Caayn
Member
Not that strange looking at the sizes of current day games.
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External HDD for Xbox One improves load times!
- Thread starter Hawk269
- Start date
Not really bizarre when we have games above 40GB already.
statham
Member
Same guy I believe that did the Raid 0 tests, did some with SSDs and they pretty much match Raid 0.
http://directxbox.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=524
http://directxbox.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=524
Maybe not quite as strange as I may have made it seem, but still strange. What if have a bunch of movies that I don't want to keep on my Xbox, and I've got a 80GB thumbdrive?
Or, perhaps more relevant, what if I have a 180GB SSD I want to use (since SSDs are really expensive)? This prevents me from doing that, even though I could potentially put like five, six, seven games on that.
Surprised the SSDs aren't doing too well comparatively. But these games weren't really made to take advantage of that. Oh well.
KentBrockman
Member
If it's USB powered, then it's a 2.5" drive. If it has a separate plug, then it's a 3.5" drive. I've never seen an exception to this.
Seagate 2TB SSHD 3.5" w/ USB 3.0 dock
Forza (Freeplay on Prague, Lotus F1, 7 AIs)
Stock: 40.40 sec. SSHD: 27.08 sec.
Thief (Continue game to South Quarter)
Stock: 28.38 sec. SSHD: 24.91 sec.
KI (Jago vs Saberwulf AI on Tiger's Den)
Stock: 15.08 sec. SSHD: 14.55 sec.
Ryse (Solo Arena Oasis)
Stock: 1:34:08. SSHD: 1:06.79
Forza (Freeplay on Prague, Lotus F1, 7 AIs)
Stock: 40.40 sec. SSHD: 27.08 sec.
Thief (Continue game to South Quarter)
Stock: 28.38 sec. SSHD: 24.91 sec.
KI (Jago vs Saberwulf AI on Tiger's Den)
Stock: 15.08 sec. SSHD: 14.55 sec.
Ryse (Solo Arena Oasis)
Stock: 1:34:08. SSHD: 1:06.79
Console games tend to be optimized to do lots of large sequential reads, which is optimal for a spinning mechanical disk (optical or magnetic).
Only poorly designed console games will do a lot of random I/O, which is what SSDs are good at compared with mechanical disks.
So it makes sense the SSD doesn't buy you as much as you're expecting.
statham
Member
I rather have a usb powered drive if it shows improvements, even if not as much as 3.5 drives but maybe close. Someone has to have a passport drive around? Please. 
edit: my theory and others have posted, its the separate OS and games being on different drives that are why we are seeing increases.
Edit2: or If someone can do 5400/5900/7200 tests.
edit: my theory and others have posted, its the separate OS and games being on different drives that are why we are seeing increases.
Edit2: or If someone can do 5400/5900/7200 tests.
statham
Member
SSD been tested and show the same as Raid 0, we need SSD vs single 7200 and 5400, looks like SSD is not a big jump, just very minor.
I know once I get the results I need to purchase, amazon is going to raise the prices due to demand, I just know it. Very tempted to just gamble.
hipbabboom
Huh? What did I say? Did I screw up again? :(
I'm going to guess that it comes down to access time and read frequency. R0 will perform early as well as cheaper SSDs 512+ SSDs will probably perform significantly better than 256 GB SSDs so I imagine they will perform better than R0.
The caveat though is I've been talking about only two drives stripped together when talking about R0.
WHAT YOU PEOPLE NEED TO DO IS STIPE 4 512 GB SSD TOGETHER 0_o
The caveat though is I've been talking about only two drives stripped together when talking about R0.
WHAT YOU PEOPLE NEED TO DO IS STIPE 4 512 GB SSD TOGETHER 0_o
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Being external and going through usb3 really goes against the gain on a ssd. The usb controller is likely the bottleneck.
USB 3.0 is likely slower than sata 2 so i hope in the future they would let us replace the hdd with an SSD.
0 seek time is what made ssd famous. Even on stat 2 i dont think anything will max that out that why a lot of people dont even mess with sata 3.0. You would not likely notice a different. Really what can write at 500MB/s?
Nah usb3 is way faster than sata2 at least at standards level, sata2 itself is not fast emough to support the full speed of an ssd (300MB/s vs 500MB/s for an SSD)
Ive had two people tell me different thing on the usb3 connection actually piggy backing on the sata2 channel and someone else saying this is not the case
Read speed i thnk
That all depends on the USB controller.
I could be faster or it could not be. Seeing really no improvement with sdd leaves me to believe the controller is at its peak performance.
yes i guess so ill probably get a fast 3.5" hdd in a usb3 enclosure when i need one
That or a 3.5" SSHD.
Really i would stay away from any kind of raid set up. Raids 0 can be a nightmare.
ethomaz
Banned
Just no... I have this game.
XtremeXpider
Member
Can you use external drives on PS4? or are you using the PC numbers? if the last, then it is irrelevant.
I've read some PS4 tests (games) and only SSD's are really fast for a big change (20 seconds or so ), mechanical and hybrid drives are more on less the same than Xbox One using external drives.
You can change the internal drive in Xbox One too, but you lose the warranty. I don't care about internal drive because:
- My Xbox One boot on +/- 5 seconds or less
- I have an external drive, I don't need more space in the internal drive.
KeyboardThug
Member
N/m
statham
Member
I've read a ton of reviews and one stuck with me, (I'll try to find it tomorrow), it said the fastest usb powered drive would still lose to a average desktop external drive by 30 something mps? , its in my history, so I'll look it up tomorrow.
My 3tb should be here tonight, Stoked!!! What's your gamer tag? You can pm me it if you want.
Mines LanceX2 , I play any kind of game really
Watch Dogs initial loading time isn't that much better with a SSHD compared to a regular external.
It's always around 61-63 seconds. I didn't test the game on the internal though. I imagine it's at most like 10 seconds quicker as seen with other 3rd party games which don't seem to benefit from external drives as much as the exclusive stuff does for some reason.
What I do noticed though is that each time you die in Watch Dogs the loading screen gets quicker. I didn't time it yet but the SSD caching is doing it's thing.
It's always around 61-63 seconds. I didn't test the game on the internal though. I imagine it's at most like 10 seconds quicker as seen with other 3rd party games which don't seem to benefit from external drives as much as the exclusive stuff does for some reason.
What I do noticed though is that each time you die in Watch Dogs the loading screen gets quicker. I didn't time it yet but the SSD caching is doing it's thing.
But HDD don't saturate neither Sata II or USB 3.0 if i remember correctly.
statham
Member
Got my harddrive and moved the games over, only tested Forza, but it made a huge difference. Drive(expansion) is working well, Xbox picked it up as soon as I plugged it in. I can't hear it either, I know some can, but in my setup, bottom shelf below the speakers, I can't. So far, so good.
Dr. Kitty Muffins
Member
I hope both systems support external hard drives. I like the idea of having my PS4 hooked up to a 4tb hdd.
Captain Zyrain
Member
Got in on the preview update today. Probably going to grab a drive over the weekend.
Does anyone have a suggestion for external HDD that they carry at Target? Got some gift cards so it'd be nice to use them there. I believe they carry the Western Digital MyBooks line..
Thanks!
Does anyone have a suggestion for external HDD that they carry at Target? Got some gift cards so it'd be nice to use them there. I believe they carry the Western Digital MyBooks line..
Thanks!
LordOfChaos
Member
That's odd. Anyone know the specs for the internal drive?
statham
Member
This guy on reddit, is showing great load time tests using a usb powered drive, it is 7200 and 2.5
http://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/26zjqp/a_few_more_external_hdd_speed_tests/
cross post onto both threads.
http://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/26zjqp/a_few_more_external_hdd_speed_tests/
cross post onto both threads.
great!
so I cross-tested on WD mybook 2tb
Forza (Freeplay on Prague, Lotus F1, 7 AIs)
mybook 2tb: 29 sec.
Ryse (Solo Arena Oasis)
mybook 2tb: 1:12"
I did a hard reset before loading up forza, and with forza still running I fired up ryse and did the test.
ethomaz
Banned
Samsumg 5400RPM, 2.5", SATA II, 8MB cache.
It is one of the slowest Samsumg model.
Black Republican
Member
can u try DR3 if you have it?
Connxtion
Member
Would this be good for 2 7200RPM 2.5" drives in Raid 0?
http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816856075
Currently I'm using a 2TB seagate backup pro slim, but this is only 5400RPM.
Forza (Freeplay on Prague, Lotus F1, 7 AIs)
Stock: 40.40 sec. EXHD: 31 sec.
http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816856075
Currently I'm using a 2TB seagate backup pro slim, but this is only 5400RPM.
Forza (Freeplay on Prague, Lotus F1, 7 AIs)
Stock: 40.40 sec. EXHD: 31 sec.
I do have it, but it has this thing where it thinks dr3 is downloading something and does not let me move/copy between hdds. so that means I have to re-download, so this will take a lot of time
will do eventually though..
The thing with the SSHD is that you can't just do one load and post that time.
You have to do multiple loads to let the cache do its thing.
Forza (Freeplay on Prague, Lotus F1, 7AI)
1st load: 26,33
2nd load: 24,67
3rd load: 24,87
After everything is said and done that track averages 25 seconds.
Le Mans (free play same car and AI as Prague)
Average of 29 seconds.
Ryse (solo arena Oasis)
Seems to average to 1:05. The MP with two players is not a good test because there is more to it than loading, connecting the two players takes longer etc.
Last I call bullshit on some of those numbers the guy at reddit posted. There is no way Forza is loading in 22 seconds on a USB powered drive even if it's 7200rpm. I have no clue when that guy starts his stop clock.
I agree for the caching part, and probably this is what counts more when you are actually ..playing after all.
I just did the tests the way I did (off from cold boot) so they can be reproducible easily.
I think even a regular usb3 hdd will see some minor speedup when quiting and reloading, but of course not comparable to hybrids.
Also I agree with you that those reddit link numbers seem too low.
I never had this drive so I dont have first hand experience with it, but he is talking about a 2.5" usb-powered drive, right?
btw, you never confirmed what model sshd you are using...
pPLooking at these improvements in load times I've decided to get an external drive even though I'm still only at 44.6% used on my internal drive. I want to buy it at Target since I just got a pretty nice gift card from their game trade in program, and the two that my Target has that I'm considering are the WD My Book 3TB and the Seagate Expansion 3TB. What does GAF think is the better of those two? It sounds like the Seagate might be a bit faster, but it also might be a bit less reliable...
TrackZ
Member
I had been looking for tests and info on this as I'm ready to pick up a drive for my Xbox.
Seems like testing suggests solid boosts for using external drives but that ssds, 7200 rpm drives, and raid 0 arrays are getting similar results. I read that most usb enclosures have chipsets that limit throughput especially for ssds.
I came across this enclosure though. The VANTEC NexStar 6G NST-266S3. It was tested on Tweaktown with an ssd where they got 450 MBps read and 430 MBps write. This may open up the performance results on the Xbox considerably.
Only downside to ssd of course is size for the money. I'm not interested in dropping $400+ on a 1TB. $220 for a 512GB is easier to take, but it sucks to not get a size boost over the stock drive when games are so big now.
I was also looking at the Seagate Backup Plus Fast. That's 4TB for same price as a 512GB SSD plus enclosure. It gets ~225 MBps speed. Still much faster than the internal, but half of what that SSD and enclosure may be able to do if the Xbox lets it get that full 440 MBps speed.
I only want a bus powered drive as well so that limits the choices.
Seems like testing suggests solid boosts for using external drives but that ssds, 7200 rpm drives, and raid 0 arrays are getting similar results. I read that most usb enclosures have chipsets that limit throughput especially for ssds.
I came across this enclosure though. The VANTEC NexStar 6G NST-266S3. It was tested on Tweaktown with an ssd where they got 450 MBps read and 430 MBps write. This may open up the performance results on the Xbox considerably.
Only downside to ssd of course is size for the money. I'm not interested in dropping $400+ on a 1TB. $220 for a 512GB is easier to take, but it sucks to not get a size boost over the stock drive when games are so big now.
I was also looking at the Seagate Backup Plus Fast. That's 4TB for same price as a 512GB SSD plus enclosure. It gets ~225 MBps speed. Still much faster than the internal, but half of what that SSD and enclosure may be able to do if the Xbox lets it get that full 440 MBps speed.
I only want a bus powered drive as well so that limits the choices.
Insane Metal
Member
40 secs, 1 min... wtf? That is ridiculously long...
SublimeAnarky
Member
Bumping this back up to highlight DF analysis of the Xbox One's External HDD performance.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-xbox-one-external-hard-drive-upgrade-guide
I wasn't sure how to link it cleaner - so there you go.
A question to GAF on this - I thought apart from just external storage you could carry the external HDD around and play on other X1 consoles like a regular disc based game ? Does that work ?
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-xbox-one-external-hard-drive-upgrade-guide
I wasn't sure how to link it cleaner - so there you go.
A question to GAF on this - I thought apart from just external storage you could carry the external HDD around and play on other X1 consoles like a regular disc based game ? Does that work ?
I forgot about this thread!
I'm having an issue with my external hdd enclosure.
I have a Vantec NexStar3 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 3.5" enclosure (older model) housing a WD Black 2tb 7200 rpm drive.
When I first tried formatting it yesterday, my console detected it until I chose to format. After that, it would no longer detect the drive at all.
Today, I decided to format the drive via Wii U - Wii U sees the drive, as does my pc - , but, when tried it on the xb1 again, it detected it. Once again, after choosing to format though, it's no longer shown in storage management.
Edit: Just giving a quick update on my issue here.
I switched out the Vantec (SATA I/II) I was using with this Startech model from Amazon.com (SATA III). It's been running two days straight with zero issues so far.
I'm having an issue with my external hdd enclosure.
I have a Vantec NexStar3 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 3.5" enclosure (older model) housing a WD Black 2tb 7200 rpm drive.
When I first tried formatting it yesterday, my console detected it until I chose to format. After that, it would no longer detect the drive at all.
Today, I decided to format the drive via Wii U - Wii U sees the drive, as does my pc - , but, when tried it on the xb1 again, it detected it. Once again, after choosing to format though, it's no longer shown in storage management.
Edit: Just giving a quick update on my issue here.
I switched out the Vantec (SATA I/II) I was using with this Startech model from Amazon.com (SATA III). It's been running two days straight with zero issues so far.