Is an external hard drive good for gaming? Before saying that we have to talk about some factors regarding this. As we all know about hard drives inside our pc, an external hard disk/drive is an external piece of equipment that can be connected to our computer to increase storage capacity. The external hard drive is portable and can also be used on multiple different devices.
External hard disk is easy to use and best for backup our most important files. It is almost the same as USB flash drives but bigger and with more storage space.
Can external hard drives be used for gaming?
Due to large file the sizes of games, this is becoming essential for every gamer to use an external hard drive in their PC or Console as it is a great way to expand storage in your device.
Gaming requires a lot of storage on our computers, and external HDDs can take the pressure off our machines and give us the ability to store more games at the same time.
As most are not highly techy, the method of putting in a brand new internal hard disk will be quite difficult.
The best and safe way is to use external hard drives for gaming which are extremely easy to use. All we need to plug them in and they will work pretty fine.
In addition to that, an external drive is often excellent for installing games on multiple computers. Generally speaking, no file formatting is required to use a gaming external disk drive.
Do games run worse on the external hard drive?
Many of us may be heard about this from our friends or on the internet that the game doesn’t run well on the external hard drive and frankly to say that it’s not the same.
It depends on a lot of factors like your current internal hard disk, processor, and ram. Also, it depends on the external hard drive’s specs and even your USB port.
It is advisable that if it’s a USB 3.1 or 3.0 it’s pretty fast and can even handle games too. If it’s a USB 2.0 it’s pretty weak and will take a longer time for data transfers.
I’ve personally played a couple of games like Call of Duty, Need for Speed, and GTA 5 on an external hard drive on a PC with 8GB RAM and an Intel Core i5 CPU connected to a USB 3.1 port and I had no issues.
What Are the Best External Hard Drives for Gaming?
WD Black P10 Game Drive – Best External Hard Drive for PC Gaming
- Compatibility: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Series S and Xbox One
- Capacity: Comes in a minimum of 3TB, up to a maximum of 5TB.
- Hardcore Performance: It doesn’t overheat even when playing for hours as it is made for gaming. (We tested it after a straight 15-hour operation).
- Warranty: Includes a three-year limited warranty.
Samsung T5 SSD – Best External SSD for Gaming
- Compatibility: Best SSD for gaming on Laptop. It works well on desktop PCs, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, S and Xbox One and is one of the best SSD for Gaming.
- Fast Transfer Speeds: It comes with fantastic data transfer rate of 530MB/s, which makes it the best device to play the high-resolution game directly from this device.
- Capacity: This is available up to 2TB and is best for streamers who use recording software and need extra storage.
- Supports USB-C: It makes the T5 futureproof with upcoming devices that use the USB-C port type.
- Shock Resistance: The T5 features no moving parts so that it can survive drops from up to 2 meters. Frankly speaking, the Samsung T5 SSD is no doubt the best external SSD for gaming.
Top 10 External Hard Drive for Gaming.
Here we have mentioned the top 10 Best External Hard Drives for Gaming according to best compatibility in various operating systems and gaming consoles.
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| Product | Storage Capacity | Best for | Our Rating |
| WD_BLACK 4TB P10 Game Drive | 500GB-5TB | Best for PC Gaming Best for Steam Games | 5.0 |
| SAMSUNG T5 SSD | 1TB-2TB | Best External SSD for Gaming Best for PS5 & Xbox Series X | 5.0 |
| WD Element Portable | 1TB-5TB | 4.7 | |
| Seagate PS4 Game Drive | 2TB-4TB | PS4 | 4.9 |
| Seagate Xbox Game Drive | 500GB-8TB | Xbox One | 4.9 |
| ADATA SD700 | 256GB-1TB | 4.5 | |
| Seagate Backup HUB Plus | 4TB-10TB | Best for Gaming on Mac | 4.8 |
| Fantom Drive FD GForce | 1TB-18TB | Mac, Windows, Xbox, PS4 | 4.6 |
| VectoTech Rapid SSD | 1TB-8TB | Best Portable Gaming SSD | 4.7 |
| G-Technology Armor ATD | 1TB-5TB | Best Durable External HDD | 4.6 |
We hope we had able to clear your the doubts about External Hard Drive for Gaming. We will truly appreciate it if you share your thoughts regarding this in the comment section. If you still have any queries drop a comment, we are always there to clear it.
