Finest exterior SSD for gaming 2023: Moveable efficiency drives

Should you run out of house in your gaming laptop computer, otherwise you merely need a simple solution to make your recreation library moveable, an exterior SSD gives a solution to increase storage with out the hassles concerned with putting in a drive.

However selecting an exterior SSD entails a dizzying headache of choices, and making a poor selection can go away you wanting. Fortunate for you, we’ve accomplished the testing and might provide some stable suggestions which might be positive to assist, and never hinder, your gaming setup.

Why you need to belief us: We’re PCWorld. Our reviewers have been placing pc {hardware} via its paces for many years. Our exterior drive evaluations are thorough and rigorous, testing the boundaries of each product — from efficiency benchmarks to the practicalities of standard use. As shoppers ourselves, we all know what makes a product distinctive. For extra about our testing course of, scroll to the underside of this text.

Up to date 10/19/2023: Try our newest assessment of the Samsung T9 moveable SSD. This fashionable exterior drive gives nice speeds, however till it drops in value there are probably extra inexpensive choices that provide you with virtually the identical efficiency for much less.

Essential X10 Professional – Finest exterior SSD for gaming

Execs

• Near Thunderbolt 3 SSD efficiency in real-world transfers
• Tremendous-svelte type issue
• IP55 rated to withstand mud and spray

Cons

• Pricier than 10Gbps SSDs
• No Sort-A adapter included

Worth When Reviewed:

1TB: $119.99 I 2TB: $169.99

The WD Black P50 Recreation Drive has been parked on the prime of our checklist for a very long time. And never simply because it’s known as “Recreation Drive.” However now the Essential X10 has come alongside to knock the P50 off its perch, by providing superior efficiency at a greater value.

The Essential X10 shined brightest in our 48GB file transfers, besting the 20Gbps aggressive set, and even nearing Thunderbolt 3 ranges. With this type of real-world efficiency, plus a compact, rugged (IP55), anti-slip exterior, you may see why we predict the Essential X10 is one of the best exterior SSD for avid gamers.

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Essential X10 Professional assessment

Seagate FireCuda Gaming SSD (1TB) – Finest premium exterior SSD for gaming

Execs

• Drop-dead beautiful
• 2GBps transfers by way of SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps

Cons

• Expensive
• Superspeed USB 20Gbps ports are few and much between

Worth When Reviewed:

$110.92

Seagate’s FireCuda Gaming SSD is a worthy various, nevertheless it has a a lot steeper price ticket for related efficiency. Nonetheless, the FireCuda is a fully gorgeous exterior SSD and is worthy of a spot on any desktop. It’s not only a fairly façade although—it’s appropriate with a SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps port, which means it could attain switch charges of as much as 2GBps. It’s definitely the coolest-looking exterior SSD on this checklist.

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Seagate FireCuda Gaming SSD (1TB) assessment

Teamgroup M200 – Finest price range exterior SSD for gaming

Execs

• Quick on a regular basis efficiency
• Obtainable in as much as 8TB (ultimately) capability
• Attractively styled

Cons

• No TBW score
• Firm will change parts if shortages demand
• Writes gradual to 200MBps off cache

Worth When Reviewed:

$40 for 256GB | $58 for 512GB | $260 for 2TB | $300 for 4TB

The Teamgroup M200 gives glorious bang on your buck with 20Gbps switch charges and as much as 4TB of storage for a really cheap value. It has nice on a regular basis efficiency, too.

Its slick military-style design relies on the CheyTac M200 sniper rifle—an ideal match for these late night time frag periods. Sadly, Teamgroup doesn’t present a TBW score or official IP score for the M200 so it’s tougher to check it as a complete to its opponents. Nonetheless the M200 is a quick, extraordinarily nicely priced exterior SSD with a gamer-friendly design that can look good and carry out nicely in virtually any setup.

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Teamgroup T-Pressure M200 20Gbps USB SSD assessment

Adata Elite SE880 SSD – Most moveable exterior SSD for gaming

Execs

• Very quick, over-20Gbps USB connection
• Extraordinarily small type issue
• 5-year guarantee

Cons

• Slows significantly throughout lengthy contiguous writes
• Considerably low TBW score

Worth When Reviewed:

$79.99 for 500GB I $129.99 for 1TB

The Essential X6 could be small, nevertheless it nonetheless can’t match the Adata’s Elite SE880 for portability. Measuring in at solely 2.55 inches lengthy, 1.38 inches broad, and 0.48 inches thick, it resembles a USB thumb drive greater than an ordinary exterior SSD. It additionally weighs a featherlight 1.1 ounces—making it simple to overlook it’s even in your pocket.

When it comes to efficiency, the Elite SE880 is fast to deal with on a regular basis duties however slows down throughout lengthy writes. In a real-world 48GB switch take a look at, the drive got here via with flying colours, nevertheless it misplaced plenty of floor within the longer contiguous write exams. Which means photograph and video professionals with massive information to switch would possibly need to take into account different choices.

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Adata Elite SE880 SSD assessment

SanDisk Professional-G40 – Finest USB/Thunderbolt combo

Execs

• Each 10Gbps and Thunderbolt 3/4 connectivity
• Quick, particularly over Thunderbolt
• IP68 climate and dirt resistant

Worth When Reviewed:

1TB: $160 I 2TB: $240 I 4TB: $400

The SanDisk Professional-G40 not solely offers you superfast 40Gbps efficiency nevertheless it additionally permits you the flexibleness to modify to a slower, much less power-hungry USB connection, as nicely. It’s simply one of the best dual-bus compatibility drive that we’ve ever examined. The G40 gives the liberty of selection between optimizing pace by way of Thunderbolt 3/4 at as much as 40Gbps or choosing the power-saving 10Gbps by way of USB. In our 48GB and 450GB switch exams, the drive completely blew away the competitors when related with Thunderbolt.

Should you determine to take the Professional-G40 on the highway for some harder outings you may relaxation assured it’ll be simply superb given its IP68 score for climate and dirt resistance. Thunderbolt drives are by no means actually low-cost and SanDisk’s Professional-G40 isn’t any exception. However it’s completely value it in the event you worth efficiency above value or simply want the flexibility of a dual-bus SSD.

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SanDisk Professional-G40 SSD assessment

How we take a look at exterior SSD recreation efficiency

The largest query you need to know is, how a lot does utilizing an exterior drive damage recreation efficiency. To offer us an concept of how a lot it issues, we used UL’s new 3DMark Storage Benchmark. To create the benchmark, UL primarily information the drive entry patterns throughout a number of widespread gaming duties to make “traces.” These drive-access traces are then run on the examined storage system a number of occasions to duplicate the patterns with out having to really load the sport.

For its take a look at, 3DMark reproduces what occurs loading to the beginning menus of Battlefield V, Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 4, and Overwatch. 3DMark Storage additionally exams utilizing OBS, or Open Broadcast System, to document Overwatch being performed at 1080p decision at 60fps, putting in The Outer Worlds from the Epic launcher, and saving a recreation in The Outer Worlds. For the ultimate take a look at, 3DMark Storage exams copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike: World Offensive from an exterior SSD to the goal drive.

We used a Twelfth-gen Intel Core i9-12900K working Home windows 11 on an Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard. The board options native Thunderbolt 4 and USB 3.2 10Gbps ports. We added a Silverstone ECU06 for USB 3.2 SuperSpeed 20Gbps help. We then used a Vantec M.2 NVMe SSD to USB 3.2 Gen2x2 20G Sort C enclosure with a Western Digital SN700 NVMe SSD to check USB 3.2 20Gbps and 10Gbps efficiency. We additionally put in the identical SN700 right into a PCIe 3.0 riser card to check its native efficiency. This provides you an concept of how a lot you lose going from being put in contained in the laptop computer or PC in comparison with utilizing a USB port. For added distinction, we additionally ran 3DMark Storage on an older Plextor PX-512M7VG SATA SSD within a Silverstone MS09 SATA enclosure that was plugged right into a USB 3.2 10Gbps port. And since you need to understand how gradual a tough drive can be, we additionally ran the identical take a look at on a Western Digital 14TB EasyStore exhausting drive plugged right into a USB 3.2 10Gbps port. The EasyStore is definitely restricted to USB 3.2 SuperSpeed 5Gbps.

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What do you have to make of the above outcomes? Properly, clearly in the event you can set up an SSD within your PC, you’ll get essentially the most efficiency out of it. However you need to take into account a few of the context. Should you’re solely wanting on the massive lengthy pink bar on the prime of the chart, take into account that the actual take a look at is measuring what would occur in the event you copied a big folder of information to the SSD. For most individuals, that’s solely accomplished every so often.

The extra widespread situation is ready for a recreation to launch. Operating an inside NVMe drive will nonetheless be quicker, however the hole closes just a little. Between the three in style USB interfaces: USB 20Gbps, USB 10Gbps, and SATA on USB 10Gbps, the quickest is USB 3.2 20Gbps. With a USB 3.2 20Gbps SSD, you would possibly see Battlefield V shave 25 % of the load time versus a USB 3.2 10Gbps drive. In fact, efficiency can be recreation dependent. As an example, each Name of Responsibility and Battlefield see 45 % or so larger bandwidth on the inner SSD, however with the much less graphically intense Overwatch, it’s nearer to 30 %.

The opposite shock is the efficiency of the SATA SSD versus the NVMe SSD when the NVMe SSD is in a USB 3.2 10Gbps port. In recreation masses, saves, and set up eventualities, they’re pretty shut. The NVMe exterior SSD does speak in confidence to large lead over the slower SATA as soon as you progress to a job the place you’re copying an enormous quantity of information—such because the CS:GO outcomes. However once more, how usually do you do this?

In fact we will’t go away this with out mentioning simply horrible exhausting drives are. Would it not be extra improved with a quicker exhausting drive? Unlikely. The very minimal you need to use if storing video games on an exterior drive is a SATA SSD, so don’t run a recreation out of your exterior exhausting drive except you want to attend for all the things.