I just got a 2TB NVMe SSD and I'm planning to keep my existing 1TB SSD for my OS and other programs. I want to know if having the OS on one SSD and all my games on a separate SSD will affect performance. Is this a common setup, and how can I configure Steam and other games to run from the new drive?
5 Answers
I haven't experienced any significant performance drops with my setup either. I've got my OS on one NVMe and games spread across a couple of SSDs. If there’s any difference, it’s so tiny that I can’t really notice it. Just keep them separated, and you'll be good!
I've been doing the same thing for years with no issues. In Steam, just set up a folder on your new drive for your library. You can also move games by clicking on the game in your library, hitting the settings gear, then choosing 'Move Install Folder.' Super easy!
There should be no noticeable performance issues. The only time you might run into something is with heavy disk use on both drives simultaneously, but that's rare for most users. In fact, some games might actually benefit from being on a faster drive, depending on how game updates and installs are handled.
Nope, having your OS and games on separate SSDs won't hurt your performance at all. I've got a setup similar to yours with a 1TB drive for Windows and a 2TB for gaming, and it works great! You'll find it’s pretty common among gamers to have multiple drives like this. To set it up in Steam, just go to Settings, then Storage, and you can add the new drive to your library!
It's actually best practice nowadays to use separate drives for your OS and games. You shouldn't see any performance hit. Steam lets you pick the installation drive when you download games, and you can also move them around easily if you need to. Just go to your library and find the game settings to change where it’s installed.
Thanks for clarifying that!
Thanks for the tip!