An external SSD should be fine.
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Great. And i see 240GB for even less money. What size do we really need?
Currently, my WOW folder is 61 GB, so 240 should be plenty.
And re-installing couldn’t hurt. You may want to keep your WTF and Interface folders, so you don’t have to re-build your addons; however, it’s generally a good idea to start with fresh installs of any addons, to help reduce any major conflicts with a new expansion. At least, that’s what’s been recommended in the past; I’m not sure if that’s still the “standard” practice.
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To quote the Mandalorian: “This is the way.”
It’s always happening in PC gaming, and sometimes it doesn’t even take a sequel or expansion to need to upgrade. Even just a patch could require it. You should never expect your current system to always be viable to play games.
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I don’t do online orders after being hacked every time I tried. I have 2 years listed as that’s how long I have left on my laptops warranty and if I open it up to install an SSD it will be voided and I’d like to keep it in case something breaks in the next two years.
If it ends up being mission critical like Ravenhawk said, I’ll void it and go buy one. Though I’d have to take most of my food budget to pay for it.
I also have more than just WoW on my PC.
Is this still a viable choice for SL? I have a laptop and changing out hardware is a nightmare.
Sorry just read this. So any recommendations on brand?
I’m seeing ones with 250 GB for $35 or $40.
I don’t. But my laptop has an SSD already, so I’m in good shape. I usually go with WD though, but I haven’t done much research lately, so I really don’t know who is more reliable today.
Perfect. Even 120GB might be ok, but 24GB seems like a safer option. And the 240’s are going for around $35.
Yeah… I always do that. I typically do a full UI reset every patch and re-download all my add-ons fresh. I find it’s worth the 30 minutes to set up the add-ons.
Yep… nature of modern technology. If it were a $200 upgrade required, I’d be a bit more upset, but $35 isn’t that bad, considering I’d get (I assume) significantly better performance along with some extra space for other apps if desired.
What are your thoughts on the read/write speed? I see a lot of variance among the different products I’ve look at.
Tech Advisor is fairly trustworthy. They put out a great article every year on SSDs. Here’s 2020’s:
You don’t have to buy the exact models they tested (if they are too expensive, don’t have the right connection type, etc), but you can get a feel for which brands are best in different categories.
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I would check out Amazon for an SSD. You can get some steals on there. My Samsung EVO860 1TB was $80.00 but that is a sale price that pops up now and then. I’m not sure how much space you use but 500gb is even cheaper and can be had below $80. Samsung has all the software available for free to clone your drive if you use their SSDs you just need a sata to USB adapter. All that being said, I do not think you will hit a brick wall stopping you from playing but any problems that may occur with your gameplay might net you some answers about your PC not meeting minimum specs.
Just saw a PNY CS900 960GB SATA SSD for $86 on Amazon. And of course, smaller ones will be less expensive.
Go for the 240 over the 120GB unit.
Due to how SSDs work, assuming the generation and technology is the same, it will be bigger, faster, and have more longevity.
Plus, you do want to have extra space for the future - updates briefly inflate the game files to a size larger than they eventually occupy, and there will be expansions beyond Shadowlands.
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Went and bought a Samsung 500GB external SSD for 85$. I hope this works.
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You can get an internal laptop SSD from a major manufacturer in one of those sizes for less than those prices.
Most major manufacturers either include or offer a conversion kit with their laptop ssd’s.
The kits generally enable you to plug the ssd into laptop usb port/ports and use provided software to copy the laptop hard drive onto the ssd.
Once the contents of the hard drive are copied to the ssd, it’s literally a less than 5 minute job to swap out the HD for the SSD. Check youtube for “install ssd in XXX” where XXX is your laptop model number.
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You will want to visit
https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/
download data migration and magician.
and get a sata to USB connector. Drive cloning is super easy just set aside some idle time. As for upgrading your laptop and risking your warranty that is a touchy subject and can really depend on your location. BUT unless you do something to damage the computer, simply upgrading storage or adding RAM wont or cant void the warranty unless it can be proven that it was damaged by your actions or the failure of hardware you installed. If you are uncomfortable with it yourself you can call your computer manufacturer to find a local shop that can install it for you. If you do the cloning yourself id wager it would be really cheap as it doesnt take more than 10-15 minutes on the weirdest laptops and about 5 mins on a desktop or find a friend that knows what theyre doing and can peel back a sticker.Preformatted textedit: my TL3 is gone 
im sad priest.
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Awesome. I’m considering one, but the 240 gb one is 70 dollars up here. If things start looking dicey with load times and such, I’ll grab one eventually.
Thanks. I think I’ll stick with the external as long as the performance isn’t compromised.
I want to know if we need a ssd because i cant buy one atm because yeah i dont make that kind of money to go out and buy a ssd every time a game make that the only device you can use it on.
Should read the other SSD threads it would be answered there but ill answer it its a minimun requirement not necessary but it people with a HDD are expecting increased load times but nothing horrible.
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