I was wondering if there is any advantage of an external SSD drive vs. internal if I were to reinstall FSX on it's own drive. Would the external have any performance disadvantage being plugged into an outside port? Seems an external would be less heat inside the case.

Thanks, Vic Green

Hello Vic,

 

I don't think you can do that, I believe that you are only able to install to a fixed drive.

Phil

Depends on what you plug it into. Internally via SATA, externally via USB 2.0, USB 3.0, eSATA.

 

I would suspect that even with the fastest external interface, internal would have the advantage.

External drives typically do not transfer data through an external SATA port as fast as they can when using the motherboard SATA ports.

Thank you for the advice.

I've run FSX on two external drives as well as an internal SSD. One of the externals was a  Western Digital 10,000 RPM VelociRaptor in a USB3 docking station and the other was a Western Digital 7200 RPM My Book plugged directly into a USB3 port. Other than the faster initial load times of the SSD I saw little, if any, performance difference between any of them once FSX was loaded and running. That said, given a choice, I'd opt for an internal drive every time simply because they're less expensive and tend to last longer. (And I wouldn't worry about the heat issue - it's really not a concern as long as the cooling fans are clean and running)

 

Doug

That's interesting Doug. I have FSX STEAM on my C drive but most of my addon airports and photo scenery on a Toshiba 1.35T external drive which seems to be working fine. I was just teasing the thought of putting the entire shooting match on the external SSD just so it would all be in the same fsx folder but for the time I guess I'll keep my present set up.

That's interesting Doug. I have FSX STEAM on my C drive but most of my addon airports and photo scenery on a Toshiba 1.35T external drive which seems to be working fine. I was just teasing the thought of putting the entire shooting match on the external SSD just so it would all be in the same fsx folder but for the time I guess I'll keep my present set up.

From boot up time to time to the gate is about 4 times faster for me. As far as an increase in FPS ,? Files certainly load a heck of a lot faster, when in a situation where weather or other files need to be fetched you may see a moderate increase in FPS. My old machine seems faster with the Sandisk Extreme Pro 490 GB SSD.

 

Baldy

From boot up time to time to the gate is about 4 times faster for me. As far as an increase in FPS ,? Files certainly load a heck of a lot faster, when in a situation where weather or other files need to be fetched you may see a moderate increase in FPS. My old machine seems faster with the Sandisk Extreme Pro 490 GB SSD.

 

Baldy

Thank you Baldy,

Is that an external SSD?

It's mounted in one of the 3 1/2"  Hard Drive bays. I had to purchase a smaller 21/2"  Tray for it that mounts into a 31/2".drive tray space. It uses an ordinary Sata Port on the motherboard. Easy to hook up! I suppose my next build will have a mobo that supports the new MV slot or whatever they call it. Not sure if it's the same as the PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 slots? They are supposed to be faster yet. I remember reading something about Intels Thunderbolt tech I think they called it, MV?  

In any event I really like the Sandisk Extreme Pro It's called. I read somewhere that WD bought Sandisk, again?

 

Godd Luck

Baldy