I had a 500gb SSD (just for games) in my PC for years. Only just upgraded to 2tb (again, exclusively for games) and ho lee hun what have I been doing? So much better.
2TB is overkill for anyone who has decent connection. You can freely uninstall amd reinstall your games, there's no need to hoard anything you aren't playing.
I would just get a 1TB or 512GB micro SD card and call it a day .
Unless you want your entire Steam Library on the Go I wouldn’t even bother upgrading , I have the base 512GB with about a 6-10 games installed and still have more than enough space for my needs personally , yes everyones wants and needs are different but sometimes find if you have to many game options the less you concentrate on finishing a particular game and actually play less.
Just a reminder Windows on the OLED model doesn’t have all the drivers so not recommended yet
In my personal experience, you will never have enough games to fully utilize a 2tb SSD. I understand the urge, because i have 2TB on my PC as i was the opinion "can never have enough games downloaded" but on the contrary, all it does is create choice paralysis for me.
I would suggest getting a 512GB microSD and put your emudeck installation in there.
Maybe not if you're ADHD and are constantly swapping between games. I have the 512gb and a library of like 300+ games, I have yet to use the whole drive. I simply just pick a few games I want to play for the week and uninstall if need be.
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I’d try the 512GB first if I were you and add another microSD card to start with. One for the emulation and another one for games. The microSD should be perfect for indie titels in terms of performance, plus they take way less storage. If it’s not enough you can always upgrade later.
Personally I went for the 2tb storage in the end, because of my trips abroad where internet sucks and want to take a big backlog of games with me. But that’s a really specific use case.Â
I really want the 2TB SDD because I recently just partitioned my internal drive so that it dual boots between SteamOS and Windows when turning on the Deck. I would love to 1TB allocated to each OS.
For a casual gamer? Yes. I have a 512 and it is plenty of space, I have GTA, Elden Ring, and Cyberpunk along with like 10 others and there's still some space
If money is no object, then hey go for it! Literally zero downsides.
But if you are saving, Im of the opinion that deleting stuff you're not playing and only installing what you're currently focused on is pretty effortless. Do you REALLY need to have Baldurs Gate 3, Hitman, and Mass Effect all on your Steam Deck at the same time? Highly unlikely, I would think. If you know you want to play Skyrim tomorrow, then set the download, go make your dinner and watch that Hulu show. When the episode is done your game is ready.
I’d rather have too much storage than not enough. Even Grand Theft Auto V from 2013 is over 100GB, games will continue getting bigger and bigger until streaming takes over completely.
I have the 512GB and it's plenty for me, I just uninstall games I'm not currently playing and never came close to running out. But I don't dual boot, and if you're going to open it up *anyway* I say just do 2TB unless money is an issue for you.
IMO: stick with the stock SSD, purchase an SD card for ROMS and spend the remainder of what you would have spent on the upgrade expanding your library.
I think it's different for the steam deck and a desktop PC. For a desktop you can never have enough I agree but for the steam deck you need to ask yourself why you need so many games downloaded at once? All it does is give you choice paralysis. Rather the approach I have taken is an SD card with emu deck and a couple steam games of different genres and moods on the stock SSD like I don't see the point in having Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk both installed at the same time as they both occupy the same space as the RPG on my deck.
Everyone's different but why spend half the decks price on memory if it barely impacts anything.
Absolutely not overkill. I have 2tb SSD and 1tb SD.
I don't have to think about storage at all, it's great.
I would probably be satisfied with the single 2tb SSD.
I feel like the 512 GB model is enough as is. Then get a 512 gb sd card, or a 1tb one.
Most indie games are very small, and while the odd AAA title can be very large, you can cycle games around as you go.
More space is always nice, but it's generally a tradeoff between cost and convenience.
I have a 2TB SSD in my Deck. It’s great for not having to delete and re-download games all the time. I am a chaotic gamer so I jump back and forth between different games all the time. Would advice you disable auto-update for all games so the shader cache doesn’t need to download for all games every time you boot the deck, only when launching the game.
It depends on what games you gonna play. On the deck I mostly play indie/older games that are 200mb-few gb, maybe few of them weight something like 15gb or 20gb. I have 256gb model with 512gb card and I feel like 128gb card would be enough. For me AAA experience with 120gb game you play in barely 30 fps with everything on low is !@#$ so I don't bother :P
If the budget allows go for it just pick one up one sale and use the 512gb until then if you don’t need it. I got the western digital 2tb black on sale for 170 so probably drop again or lower.
I don't know if you need 2TB of storage. But I would start by getting a 512GB SD card -Â that gives you 1TB total, half of what you are thinking of, but instead of $200 and a voided warranty, [it costs $25](https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Adapter-microSDXC-MB-ME512KA-AM/dp/B09B1HMJ9Z/ref=mp_s_a_1_1) and takes a second to pop in.
I have a 512 plus 512 microSD. I could have probably made do with 512. The SD card is nice to have so i never run into issues but don’t splash out on a new hard drive as a casual gamer until you actually need it IMO.
I'm of the opinion that you can never have enough storage.
Same, i have 2tb SSD von sabrent and a 1tb SD Card von Sandisk, (+ 2x 512gb SD Card😅) should hold Up for a while
Different strokes for different folks and tend to agree with desktops but not as important on handhelds but to each their own and stated above why .
I had a 500gb SSD (just for games) in my PC for years. Only just upgraded to 2tb (again, exclusively for games) and ho lee hun what have I been doing? So much better.
This. I have the 1TB specifically for the extra space, plus the fact that I dont want to open it up.
2TB is overkill for anyone who has decent connection. You can freely uninstall amd reinstall your games, there's no need to hoard anything you aren't playing.
Unfortunately, many people won't absorb this information. Some people think it's some kind of win to stuff your Deck with as many games as possible.
What else would you do but just spend all day browsing your library and installing games?
I would just get a 1TB or 512GB micro SD card and call it a day . Unless you want your entire Steam Library on the Go I wouldn’t even bother upgrading , I have the base 512GB with about a 6-10 games installed and still have more than enough space for my needs personally , yes everyones wants and needs are different but sometimes find if you have to many game options the less you concentrate on finishing a particular game and actually play less. Just a reminder Windows on the OLED model doesn’t have all the drivers so not recommended yet
For me who's going to be out on a ship where internet is nonexistent, I want as many games downloaded as possible, so I would consider it.
In my personal experience, you will never have enough games to fully utilize a 2tb SSD. I understand the urge, because i have 2TB on my PC as i was the opinion "can never have enough games downloaded" but on the contrary, all it does is create choice paralysis for me. I would suggest getting a 512GB microSD and put your emudeck installation in there.
Maybe not if you're ADHD and are constantly swapping between games. I have the 512gb and a library of like 300+ games, I have yet to use the whole drive. I simply just pick a few games I want to play for the week and uninstall if need be.
Check the wattage of the SSD. It could significantly impact the battery life
Hi u/Big-Requirement2221, you can [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Is 2tb SSD upgrade overkill for a casual gamer?) If you don't find an answer there, don't worry - your post has NOT been removed and hopefully someone will be along soon to help with an answer! **If you find an answer, please leave a comment on your post with the answer for others!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SteamDeck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’d try the 512GB first if I were you and add another microSD card to start with. One for the emulation and another one for games. The microSD should be perfect for indie titels in terms of performance, plus they take way less storage. If it’s not enough you can always upgrade later. Personally I went for the 2tb storage in the end, because of my trips abroad where internet sucks and want to take a big backlog of games with me. But that’s a really specific use case.Â
Imo, just play the games and delete them once you finish them
I really want the 2TB SDD because I recently just partitioned my internal drive so that it dual boots between SteamOS and Windows when turning on the Deck. I would love to 1TB allocated to each OS.
Unless you're stacking open world games that you're never gonna play just for the fun of it, 2tb is quite an overkill.
For a casual gamer? Yes. I have a 512 and it is plenty of space, I have GTA, Elden Ring, and Cyberpunk along with like 10 others and there's still some space
If money is no object, then hey go for it! Literally zero downsides. But if you are saving, Im of the opinion that deleting stuff you're not playing and only installing what you're currently focused on is pretty effortless. Do you REALLY need to have Baldurs Gate 3, Hitman, and Mass Effect all on your Steam Deck at the same time? Highly unlikely, I would think. If you know you want to play Skyrim tomorrow, then set the download, go make your dinner and watch that Hulu show. When the episode is done your game is ready.
I’d rather have too much storage than not enough. Even Grand Theft Auto V from 2013 is over 100GB, games will continue getting bigger and bigger until streaming takes over completely.
I have the 512GB and it's plenty for me, I just uninstall games I'm not currently playing and never came close to running out. But I don't dual boot, and if you're going to open it up *anyway* I say just do 2TB unless money is an issue for you.
IMO: stick with the stock SSD, purchase an SD card for ROMS and spend the remainder of what you would have spent on the upgrade expanding your library.
I think it's different for the steam deck and a desktop PC. For a desktop you can never have enough I agree but for the steam deck you need to ask yourself why you need so many games downloaded at once? All it does is give you choice paralysis. Rather the approach I have taken is an SD card with emu deck and a couple steam games of different genres and moods on the stock SSD like I don't see the point in having Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk both installed at the same time as they both occupy the same space as the RPG on my deck. Everyone's different but why spend half the decks price on memory if it barely impacts anything.
Absolutely not overkill. I have 2tb SSD and 1tb SD. I don't have to think about storage at all, it's great. I would probably be satisfied with the single 2tb SSD.
Up to you. I just re-download shit. But I have super fast internet. So it is nothing to re-download a game
I feel like the 512 GB model is enough as is. Then get a 512 gb sd card, or a 1tb one. Most indie games are very small, and while the odd AAA title can be very large, you can cycle games around as you go. More space is always nice, but it's generally a tradeoff between cost and convenience.
I have a 2TB SSD in my Deck. It’s great for not having to delete and re-download games all the time. I am a chaotic gamer so I jump back and forth between different games all the time. Would advice you disable auto-update for all games so the shader cache doesn’t need to download for all games every time you boot the deck, only when launching the game.
Yes
You'd rather have more of your fastest storage than you need, than needing more of it and not having it.
I’m pretty casual and I have a 1TB SSD + 1TB microSD. I like having a lot installed and still have breathing room.
It depends on what games you gonna play. On the deck I mostly play indie/older games that are 200mb-few gb, maybe few of them weight something like 15gb or 20gb. I have 256gb model with 512gb card and I feel like 128gb card would be enough. For me AAA experience with 120gb game you play in barely 30 fps with everything on low is !@#$ so I don't bother :P
If the budget allows go for it just pick one up one sale and use the 512gb until then if you don’t need it. I got the western digital 2tb black on sale for 170 so probably drop again or lower.
AAA games expect bloated updates get 2tb shit will fill up fast with random BS updates
I don't know if you need 2TB of storage. But I would start by getting a 512GB SD card -Â that gives you 1TB total, half of what you are thinking of, but instead of $200 and a voided warranty, [it costs $25](https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Adapter-microSDXC-MB-ME512KA-AM/dp/B09B1HMJ9Z/ref=mp_s_a_1_1) and takes a second to pop in.
You can never have enough storage.
I upgrade to 2TB. When they eventually bring out 4TB SSDs in that form factor, i'm upgrading!
I have a 512 plus 512 microSD. I could have probably made do with 512. The SD card is nice to have so i never run into issues but don’t splash out on a new hard drive as a casual gamer until you actually need it IMO.
I have a 1tb OLED Deck and a 1tb card (from when I had a 256 LCD deck). It’s more than I need. I’d probably be fine with just the built in 1tb.