Gaming on an External Hard Drive?

[Saboteur]

I was just wondering if it is possible to play games from an external hard drive. Could anyone provide me with some information upon this subject?

 

[Asus]

Oh it's possible. If a game wants a registry entry then that could make it difficult though if you were planning on playing the games on multiple computers.

Most games don't require one.

 

[WhiteZero]

I dont see why not. As long as the connection you have between the hard drive and the computer dosent bottleneck the speed of the hard drive (7200 RPM in most cases)... in other words, if your using USB 2.0 or firewire, then there will be no difference between using an external or internal.

 

[PunisherUSA]

Oh it's possible. If a game wants a registry entry then that could make it difficult though if you were planning on playing the games on multiple computers.

Most games don't require one.

Even so, you could export the registries for all the games and put them on the computers you want.

 

[Saboteur]

I've been looking around at a bunch of websites with info on external hard drives and it seems like I should be able to if I choose the right one. By using USB 2.0, I think I will hardly notice any difference. The speed will basically be the same since my hard drive I have now runs at 7200 RPM with an ATA100 interface.

The reason why I'm looking to get one is because I'm running out of space on my hard drive and I also have a mini-tower, so I don't have much room for internal expansion. I don't really plan on using multiple computers because this is the only one I have, but I guess if I ever have a need to, I could take the external over to a friends.

I have another question in regard to USB 2.0 & Firewire. Is there any advantage of using one over the other? I'm curious because my only AGP slot is currently occupied by a low-profile video card, making USB my only option. I don't think there is any room left inside my computer except for a little PCI slot in the back corner.

I appreciate the replies you all have given so far. Thank you. Keep 'em coming.

 

[psyno]

If you're worried that the actual game is going to slow down because you're using an external HDD, i.e. FPS, etc, don't be. That's simply not where the data bottleneck is in a game most of the time.

Of course, if it's all the same, I would first offload my music, etc to the external HDD before my games.

*Edit: yes there are advantages/disadvantages to USB vs. Firewire, but it's smarter to check out the reviews for your particular device than to go on generalizations. It depends largely on the controller manufacturer anyway...