Enough drive space can improve the game’s performance. Well, this post will provide a perfect solution and show how to add more storage to PC for gaming without losing data.
Before adding more storage to your PC for gaming, let's first understand the advantages of doing so.
Accommodating Large Game Files: In recent years, some modern 3A games can occupy over 100 GB of storage space. Without sufficient storage, there is not enough space for new ones. Adding more storage allows you to keep multiple games installed simultaneously, giving you the freedom to switch between them without the hassle of downloading and reinstalling each time.
Enhanced Graphics and Performance: Many modern games feature high-definition textures and intricate details, which require faster storage access to render seamlessly. More storage solution can ensure that your gaming experience is smooth and graphics-intensive games run as intended.
Reduced Lag and Stuttering: As we know, lag and stuttering can be game-breaking. With more storage, your PC can handle the data transfer more efficiently, resulting in reduced lag and a smoother gaming experience.
Game Library Expansion: As you accumulate more games, having additional storage allows you to maintain a diverse game library, catering to different gaming moods and preferences.
Whatever the reason, to add more space to your PC, there are 2 ways you can try. One is to optimize the drive storage, or you can upgrade internal storage device.
When talking about upgrading your hard disk, you need to choose between HDD and SSD. If it's for gaming then I would suggest you to go for SSD as SSD are known for their speed and responsiveness making them a great choice for gaming. Games stored on SSD load faster, resulting in shorter loading times and a smoother gaming experience. For most game player, a 1 TB or 2 TB SSD is enough.
After installing SSD, you need to clone the game data from the original hard disk to SSD to avoid data loss. How can you do the cloning easily and safely? AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional must be the perfect solution. It is a market-leading disk partition management expert, and its "Clone Disk" feature can clone all data from HDD to SSD without reinstalling. Besides, it can also clone OS to SSD to boost Windows performance.
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, click "Clone" in the main interface and select "Clone Disk".
Step 2. Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk and click "Next".
Step 3. Select the destination disk to store the data on the source disk, and then click "Next".
Step 4. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to “Sector to Sector clone”, and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.
Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to improve the reading and writing speed of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive.
Step 5. At last, click "Apply" and "Proceed" in the main interface to start cloning the hard drive.
If your game partition is almost full, but the other partition still has free space, then you can allocate free space to extend it. Even, you can merge two partitions into a bigger one.
Step 1. Right click partition D and select Allocate Free Space.
Step 2. Set how much space you want to allocate form partition D and choose C partition as a target partition.
Step 3. Preview the result after allocation. If that’s what you want, just click Apply to generate the operation.
There are other frequently asked questions about add storage to PC for gaming that you can refer to:
How much storage do I need for gaming?
A: The amount of storage you need depends on the size of the games you play. A 1TB drive is usually a good starting point. If you're a gaming enthusiast and have the budget for it, the larger the disk capacity, the better.
Can I use an external drive for gaming on a laptop?
A: Absolutely! External drives are a convenient way to expand storage on laptops for gaming. You just need to make sure that the external drive is connected and recognized by the computer.
Is an SSD better than an HDD for gaming?
A: Yes, SSD offer faster loading times and improved performance, making them a better choice for gaming. Specifically, HDD have read and write speeds of between 80-160 MB/s. SATA SSD have read/write speeds between 300 MB/s and 600 MB/s, while NVMe M.2 SSD have read/write speeds between 1000 MB/s and 7000 MB/s or higher.
Can I add more storage with unallocated space?
A: Yes, you can. If you have unallocated space on your disk that is adjacent to the game partition, then you can extend it by resize partition.
This is the full guide on how to add more storage to PC for gaming. Expanding your PC's storage capacity for gaming is a straightforward process that can significantly enhance your gaming experience. Whether you opt for extend drive space or decide to upgrade internally, ensuring you have ample space for your games and media is a worthwhile investment.