Expanding Your Gaming Library

Performance • Console & PC Storage

Modern video games demand an unprecedented amount of storage space. With AAA titles routinely exceeding 100GB, the internal drives of current-generation consoles and gaming PCs fill up rapidly. Implementing external storage is a necessity, but the rules regarding what types of drives you can use to store versus actually play games vary drastically depending on your platform.

Console Constraints: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S

The latest generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft was built around customized, ultra-fast internal NVMe SSD architectures. Game developers utilize this high bandwidth to stream assets directly into memory, eliminating load screens and enabling fast-travel mechanics previously thought impossible.

Because external USB interfaces cannot match the bandwidth and customized data pipelines of these internal drives, you cannot play native PS5 or Xbox Series X/S games directly from a standard external USB drive.

Cold Storage The concept of storing unplayable games externally to save download time

Instead, external USB drives on these consoles serve two primary functions:

Cold Storage for Next-Gen Games: You can move PS5 or Xbox Series X/S games to an external drive (either HDD or SSD) to free up internal space. When you want to play them again, you must copy them back to the internal drive. Copying from a local external HDD or SSD is significantly faster and uses less bandwidth than re-downloading a 100GB game from the internet.
Active Play for Last-Gen Games: You can install and play older PlayStation 4 and Xbox One games directly from an external USB drive. For these older titles, an external SSD is highly recommended to significantly reduce loading times compared to an external HDD.

PC Gaming: DirectStorage and External Enclosures

PC gaming is historically much more forgiving regarding external storage. Platforms like Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG allow you to create library folders on any connected drive. You can easily install and play games entirely off an external HDD or SSD.

However, the landscape is shifting. As Microsoft's DirectStorage API becomes more prevalent in PC games, titles will begin requiring SSD-level performance to function properly. Running a modern PC game off an external mechanical HDD will result in severe texture pop-in, micro-stutters, and agonizingly long load times.

For PC gamers who need external portability—perhaps moving a game library between a desktop and a gaming laptop—an external NVMe enclosure is the optimal solution. Connected via a high-speed USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 or Thunderbolt port, an external NVMe drive can deliver read speeds indistinguishable from an internal drive during normal gameplay scenarios.

Choosing the Right Drive for Gaming

If your goal is strictly archiving console games to avoid redownloading, a massive 4TB or 8TB external HDD offers the best value. The transfer times back to the console's internal storage will be slower than an SSD, but the capacity per dollar is unbeatable.

If you intend to play last-generation console games directly from the external drive, or if you are running a portable PC gaming library, avoid HDDs entirely. A portable USB-C SSD will ensure you spend your time actually gaming, rather than staring at progress bars.