I'm currently saving up for a new computer to buy at the end of the year, in time for Skyrim. I've been set on the idea of buying a SSD for the performance increase they provide in gaming, but am now considering buying an external drive for my current computer to tide me over until buying the new one. Since it's external, it will be just as useful for my new computer as it will be for my current one.

Are there any issues with external SSDs and games though? Would I be able to make a clean install of Oblivion on one, and notice significantly less stuttering and faster loading times, possibly improved framerates? Or are external drives purely used for media storage and transportation like music, photos, and videos?

Many thanks for reading ^_^

The answer has to do with the interface to the external drive. Assuming you have SATA drive support and an ESATA port to your external drive, yes it should work.

However if you have a drive bay available inside your current machine, the installation is much simpler.

I agree that in internal drive is simpler. Do not buy an external SSD that has USB connections. (Unless USB 3.0) All the performance would go to waste when connected to a slow USB 2.0 port.

SATA rings a bell, so I assume I have it. I'm not sure I have a spare drive bay though. At the moment I have two 750gb hard drives in RAID, so I might not have any space. I'll have to check my computer's innards when I get home next week. Is it normal to have three drive bays?


Ok, that answers one of my follow-up questions about a USB connection And in that case, I'll focus on the possibility of an internal SSD. If I have space I'll ask some more questions about recommended size and manufacturers. If I don't have space for another drive, then I'll leave it until I buy a new computer and stick to my hard drives.

Thanks for the replies ^_^

Your motherboard should have more SATA II ports. And really SSDs are resistant to shock. So technically, it doesnt need to be in an actual HDD bay. (You would need a 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch converter do to this anyway). As to brand names, I prefer the OCZ Vertex series myself.

I just lay my SSD's on the bottom inside of the case. I don't really move it around at all so it's fine. They don't generate a lot of heat either so cooling them is not as important as for a mechanical drive. Yes, they are much faster and well worth getting. I have a couple of 64GB'ers one for the OS and one for more intensive games like Oblivion. Recently started playing again since getting them and load time are very fast. With performance enhancing mods, ini tweaks, and 4GB of ram combined with an E8600 and an HD5870 on W7Pro64 it runs like a dream on Ultra settings with frame rates upward of 100 at 1920x1200. Oblivion: Loving it all over again. Lotsa great mods out there now too. Only at level 6 on my new character but have tons of new adventures to try out. Funny I never completed Knights or went to SI on my first main, musta gotten busy with something else. Looking forward to the release of TES5.

I've been thinking about buying an internal drive but haven't because I play most games on Steam and it seems like they just ain't big enough. I can deal with regular hard drive loading times anyways since in games like Oblivion outside streams instantly and large cells like the Imperial City with Better Cities installed only takes 5 seconds to load anyways.

On a 64GB'er I have Oblivion, Fallout 3, LotRO, and Steam with Fallout NV with 24.3 GB to spare.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008119%2050001183%20600038477&IsNodeId=1&name=64GB