Having plentiful storage is imperative, especially as a gamer with a massive library of AAA titles. To help facilitate this, you can boost your gaming PC’s storage capacity by investing in a high-quality external hard drive. But which external hard drive is best?
To help you decide which external drive is right for you, we’ve decided to take a deep dive into all the different types of external drives, including HDDs, SSDs, and USB flash memory sticks.
External Hard Drive
An external hard drive can be used to store all your data outside of your PC’s internal storage drives. With an external hard drive, you don’t need to worry about old files or photos taking up space on your internal drives.
Instead, anything that you don’t need to use every day, can be stored on the external drive, giving you more space for more important things, like all your favourite games of course!
An external drive is just one of the many storage solutions you can utilise for your gaming PC. Our dedicated guide to storage takes you through everything you need to know about all the different options.
Types of External Hard Drives
You can find a variety of different types of external drives at Overclockers UK, including hard drives, solid-state drives, or USB flash memory sticks, but which is the right one for you?
External Hard Drive:
You can find both portable and desktop external hard drives.
Portable hard drives utilise USB connectivity and are often between 2.5 and 3.5 inches. This makes them extremely versatile and easy to take with you virtually anywhere! You can find external hard drives with varying capacities, ranging from 1TB to 6TB. Portable hard drives are suitable for students, hybrid workers, or even laptop gamers who need to regularly take all their important files or games with them wherever they go.
A desktop external hard drive is just as it sounds. These external hard drives are often pretty hefty, with large capacities, and sit on top of your desk alongside your gaming PC.
Desktop external drives are perfect for streamers and creatives alike. With capacities ranging from 5TB to 10TB, you can easily consistently back up any important files or projects and have access to a lot of precious storage space.
External Solid-State Drive:
Next up are external solid-state drives (SSDs). These drives are similar to their internal counterparts in that they boast high capacities, along with fast read and write speeds. Typically, an external SSD utilises USB connectivity, with some featuring support for the latest USB generations, including 3.2.
External SSDs are the ideal choice for students, hybrid workers, and gamers who want a reliable external storage solution with fast data transfer rates. Accessing all your important files and games will take seconds, meaning you don’t have to wait around to get started on your latest project or play your favourite game.
USB Stick:
A USB flash memory stick is another form of portable external storage that utilises a spare USB port on your laptop or PC. Typically, no bigger than a pack of chewing gum, you can find USB sticks with a variety of different storage capacities, including 64, 128, 256, or 512GB.
USB flash memory sticks are the ideal external storage solution for those looking for a small form factor (SSF) external drive. Easy to transport, you can access all your files and photos wherever you go.
You can find out which memory stick is best for your set-up by reading through our dedicated guide.
Our Top External Hard Drives:
WD Elements 1TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive:
- Portable external drive
- 1TB storage capacity
- USB 3.0 connectivity
- Includes a free trial of WD SmartWave Pro backup software
Seagate Expansion 6TB Desktop External Hard Drive:
- Desktop external drive
- 6TB storage capacity
- USB 3.0 connectivity
- Includes Rescue Data Recovery
WD Black P10 4TB 2.5” Portable USB 3.2 External Solid-State Drive:
- External SSD
- 4TB storage capacity
- USB 3.2 connectivity
Kingston 128GB 3.2 USB Stick:
- 128GB storage capacity
- USB Type A 3.2 connectivity
- 60MB/s write speed
- 200MB/s read speed
Alternatively, you can shop the entire range of external hard drives by clicking the button below.
Learn More About PC Storage
What Type of Storage Do You Use?
Be sure to let us know below how you use external hard drives in your set-up to optimise your storage.
- 4 min read
Ruth Rowley
Author
Ruth has been with Overclockers UK for over a year and has gone on to write about everything ranging from in-depth hardware guides to monthly game releases.
Outside of writing blog posts, she can be found wrapped in a blanket with her black cat, engrossed in a book or playing life-simulation games such as The Sims, Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing.
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