Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Ian S

Question about external SSDs

Recommended Posts

I need to add some more space, primarily to store by Orbx folder.

I am looking at a 1TB external SSD. 

I can see a Samsung 860 EVO for $245 (AUD), or for an extra $155 I can get a Samsung T5.

Just wondering if anyone can shed any light on what I will get for the extra money, is it worth it, and whether anyone is successfully using a Samsung 860 for the their flight sim. 

cheers

Ian


Ian S

38.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, Ian S said:

I am looking at a 1TB external SSD. 

Why not internal? Unless you use one of the more unusual interfaces like Thunderbolt, in an average system an internal SSD will almost always be faster than an external one, particularly so if you use an NVMe drive. The only compelling reason to go for an external drive is portability.


 i7-6700k | Asus Maximus VIII Hero | 16GB RAM | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X Plus | Samsung Evo 500GB & 1TB | WD Blue 2 x 1TB | EVGA Supernova G2 850W | AOC 2560x1440 monitor | Win 10 Pro 64-bit

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just downloaded a heap of Orbx downloads. A good post by OP. Where are they stored so can make a back-up?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This question is valid for laptops, I am interested in following this thread.


Glenn Wilkinson

dk1xTfc.jpg                                      28.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
19 minutes ago, beechcaptain said:

This question is valid for laptops, I am interested in following this thread.

+1 There is not always available slot for an additional SSD


Ahmet Can

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, vortex681 said:

Why not internal? Unless you use one of the more unusual interfaces like Thunderbolt, in an average system an internal SSD will almost always be faster than an external one, particularly so if you use an NVMe drive. The only compelling reason to go for an external drive is portability.

Exactly, portability. 

I am hoping to future-proof things as much as possible. In the event I change my motherboard I dont want to worry about compatibility and instead just plug the drive into the new system 


Ian S

38.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, vc10man said:

Just downloaded a heap of Orbx downloads. A good post by OP. Where are they stored so can make a back-up?

Just to clarify,  this will be for my primary Orbx folder, not the backup files used for reinstallations 


Ian S

38.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Ian S said:

Just to clarify,  this will be for my primary Orbx folder, not the backup files used for reinstallations 

Probably did not phrase it correctly, but what I meant to say was that I have just spent 3 days downloading all my Orbx purchases now that I have a larger drive, but wanted to ideally know how to create a backup folder, as slow broadband speeds takes ages to download

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Ian S said:

I am hoping to future-proof things as much as possible. In the event I change my motherboard I dont want to worry about compatibility and instead just plug the drive into the new system.

You could still use an internal drive. If you use a SATA3 SSD it will almost certainly be faster than an external drive and you can still easily swap it between systems - the SATA3 interface is likely to be around for some time yet. Additionally, it will probably cost less than an external drive and it guarantees that you won't have any potential USB connection problems that pop up occasionally.

Edited by vortex681

 i7-6700k | Asus Maximus VIII Hero | 16GB RAM | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X Plus | Samsung Evo 500GB & 1TB | WD Blue 2 x 1TB | EVGA Supernova G2 850W | AOC 2560x1440 monitor | Win 10 Pro 64-bit

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Plus, an internal SSD can be double-foam-sided-taped almost anywhere inside the case. You don’t need an empty slot.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
21 minutes ago, Trumpet1 said:

Plus, an internal SSD can be double-foam-sided-taped almost anywhere inside the case. You don’t need an empty slot.

Hmm..how do you mean?


Ahmet Can

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

TBH, an external SSD somewhat defeats the purpose of buying the fast media in the first place.  The device is faster, but the transfer speeds from it to the data bus are quite a bit slower than an internal nVME or SATA III connection.  Faster (and more expensive) device on a slower bus...not really an improvement.

Also, placing scenery (except photoscenery) onto an SSD does not generally help with performance, because P3D/FSX's lookahead precaches the scenery to RAM before it's processed anyway, making the speed at which it's accessed essentially irrelevant (within the range of currently-available storage devices).

So...if you have to put scenery on an external drive, it's probably just as well to buy a much cheaper (and probably higher-capacity) 7200 rpm HDD.  The only performance difference you might notice is slightly longer loading times when starting the sim.

Regards

  • Like 1

Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc
ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V

System1 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS @ 6.0GHz, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090
Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@30Hz,
3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU, 1.2Gbps internet
Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro
PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box

Sys2 (MSFS/XPlane): i9-10900K @ 5.1GHz, 32GB 3600/15, nVidia RTX4090FE, Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, EVGA 1000P2
Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, 2x TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case

Portable Sys3 (P3Dv4/FSX/DCS): i9-9900K @ 5.0 Ghz, Noctua NH-D15, 32GB 3200/16, EVGA RTX3090, Dell S2417DG 24" GSync
Corsair RM850x PSU, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog HOTAS, Coolermaster HAF XB case

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 11/7/2018 at 5:08 PM, w6kd said:

TBH, an external SSD somewhat defeats the purpose of buying the fast media in the first place.  The device is faster, but the transfer speeds from it to the data bus are quite a bit slower than an internal nVME or SATA III connection.  Faster (and more expensive) device on a slower bus...not really an improvement.

Also, placing scenery (except photoscenery) onto an SSD does not generally help with performance, because P3D/FSX's lookahead precaches the scenery to RAM before it's processed anyway, making the speed at which it's accessed essentially irrelevant (within the range of currently-available storage devices).

So...if you have to put scenery on an external drive, it's probably just as well to buy a much cheaper (and probably higher-capacity) 7200 rpm HDD.  The only performance difference you might notice is slightly longer loading times when starting the sim.

Regards

Bob,

I moved FS Global files to a slower HDD from a SSD to generate more space and the load time of P3D was considerably slower. Moved them back the next day.

FS Global covers the entire world in enhanced mesh and comes on 8 DVDs so it’s quite a lot of data. Less data would be read quicker but I would always store scenery on SSDs.


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
46 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I moved FS Global files to a slower HDD from a SSD to generate more space and the load time of P3D was considerably slower. Moved them back the next day.

FS Global covers the entire world in enhanced mesh and comes on 8 DVDs so it’s quite a lot of data. Less data would be read quicker but I would always store scenery on SSDs.

I think the difference here is the OP is asking about using an external drive, which is likely to be limited by the speed of the interface.  No doubt about it, initial load times are much faster on an internal SATA III or nVME SSD when compared to an internal HDD.


Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc
ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V

System1 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS @ 6.0GHz, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090
Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@30Hz,
3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU, 1.2Gbps internet
Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro
PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box

Sys2 (MSFS/XPlane): i9-10900K @ 5.1GHz, 32GB 3600/15, nVidia RTX4090FE, Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, EVGA 1000P2
Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, 2x TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case

Portable Sys3 (P3Dv4/FSX/DCS): i9-9900K @ 5.0 Ghz, Noctua NH-D15, 32GB 3200/16, EVGA RTX3090, Dell S2417DG 24" GSync
Corsair RM850x PSU, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog HOTAS, Coolermaster HAF XB case

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
17 minutes ago, w6kd said:

I think the difference here is the OP is asking about using an external drive, which is likely to be limited by the speed of the interface.  No doubt about it, initial load times are much faster on an internal SATA III or nVME SSD when compared to an internal HDD.

I agree but wasn't he asking about an external drive presumably connected via USB3? How do the speeds of that compare to internal SSD? Slow, very slow or take the dog for a walk?

Edited by Ray Proudfoot

Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...