I'm working from home now and really need extra storage for my projects. I have a small ITX setup with an Asus ROG Strix B850-I motherboard, and both of my NVMe slots are filled. I've got a 2TB NVMe for my OS and apps, including Unreal Engine and Visual Studio, and another 2TB for data storage. I'm considering getting a 4TB external NVMe SSD to plug into one of my Thunderbolt ports. Would it be better to use this external drive for my Unreal projects, or should I swap out the 2TB internal data drive for a larger one? Also, will the read/write speeds for Unreal be significantly different if I go external versus keeping everything internal? Additionally, I'm curious if there's a preference between my 10Gbps USB-C and 20Gbps USB-C ports for this setup.
4 Answers
For your needs, I'd recommend filling all NVMe slots with the largest drives you can afford. External drives are generally better suited for cold storage rather than active work because internal drives offer better read/write speeds. Keep your working folder on the internal NVMe, and only archive finished projects on the external SSD.
If you're not needing to transport files between locations, focusing on internal storage could be a more permanent solution. Even though SATA drives might not be as fast, they are often more reliable for heavy workloads, which is important for large Unreal project files.
If you're looking to upgrade, a SATA SSD might be cheaper than going external, but keep in mind that SATA speeds aren't as fast as NVMe. While using external drives can work, especially when speed isn't a major issue, I would prioritize keeping Unreal projects on your NVMe drives for optimal performance.
Switching to a full ATX motherboard would give you more options for NVMe slots, but that might not be what you're looking for right now. If you're considering going external, ensure you use that 20Gbps port for the external SSD and invest in a good quality enclosure. The last thing you want is bottlenecks in your workflow.
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