USB 3.0 256gb flash drive

[pow64]

If i bought a Sandisk usb 3.0 256gb flashdrive would i be able to put my whole railworks folder on that and run it from there.

[ashgray]

Well, I certainly couldn't put my entire TS2020 installation on it, as mine far exceeds the size of that pendrive!

With that point in mind, three points of advice, if I may:

1. Do you NEED to put your instalation on a pendrive? An additional internal hard drive would be way more efficient and you could probably obtain one with greater capacity for much less dosh;

2. You need to consider how much your installation might expand in the future, re whether or not 256 Gb is sufficient;

3. You will probably not achieve anything like the same performance from TSW2020 if it's on a pendrive, as compared to having it on a hard drive wherre it can make best use of the full power of your system.

Ash

[johnrossetti]

Why ? then I'll answer.
John

[pow64]

On my C:/ drive i have 200gb left of 1tb i was thinking putting my whole trainsimulator which is 147gb on its own drive may improve performance.

[peterfhayes]

pow64
I have run TS without any problems on a Samsung T3 USB 3.0 500Gb drive via a powered USB 3.0 Hub. Have a look at a Samsung T5 that is a very fast drive for an external one and much faster (random reads - not too many writes in TS except using the editor) than an internal SATA spinner HDD. If you have a USB 3.1 type C port on your mobo that is the best option.
This works OK on my Haswell rig o/c 4.4Ghz with 32Gb RAM, may work for you. The drive will only decrease loading times, it may make TS "smoother" but it may have little or no effect on performance (frame rates?).
pH

[DigitalRails]

TS & TSW runs well on my 7200 RPM HDD
Imoved then to HDD from SSD to save space.

[gptech]

On my C:/ drive i have 200gb left of 1tb i was thinking putting my whole trainsimulator which is 147gb on its own drive may improve performance.

You may find a very small performance boost because TS would be on a separate drive to the operating system, but certainly not enough to make it an upgrade for that purpose. I'd echo Ash's advice--go for a nice fast internal drive with plenty of capacity. Is there any reason why you can't use an internal drive?

[peterfhayes]

Gary

I'd echo Ash's advice--go for a nice fast internal drive with plenty of capacity. Is there any reason why you can't use an internal drive?

Why do you need to stay internal? USB 3.0 (even 2.0) has changed the rules and external drives should be considered. External drives may not cost much more than an internal drive if you shop around.
Installing an internal drive involves removing all addons, monitor, ethernet, usb, keyboard (if not WiFi) and so on opening up the case - where's that screwdriver - de-dusting fiddling around in a small space inserting cables and routing them to look neat and reversing the process - hoping everything works and you haven't disturbed anything.
External drives including esata and USB are a convenient way to go. With USB its a simple plug in (and its a hot plug in - can be removed and with the right set up used on another PC) and the drive is ready, and if its an SSD its much much faster (RR) than any fast internal spinner drive.
To me a SSD is vital for TS2020, I could never go back to a conventional spinner HDD. Old Technology!! BTW spinners are great for storage.
pH

[pow64]

i'd like to thank you for your advice i,m leaning more to Peter suggestion of a external drive thank you.

[gptech]

Why do you need to stay internal?

I'm old fashioned I guess Peter...
...but... if desk space is a factor, internal may be a better option; a case of "horses for courses" here, similar to how a SSD gives great performance but a (substantially) cheaper mechanical drive more than suffices for storage.
Yes, it takes longer to fit an internal drive but unplugging a few cables and undoing 2 or 3 screws surely isn't beyond anybody? There's nothing wrong with also using it as an opportunity to get rid of all the dust and junk that finds it way into our PCs so for the sake of an hours leisurely work the potential benefits far outweigh the *hassle factor* Nothing wrong either with getting a PC user to actually have a look inside the "magic box", and possibly learn a little about how they work.

[peterfhayes]

Gary
I'd have laid odds that you would give me a dust-up!! True wrt dust, though my annual belly button fluff count is much smaller than the dust in my PC.
I guess I see new technology as a way forward and tend to embrace it - possibly too enthusiastically.
All I know is that TS runs OK on an external USB drive and we are only really interested wrt TS in random reads.
One caveat TRIM may not work via Windows on a USB drive but there are ways around that if needed, as there are not too many writes via TS it may not be significant if TRIM can't be performed over an extended period of time.
The options for using external HDDs and SSDs are increasing as technology advances.
My next ("possible") PC - one internal SSD .m2 drive for the system, two external 1Gb SSDs, one for TS and one for other software and a 6 - 10 TB USB spinner for data, video, photos, etc.
Regards
pH

[gptech]

My next ("possible") PC - one internal SSD .m2 drive for the system, two external 1Gb SSDs, one for TS and one for other software and a 6 - 10 TB USB spinner for data, video, photos, etc.

You've described a rack mounted server there!

i,m leaning more to Peter suggestion of a external drive

..and it will work, work well but I'd suggest you go for something bigger than 256GB--it may seem more than big enough but Windows needs a certain amount of free space on any disc for it's background "house keeping" and maintenance tasks--10% minimum was the figure for XP and whilst I haven't seen an authoritative statement relating to Win 10 I certainly wouldn't expect it to be less.

[peterfhayes]

To add to Gary's post:
A larger external SSD is better.
Connect to a USB port on the back of the computer or via a powered USB 3.0 port hub.
Sometimes the back ports have more power capabilities (some rigs ~900mA back and 500mA front) and you are less likely to knock/dislodge a USB cable if its at he back out of the way.
Try all ways.
pH

[johnrossetti]

I have used scandisk USB with no problems at all, I have even used an external HDD, not as good as an SSD but still worked ok like this one which is very good value
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3tb-ver ... ckup-softw
Someof the newer pc's have USB 3.1 GEN2 (the gen2 bit is important) otherwise USB 3.1 is the SAME as USB3 (5.0Gb/s) GEN2 is 10Gb/s and is very good for any type of SSD or Stick.
I think you may run out of space quicker than you think which is why an SSD is better value than a stick
like this
https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-ha ... 5-sata-iii
Good luck
John

[gptech]

The first USB stick/pen drive I acquired was a present, from a chum in the states....a state of the art, industry leading, *bleeding edge* 32MB (yes...MB) model.

Come a lonnnngggg way, haven't we?