Best External SSD For Gaming 2022: Easiest Upgrading

External solid state drives are a great way to increase storage without having to install a drive.

But choosing an external SSD is a difficult decision. Lucky for you, the test was passed and we can offer solid recommendations that will not only help but enhance your gaming setup.

Update 11/08/2022 The Crucial X6 portable SSD is our choice for the best gaming external SSD, while the Adata Elite SE880 SSD is our choice for the most portable external gaming SSD. You can find more information in our new recommendations below.

1. WD Black P50 SSD Game Drive (1TB) – The Best External SSD for Games

Positives

• Up to 2Gbps with SuperSpeed ​​USB 20Gbps

• Differentiated military design

Negatives

• Expensive compared to 10Gbps SuperSpeed ​​drives

• Requires an extremely rare 20Gbps SuperSpeed ​​USB port for full performance

We didn’t choose that drive just because it was called “Game Drive SSD”. This WD drive reaches the performance standards you want and features USB 3.2 SuperSpeed ​​support at 20Gbps. Although USB 3.2 SuperSpeed ​​at 20Gbps was a rarity, many new motherboards today support it. If your computer doesn’t support it, the good news is that it will support the most popular USB 3.2 SuperSpeed ​​10Gbps, which is the next best thing. This gives you good performance right now and allows you to upgrade your mobo. Unlike a standard portable SSD, which might have a rubber or plastic casing to absorb impacts, WD Black P50 has a metal case that should absorb heat from the smoked SSD inside. The WD P50 Game Drive is a premium product that will deliver the best performance.

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WD Black P50 Game Drive SSD (1TB) Review

2. Seagate FireCuda Gaming SATA SSD (1TB) – The Best Premium External SSD For Gaming

Positives

• Fantastic dead drop

• 2Gbps Transfers via SuperSpeed ​​USB at 20Gbps

Negatives

• The price

• Ultra-Speed ​​20Gbps USB ports are few and far between

The FireCuda Gaming SSD is a great alternative to the WD Black P50. However, it is more expensive than the WD Black P50. FireCuda’s external SSD is stunning and deserves a place on every desktop. And it’s not just a pretty interface – it’s 20Gbps SuperSpeed ​​USB compatible, which means it can reach transfer rates of up to 2Gbps. This external SSD is definitely our top choice, even though it’s not the most expensive.

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Seagate FireCuda Gaming SSD (1TB) Review

3. Crucial X6 Portable HDD (2TB) – The Best External Hard Drive for Gaming at a Budget

Positives

• ergonomic design

• Good daily performance

• External SSD Drives Very Affordable

Negatives

• Performance lockers in case of cache exhaustion

The Crucial X6 Portable SATA SSD is a unique shape that fits in your pocket. In a sea of ​​portable SSDs whose shape causes a real pain to slip into a pocket, the X6’s thin, rounded edge is a sigh of relief. It is small and lightweight, yet it delivers decent performance. You won’t find a better deal. It is not fast but it is fast enough to be used by most users. The reasonable price makes it an excellent value SSD.

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Crucial X6 Portable SSD (2TB) Review

4. Adata Elite SE880 SATA SSD – Most Portable External Storage SSD for Gaming

Positives

• USB connection speeds exceedingly fast at 20Gbps

• The form factor is too small

• 5 year warranty

Negatives

• Long contiguous writings slow down dramatically

• Very low TBW rating

Although the Crucial X6 is small, it is still not as portable as Adata’s Elite SE880. It measures only 2.55 inches high, 1.38 inches wide, and 0.48 inches thick. This makes it look more like a USB flashdrive than an external solid state drive. The feather light weighs in at 1.1 ounces making it easy to forget that it is even in your pocket.

The Elite SE880 performs well in everyday tasks, but slows down when writing long files. Although the drive passed the 48GB transfer test in a real-world setting, it did not perform well in the longer contiguous write tests. Video and photo professionals with large files may want to look at other options.

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Adata Elite SE880 SSD Review

How to test external SSD games’ performance

The most important question you need to ask is how external drives affect game performance. To give us an idea of ​​how important it is, we used UL’s new 3D storage standard. UL records drive access patterns in common game tasks to create “traces”. The traces of accessing a drive are then played on the storage media, which has been tested multiplely to replicate the patterns without actually loading the game.

3DMark recreates what happens when you load it into the start menus. Battlefield VThen there’s the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.Then there’s the Take note and keep an eye. 3DMark Storage also tests OBS (Open Broadcast System) for recording Take note and keep an eyeIt plays in 1080p at 60fps, stabilization outer worldsEpic launcher and save game outer worlds. 3DMark Storage tests the final version of Steam folder copies for their accuracy. Global Offensive – Counter-StrikeFrom an external SSD, to the target drive.

Our Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard was powered by an Intel Core i9-12900K 12th generation processor running Windows 11. Thunderbolt 4 and USB 3.0 ports are available at 10Gbps. We added Silverstone ECU06 to support USB 3.2 SuperSpeed ​​at 20Gbps. Next, we used a file Vantec M.2 NVMe SSD to USB 3.2 Gen2x2 20G Type C Attached is a Western Digital SN700NVMe SSD to test USB3.2 performance at 20Gbps or 10Gbps. To test its original performance, we also installed the same SN700 in a PCIe 3.0 Riser card. This gives you an idea of ​​how much you lose from installing inside your laptop or PC compared to using a USB port. We also ran 3DMark storage on an older Plextor PX512M7VG SATA drive. Silverstone MS09 SATA Attached to a USB3.2 port at 10 Gbps. We also tested the speed of a Western Digital 14TB EasyStore drive, which was connected to a 10Gbps USB3.2 port. EasyStore is actually limited to USB 3.2 SuperSpeed ​​5Gbps.

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What should you do based on the above results? It is clear that you will get the most performance from your SSD if you can put it in your computer. You need to consider context. If you are only looking at the long red line at the top of this graph, remember that the specific test measures the effect of copying large files to an SSD. This is something most people do once in a while.

The most common scenario involves waiting for the game’s launch. Although an internal NVMe drive is still faster than the external, it is getting closer. The fastest USB interface is USB 3.2 at 20Gbps. You might be able see with a 20Gbps USB3.2 Solid State Drive. Battlefield VSave 25% on load time with a 10Gbps USB 3.0 drive. Performance will vary depending on the game. Both, for example, can be performed at the same time. Call of dutyThen there is the BattlefieldGet 45 percent more data on an internal SSD. However, you will get less graphic intensity. Take note and keep an eyeIt’s closer than 30 percent.

Another surprise is the difference in performance between a SATA SSD and an NVMe SSD if the NVMe SSD has a USB 3.0 port at 10Gbps. It’s pretty close in the cases of loading, saving, installing, and removing games. An external NVMe solid state drive opens up a huge lead over a slower SATA drive once you’re on the job of copying a massive amount of files — like CS:GO Results. However, this is not something you do often.

This cannot be left without mentioning the horrible hard drives. It will be further optimized if it has a faster hard drive. is unlikely. If you store games on an external hard drive, the minimum you should use is a SATA SSD. Don’t run any game from your external hard drive unless it is absolutely necessary.