Be prepared for long loading times and transitions, and also long install times when using Steam as it will have to pause during downloading to wait for all the files to be unpacked to the disk. 'Pocket' 2.5 Inch Mechanical DriveĪ pocket drive is still usable, and can be found quite readily and cheaply. Note that these days most 'gaming' PCs will be built with Solid State Drives internally. Powered 3.5 Inch Mechanical DriveĪ powered external drive will be larger than a portable drive (and not very useful if you are on the go) but it will provide ample space (multiple terabytes) and should perform similar to a mechanical hard drive that you would have found inside a desktop PC a few years ago. My examples above are assuming you are in the USA, but as another example here in Australia I could assemble a 120GB SSD in a USB 3 enclosure for under $90 AUD. You should be able to assemble a 120GB drive for under $70 and a 60GB drive for around $50 from either Amazon or your local computer parts store. The enclosure should be able to be found for around $10. You may also choose to assemble your own drive by purchasing an internal SSD and a 2.5 inch USB 3 Enclosure to contain the drive. According to Game Debate Fallout 4 requires 28GB of hard drive space so you could target an even smaller drive to reduce costs.

Amazon shows that in August 2015 you can get 250GB external SSD for around $150. These are your options in order from best to worst: Solid State Drive (SSD)Ī solid state drive will provide much faster access than a mechanical hard drive. Cheap plastic electronic + heat is usually a combination to stay away from :) Note: your HDD itself will most like be fine, but the enclosure is usually a cheap plastic box with no holes.

However, do look for a metal one that feels cool to the touch (heat dissipation), and avoid plastic ones. The HDD itself are designed for laptops, and usually generates less heat because the 'boxed in' environment are exactly how they operate in a laptop. However, these are significantly more expensive.Īs an alternative, the 1.8'/2.5' format is usually safer. If you are still considering this, look for a high quality, metal external drive, with an active heat sink (has a fan) and also heat sink fins on the box. You will have to take the device apart to notice this. Unfortunately you probably won't know this is happening because the external drive are typically housed in a box. You will most likely destroy your drive very quickly. Neither external flash nor HDD have sufficient heat dissipation to handle that. Running Fallout 4 will most likely keep the drive active for the entire duration of your playtime.

Good external hard drive for pc gaming