
Dedicated Servers: The Enthusiast Endgame
Got game archives bursting at the seams? Network attached storage (NAS) devices are the trophy case power gamers dream of! These monsters start around 4 bays x 10TB and scale WAY up.
I‘m drooling over the Synology DS1621xs+ — six drive bays for 60TB+ potential storage and dual 10GbE connectivity! File access speeds hit 400-500MB/s, leaving no room for load time complaints.
The home server life ain‘t cheap though. Be ready to spend $1000+ for the hardware, HDD packs, network upgrades, etc. And don‘t forget IT admin skills for setup/configuration!
Game Save Spelunking
Save spots vary by game and platform, but check these folders for rogue files:
Documents\My GamesSaved Games- Game install directories
- AppData locations
For auto-uploading, cloud services like GameSave Manager have your deletion disaster backup needs covered!
Stashing Your Stash: Pro Tips
Follow these 8 bits of storage wisdom and you‘ll be sitting pretty on a lag-free trove of legendary games!
- Divide and conquer: OS/apps on C:, active games on D:, cold storage for the backlog
- Use all the space: Fill those internal SATA/NVMe bays before going external
- Go FAST: SSD for speed, HDD for storage budgets
- Mirror your saves: Local + cloud backup FTW
- Size up: 500GB can hold 10-25 average games; future-proof with 1-2TB
- Get organized: Steam collections and other launchers help tame libraries
- Defrag it: Keep HDD health in check
- Save early, save often: Don‘t lose progress to drive failures!
Game Load Time Breakdown
Let‘s crunch some numbers on how drive type impacts that launch screen wait —
| Drive Type | Avg. Seq. Read | Game Load Time |
|---|---|---|
| HDD 5400 RPM | 100 MB/s | 45-60 seconds |
| SATA SDD | 550 MB/s | 25-35 seconds |
| NVMe SSD | 3500 MB/s | 15-25 seconds |
As you can see, upgrading to solid state tech pays off in fat load boosts. I can‘t live without my NVMe drives now for buttery smooth gaming!
Wrap Up: A Worthy Upgrade
At the end of the day, the storage medium holding your game library matters. A lot!
Investing in quality SSDs, externals, or even a NAS for the biggest collectors will bank you performance gains and peace of mind.
What drive setup are you rolling with? Any killer recommendations or lessons learned? Give me your best storage strats in the comments!
