The Best External Hard Drive for Gaming

Do the working and internals of a computer intrigue you too? If that is the case, let’s have a deeper dive into the hard drive of a PC today, it sounds fun. A computer that does wonders and has elevated our lives by many folds is by no means a simple thing. Many components team up to form this complex machine that has surprised the world with its fascinating jobs. A computer’s external hard drive is not too important if your computer usage is relatively simple and less frequent. However, for the enthusiast-space gamers, this item is quite a boon. You should get the best external hard drive for gaming to avail adequate storage for the important files and other stuff. It is like a mini bank responsible for storing all the important data, but you do not use it frequently. A computer’s hard drive may take the whole scenario up to a new level.

As it takes up all the additional files you no longer require, it makes the system work like a breeze. Now the question arises, why do the gamers are always after the best nvme SSD? High-end games that the computer world is so crazy about nowadays require quite a lot of space in internal storage. If you are a die-hard gamer who needs additional storage, you need the best SSD for gaming. So all you need to do is throw all the documents, images, and files that you do not use except once in a while and lessen the burden on the system. The hard drive is a requirement for gamers as most people want the best PCIe 4.0 SSD, but it is also necessary for digital content creators. So let’s find the top-tier product for you while considering all the essential specifications and the pros and cons of a particular item, so you have a successful purchase.

Our top picks

Quick Shopping Tips:

Before we get down to finding the best-in-class external drive for you, let’s have a look at the shopping tips that will guide your way through the world of hard drives. These tips will surely help you find the pitch-perfect product for your rig so take a quick look.

Portability: The form factor and weight of the external drive matters a lot. Especially for those who travel frequently and want to carry tons of their data along would require a compact yet power-packed item. They come in several form factors, so users generally prefer the best M.2 SSD for gaming. However, some users may need more important things for the humungous amount of data.

Capacity: Before finalizing a hard drive, the user must consider the storage capacity of the item. The main factor determines what type of hard drive you require and how much you will pay for it. They come with different capacities ranging from a few hundred gigabytes to many terabytes. You do not have to buy the one with massive storage; the one that suits your needs is perfectly fine.

Wired or Wireless: Everyone in this modern era requires the item which provides the most comfortable usage. Hard drives often come in wired types, but nowadays, you can find pitch-perfect wireless items as well. They make connectivity more manageable and free of any mess. You will get a rechargeable battery inside so you can boost the connectivity with or sans a router. If you go for a wireless option, choose the one with a robust battery.

Transfer Speed: If you are someone who keeps sending data to and from the hard drive, you certainly would not want the drive to take ages due to its sluggish transfer speed. SSDs, in general, have a bit higher transfer rate while HDDs have vast capacities; thus, you must opt according to the factor you prioritize. But whatever of the two you choose, make sure it is fast enough.

The Best External Hard Drive for Gaming: First look

The Best External Hard Drive for Gaming: In-depth Review

Firstly, we will discuss the top-tier ADATA SE800 1TB, a highly durable and rugged product. The first thing that makes us confident in this best external hard drive for gaming is the excellent build quality, which is reliable. The manufacturers have made it waterproof and dustproof as well. Moreover, the design is exquisite and sleek. Another reason to opt for this product is its lighter weight sends faster performance levels. If you search for the best gaming hard drive, this item with dual USB cables is the best candidate to fulfill both USB-A and USB-C requirements. This product is compatible with all platforms, be it Windows, Mac, or Android.

It comes in an aesthetically pleasing blue or black aluminum case and has an M.2 Type-2242 solid-state drive. The few setbacks it has are not significant, but you should still look. The cables it comes with are on the shorter side, so it would not be easy to connect them when using a tower PC. To maintain the item’s security, you can cover it with the rubber end, but it can be challenging since the user may not insert the end properly sometimes. The company has also provided a 3-year warranty for the complete mental satisfaction of the users. Although it might not be the best thing for budget-conscious users, it ensures that it is worth the price.

Next up, we have the unprecedented king of portable storage devices, the Samsung T5 SSD. This little thing is way too powerful and has all the external hard drive qualities. Samsung is by no means a new kid in the tech market. It has been around for ages, and every hardware component it has ever manufactured has kept the standards high. And this one by the company is an elite-class item, too, which has a durable body that can easily resist damages from accidental drops and spills. It trounces the fancy things with its efficient and relentless performance. So for gamers and 4K video editors, this product is a good pick.

So with the immense quantity of data that it carries, like no big deal and the warranty period it comes with, make it the best gaming external hard drive. Although this one is not a low-priced option but with its compact sizes, it has the super-class factors that only the high-priced components have. It comes with the 10Gbps USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 2 that delivers the maximum possible transfer rate. Although it is a slim thing, the manufacturers have not compromised on making it twice as sturdy as its predecessors and rivals. Power LED, and a Type-C connector makes it simple yet effective. So opting for this SSD would not be a wrong decision at all.

So now we will close today’s chapter with the final yet impressive item, the Samsung Portable T7. As we have mentioned before, Samsung is a top-shelf hardware company making high-end products for quite some time. This product by the company is out-and-out the most desirable one amongst the external hard drives. This rectangular piece of hardware has the admirable quality and lasts longer than most of its competitors. It looks chic and aesthetically pleasing. This item is the most secure one since it comes with AES 256-bit hardware encryption that, with a strong password, is almost the hardest one to crack. Let’s read more and discover more wonders that this hard drive does.

It enables you to have a transfer speed of up to 10Gbps via the USB cables it comes with this is the best gaming external hard drive. Plus, the tiny signal light blinks when you connect the device and start transferring data. Since this product aims for the sequential read speed of 1050 Mbps and sequential write speeds of 1000 Mbps, it is the best fast external hard drive for gaming. The non-volatile memory expresses that it supports plays its role in making it the fastest. The preformatted in the exFAT file format makes it compatible with almost all platforms like Android and Windows, so you can opt for this item no matter what your work is.

So the next item on our list is the WD My Passport 4TB which has tons of storage and incredible inbuilt software that gives excellent performance. one of the main reasons for the wide acclamation of this item is the superb per gigabyte cost and the satisfactory performance. It is not the speediest product out there, but with the comprehensive software suite, and the style of this drive, it becomes good enough to make it to the list of the most compelling external hard drives. It comes in different capacities, but this version is the best and surpasses them with effort. Let’s scroll down to see what else this mid-tier item has got to impress the masses.

With its three whole years of warranty and excellent feature set, this product is the best portable hard drive for gaming. As for the size is not a wise thing and is somewhat bulky but still is very innovative and attractive. The white light indicates the device’s model, i.e., connected or idle mode. This hard drive can transfer the data at an acceptable speed and has the Type-C connector, which most people demand these days. So if you want to dabble in your favorite games and want a suitable hard drive, this item is the right thing for you.

Let’s discuss the elite-class entry in the tech market, the Seagate Expansion Desktop Drive 8TB, which singlehandedly wins the race in most areas. It comes with all the accessories you will need to set it up and use. So if the thought of owning the biggest external hard drive for gaming crosses your mind, this item should be at the top of your list. This top-slot product is available in various capacities up to 14TB, making it incredible. The manufacturers designed this masterpiece for all the enthusiast PC users who want to go the extra mile to upgrade their gaming lifestyles. It is an excellent backup drive and is at the top of its game.

So with this hard drive on hand, you could be living your best life as a gamer. Your games requiring a lot of storage would not cause any trouble anymore, and the system will not flinch too. This item is the perfect combination of ultra-fast speed, loads of capacity, and drop-dead gorgeous looks. However, there are still some aspects of this item that hardly make any sense. The build quality, for example, is acceptable but over-relies on plastic which is a bit questionable point. It does not come with RAID protection and lacks a power switch that may turn it on or off. The price is surprisingly high, but it is an extraordinary item with remarkable features at the end of the day.

At first, we were under the impression that hard drives never cost you less than a fortune, and you have to go all out even if you need an essential item. However, the LaCie Rugged 2TB drive proved this notion wrong as it is one of the best external hard drives, which come at a mediocre price. It is undoubtedly the best bargain, especially when you consider the style and working of this item. It would suffer a fall and would not break that easily; thus is an excellent choice for people with mediocre needs having a rough and tough usage.

The performance this item delivers is up to the notch, and you can easily carry it around while traveling. Even though this best gaming external hard drive can be a little frustrating initially due to the effort it demands while setting up, it is still one of the hot favorite items to date. We tested this item, and to our pleasure, it endured the rough usage, thus becoming the toughest external hard drive for gaming. No matter how much data your devices are tired of holding, this item will store it all, and the USB-C and Thunderbolt ports make it a blazing-fast and challenging thing.

WD_BLACK P10 is a power-packed product that will excite you with its excellent quality and features. One of the points that make it the most attractive product is that it holds all the essential traits even in such a slim body, even though hard drives having them are typically bulky. Be it the spinning platter, the drive head, or the associated mechanical part, this item perfectly packs everything you want. Since it is a fine external hard drive, this item is a treat to the users as it looks exquisite. The company could not cease to amaze us, so it manufactured this masterpiece. Above all, it marked it with a relatively low price, making it admirable b the masses.

You can opt for it if you play several games once in a while, as well as if you play only one game and put your heart and soul into it. Streaming, content creation, and other hectic tasks are a breeze with it. Although you can do quite a lot with this in your system, this product is the best external hard drive for gaming overall. But it is not all roses here since it lacks a USB Type-C cable. It does not even come with inbuilt software, which may sound like a deal-breaker to some users. But as a matter of fact, one can resolve both these issues. Unlike most hard drives, this one comes with solid five years of warranty which compliments the manufacturers' great effort.

Seagate Portable External HDD is a mid-tier yet top-end best gaming hard drive that offers the users enough storage in a cramped body, which is pretty interesting. Although it may lag behind its rivals in a few areas, it comes at a fraction of the price of other items of a similar kind. That is why we call it the best budget external hard drive for gaming and some other tasks. This affordable yet mainstream item has a unique design which the curved bevels make more exciting and easier to handle. It cuts short on some bells and whistles but puts that effort into transferring the data faster than its competitors.

However, this item has some negative aspects, which we will now discuss. Firstly, no backup software is included, which is quite a flaw. It also lacks security features; however, this hard drive comes at a price point that no other budget-oriented companies offer. So we can overlook a few drawbacks of this of the top external hard drives which the hardware manufacturers can offer these days. So if you want performance on par at a great price, you must keep this item on your wish list. The working is not too fast but is not sluggish either, so opting for this item will never leave you in dismay.

Final Words

As you might already have concluded, a hard drive is a piece of computer hardware that the users take advantage of in many ways. An external drive is responsible for carrying all the data for you that hogs the internal storage. When you transfer all the unnecessary or seldom-used files into the drive, you will have the best gaming external hard drive that will work fine. As a result of lowering the stress on your computer would perform better and smoother, and you can carry the immense amount of data around since most drives are slim and sleek. If you are after the strict performance in the gaming zone, you need the best external hard drive for gaming. Besides storage, having a backup, and sharing data, you can use your chosen item and shine bright in the gaming arena. For digital editors and gamers, this piece of hardware is the key to success in many ways.

So you must be well-aware of the importance of a hard drive for your computer setup. And we are pretty sure that you can’t wait anymore to get your hands on one. However, finding the correct item in a million others has never been an effortless task, has it? One has to dig into the dizzying array of options to find the best one for himself. Most of the time, even after making all the efforts and spending all the bucks, some users still may not get what they demand, which is why we are here. We, as tech enthusiasts, decided to jump into the battlefield and tested a lot of items out there, and jotted a list of the top ones in different aspects. This article contains the right pick for each kind of PC user so that you can choose effortlessly amongst them. So select an item that goes right with your requirements, and there you go! You are all set to raise the bars for whatever task you perform with your rig having such a reliable companion.

Frequently Asked Questions