Well, I have reached the point at which my HDD is about at capacity and I would like to move my Community folder to a new, high-speed SSD. Could some of you kind folks recommend any particular brand/model that would be a good choice? Thanks a lot…
I’m using Crucial MX500 4TB for the sim.
Thanks for the quick reply! What would you think of this external SSD?
Crucial X6 4TB Portable SSD | CT4000X6SSD9 | Crucial.com
Hi @Grover2005
Are you looking for just external SSDs or internal ones too?
If possible, an NVME SSD should be your first chioce. Second, an internal SATA SSD if NVME isn’t possble. An external USB should be your last choice. It’s all about speed. An NVME drive will typically run at 3-7000MBS. A SATA drive typically gets about 500MBS. A USB drive will be less than that, depending on what flavor of USB port you have available.
I’m practice, you generally won’t see much actual game performance difference between a decent SATA SSD and a Gen 3/4/5 NVMe drive.
Look for the best cost/GB of a brand you’ve heard of, and things should be just fine.
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Go for an internal nvme ssd. My recommendation would be a Samsung 990 one. If you or your minister of finance can afford it a 4 TB or at least the pro 2 TB.
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Looks ok to me 
I have a spare 2TB NVMe Gen 3 SSD in an external USB case. Would this be a good choice for my community folder? Thanks.
My computer will not take an internal NVME drive, so I have been using the one I have for random storage. I did not know if the external case plugged into a USB port on the computer would run at a fast enough speed. Thanks!
If you can access a free PCIE slot on your motherboard, you can get a PCIE NVME adapter like this one: https://www.amazon.ca/GLOTRENDS-Adapter-Aluminum-Heatsink-PA09_HS/dp/B07FN3YZ8P/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1WVBJD4T0GDX0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.E8axvPujVeo87zv4k1wtWXs0ZVIOPQlSfK5u4FnAgzqk9T1hTqSOALYYxTAnPPxdcvmM3hX71DHa-kmRdlHe-N38N7oipM8Z4YJE_egk4vc-idREh3nDQ13IlJISZaW_ZA2Vy02twhnJLym4l9re_lOSHkjfqdaEX-IJWPfiHwxX9TpJBqERMMWFc6zbi7n0J3NlMwC1xnY_YnLCCE0XuEl0VlSPseUcOM-WOEf5X-0i4OMtPHgCfTWshfQUGqSoehHYSe8ftSL9kmPYL2vLcrVK_coRWNllIPPytfEgUes._arZMs6adUVZOMqzflWFcltFbQoepXknn0OZRHk-6GY&dib_tag=se&keywords=pcie+nvme+adapter&qid=1715808463&sprefix=pcie%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-6
Yikes, that’s quite link! The NVME should be much faster in that config. The problem with USB is it’s quite limited in transfer speed.
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If you can’t use an NVMe, a SATA SSD seems the most sensible alternative. Relying on USB for anything MSFS has to access could be very detrimental to loading times.
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Do you use Addon Linker? I don’t use it myself, so perhaps others who do could chime in here with specifics on how to do this, but since you already have a spare drive, you could do a small test:
- Using your current community folder configuration, fly one or two complex aircraft (e.g. airliners) around high density scenery areas (London Heathrow, JFK, LAX, etc. & note the framerates & overall performance.
- Copy these aircraft & scenery packages to your spare SSD, use Addon Linker to point to those packages and run the tests again.
If the FPS / Performance is way worse in the second test (or simply unacceptable to you), then you know a USB-connected drive is not a viable option and you can seriously consider other options, such as the ideas from @HG34AV & @BeardyBrun.
@Maki152
Are you finding that the performance is OK? I was looking at that model (though with a heatsink) to install MSFS 2024 on.
Yes, it’s been fine.
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Corsair MP600 PRO 2To
I’ve been happy with my Samsung 980 Pro. Its overkill for MSFS though.
Any reliable NVMe should not bottleneck MSFS.