Can I play steam games off my external usb 3.0

[ZeeTech]

Can I play steam games off my toshiba 1TB 3.0 external hard drive without
getting any dips of performance in Fps (frames per second) and loading times?
Because I want to go around bringing my whole steam library with me.

I got this idea by watching this video from linus tech tips:
youtube.com/watch?v=xVwgtPDn0aU

 

[Jmvars]

I think you need to install Steam to the external drive, if it is even possible. It might not even work then because it might need some stuff from your PC that isn't on the external drive.

I once tried to play a few games off of my external drive and had to ask for my friend for some .dll files that I had to drop into the external drive to make it work.

I would try it, but if it doesn't work I wouldn't go through the trouble of getting it to work.

EDIT: Take this information with a grain of salt, I am by no means an expert. I'm just sharing my experience.

 

[Cerb]

Can I play steam games off my toshiba 1TB 3.0 external hard drive without
getting any dips of performance in Fps (frames per second) and loading times?

Most games will load a little slower, but typically not have any FPS issues. That's a generalization, however, and there will be exceptions. For said exceptions, an external SSD would be better than an internal HDD, so it's really not an issue of USB/external drives.

Because I want to go around bringing my whole steam library with me.

To what end? I mean, why not just have Steam on multiple PCs, and install games to an internal SSD in each?

 

[gbeirn]

You sure can. I even store and run some non demanding games from a 64GB SD card.

Edit: Installed steam to you local C: drive and as you install games from your library you can chose where to install them to.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Going to echo the other comments and say "yes, absolutely."

Games usually aren't limited by disk IO. If I'm playing a particular game a lot and get tired of loading screens, I'll migrate it to my SSD with Steam Mover, but pretty much everything in my steam library lives on a secondary drive.

Steam only cares about drive letters, not whether a disk is internal/external.

 

[ZeeTech]

Most games will load a little slower, but typically not have any FPS issues. That's a generalization, however, and there will be exceptions. For said exceptions, an external SSD would be better than an internal HDD, so it's really not an issue of USB/external drives.
To what end? I mean, why not just have Steam on multiple PCs, and install games to an internal SSD in each?

So, I can just copy and paste the whole steam folder or do I just need to install steam
on another computer an just copy the game to common folder?

 

[ZeeTech]

Going to echo the other comments and say "yes, absolutely."

Games usually aren't limited by disk IO. If I'm playing a particular game a lot and get tired of loading screens, I'll migrate it to my SSD with Steam Mover, but pretty much everything in my steam library lives on a secondary drive.

Steam only cares about drive letters, not whether a disk is internal/external.

Is steam mover a feature that comes with steam?
Sorry for such a noob question.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Is steam mover a feature that comes with steam?
Sorry for such a noob question.

Nah, it's a seperate utility that moves your game data to the destination you specify, then created a bunch of hard links to leave behind for steam to find. The idea being that Steam can't tell the difference.

It's not really useful now that Steam can save your game files to whatever drive you specify, but old hands know what I'm talking about. :awe:

 

[ZeeTech]

Can I copy the game from my friend and paste it in my common folder, without paying the game?

As the others have already noted, we do not allow discussions of piracy or request for help in committing it
-ViRGE

 

[Flapdrol1337]

Only if they're drm free, which almost none of them are. Anyway, it's immoral and illegal, shame on you for even thinking of it!

 

[Cerb]

Can I copy the game from my friend and paste it in my common folder, without paying the game?

Sure. That's why most games have DRM, so they can leave that being easy, but still make it where you can't play.

To play, for any game that uses Steam's DRM, you must install Steam, use your account, have the game in your library, and be logged in to Steam on the PC you intend to play it on. AFAIK, there's not a limit on the number of PCs you can do this with, but you can only be logged in to one at a time. You can temporarily cheat it with offline mode, but that still requires having Steam installed, having the game on Steam, and logging in, and limits multiplayer, and sometimes spontaneously quits itself (if you keep an internet connection up).

Hence why I questioned the utility of a portable library, rather than a portable computer. Multiple PCs with a shared library (just one in use at a time) is viable, as is a portable PC (be it a SFF ATX or ITX desktop, NUC, or notebook). Piracy, not so much. IMO, an external drive only makes sense for an SFF PC or notebook that can't use 2.5" SATA or mSATA.

 

[Phynaz]

Can I copy the game from my friend and paste it in my common folder, without paying the game?

Read the forum rules fool.

 

[ZeeTech]

I am a dumb ass.

Yes, you are

 

[ZeeTech]

Sure. That's why most games have DRM, so they can leave that being easy, but still make it where you can't play.

To play, for any game that uses Steam's DRM, you must install Steam, use your account, have the game in your library, and be logged in to Steam on the PC you intend to play it on. AFAIK, there's not a limit on the number of PCs you can do this with, but you can only be logged in to one at a time. You can temporarily cheat it with offline mode, but that still requires having Steam installed, having the game on Steam, and logging in, and limits multiplayer, and sometimes spontaneously quits itself (if you keep an internet connection up).

Hence why I questioned the utility of a portable library, rather than a portable computer. Multiple PCs with a shared library (just one in use at a time) is viable, as is a portable PC (be it a SFF ATX or ITX desktop, NUC, or notebook). Piracy, not so much. IMO, an external drive only makes sense for an SFF PC or notebook that can't use 2.5" SATA or mSATA.

Thanks bro

 

[ZeeTech]

Only if they're drm free, which almost none of them are. Anyway, it's immoral and illegal, shame on you for even thinking of it!

Sorry, I did not know it was illegal