Saving big games from Steam is a common process.
Saving big games from Steam is a common process.
My friend Chloe is returning this Thursday, the 19th. The internet at my dorm in Blackwell is pretty slow—about 2 to 3MBps. I can still access fast speeds at the library, where computers run up to 500-600MBps, but they don’t support gaming because their hardware isn’t powerful enough for the game’s requirements. Bringing my own PC isn’t an option either; Wi-Fi is unreliable and too slow, plus it would be awkward to carry around. The game itself is about 5GB in size, and previously I downloaded it from the library onto a USB stick, then transferred it back to my PC. It usually takes around 15 minutes each way, totaling about 30 minutes. There’s no preload option for Steam except on the console, and copying it via USB also takes roughly 30 minutes due to the 2.0 standard. Some systems can use an external 3.5" HDD with a rack, though I’m not sure if normal drives can be read that way. If you’re okay with waiting, there’s a chance it could take up to four hours for a connection as fast as 3 Mbps.
USB 3.0 will certainly boost data transfer rates. You might also want to configure it to start downloading before bedtime so it can finish overnight.
Steam doesn’t support preloading, so I’m going to start playing immediately. Keep in mind, I’ve already placed my order for the game.
Your 32 GB Sandisk Ultra USB 3.0 runs at about 15 MB/s when writing and 40 to 70 MB/s when reading. Writing 5GB would take roughly 333 seconds—about six minutes. The drive is quite old, but newer models can offer faster performance.
Imagine using a USB 3.0 device to create a Steam library on your drive, download the game, connect it to your PC, and play right away. No need to worry about backups—it won’t be the top gaming experience. Or with a phone offering faster than 3Mbps data speeds, you could simply connect if you have the connection available.
Game would take a long time to load via USB. Simply move the files into the Steam folder, then if needed, run "Verify integrity of game files..." once (click right-click on Game → Properties → Local Files). Alternatively, download through Steam, use Steam Backup and Restore to save the game, then import it from your backup at home by pointing Steam to your USB stick.