External H.D.D. for games?

[Grasshopper]

*CAUTION* Stupid questoin ahead!
Is the data transfer rate of USB 2.0 adequate for gaming? That is, could a person store all of their games on an external H.D.D. and still get good game play?
Thanks

 

[ilovefishsticks]

well... usb has a data rate of 480mbps and depending on what kind of hdd you have they usualy rage from 800mbps(1gig being the average for standard ATA) to around 3gbits/sec(for higher end SATA hdd's). So im sure the a modern game would work, but it would probably be pretty laggy. ive never looked into getting portable hdd's but i would imagine their would be a smoother transfer rate if it were firewire interface...

 

[spacedude89]

ehh, i think it should be ok, to my understanding the only time the hd is needed is loading the map to ram, i think most games run from ram? someone tell me if im right cause im not sure...

 

[kreg]

I think your right spacedude. When im playing bf2(which is the most demanding in my opinion", my hdd only has activity when im loading a map. Also, I noticed a reasonble difference when I got SATA.