Using up harddrive space fast

[GrannySShifting]

Wasnt sure if I would be using Steam version, stand alone version, stand alone BETA so I just downloaded them all, and noticed Im only going to have about 100 GB free after that! (M.2 NVME SSD 512GB drive from Dell actually calls itself 460GB) Not too mention once I get F14/F16/F18 maps etc etc

Should I swap that drive out for a 1Terabyte one (not really sure how to directly copy over everything with the OS being on original) or should I just add an additional HD, it doesnt have another slot for the M.2 NVME stuff unfortunately. Does hard drive speed matter for things like loading times/game play etc should I stick with M.2 MVME regardless (i think you can get a expansion card to add another)?

Theres a bunch of SATA ports but I know those are like 7x slower than the NVME M.2 stuff

[Art-J]

1) Not a Steam guy here, but If I recall correctly, one can transfer licenses purchased on Steam to ED shop account, so I suppose there's no need to keep Steam DCS installed (or at least there's no need to install anything in it above bare minimum);

2) Having two DCS installs is convenient, but If standalone version and OpenBeta one take too much disc space together, I'd dump one of them. Remember that it's possible to convert one into the other at any time without need of downloading and reinstalling the whole thing - only the difference files get downloaded during conversion, so you don't need all that much space on your drive;

3) that being said, single DCS install can take between 80+ and 250+ GB depending on what you purchased, so that one 512 disc of yours will not suffice for long even if you decide to keep only two installs out of three;

4) "7x slower"? In sales guys' brochures and marketing mumbo-jumbo - yes. In practical real life application - not even close. Switching from oldschool platter HDD to SSD is a necessity in DCS (loading times difference really is multiple in that case), but switching from SSD to NVME is in a "nice to have" category rather than "must have". Thus, keeping the system on that NVME and getting aditional SSD for DCS would be enough in my opinion (it doesn't even have to be some fancy, expensive SSD - any budget model will do), but in the end it all depends on how much money and time you have to burn for this whole upgrade.

[Cnuke]

Hi, I would advice you a SSD with 1TB for openbeta standalone. (if samsung you can use the rapid mode with the software) 

I have a evo 750 samsung only 500 GB and for me with rapid mode on,  it's seemingly faster then anything I have seen. (See picture attached)

I have moved the downloadfolder to another drive but left a 'Symbolic link' where it was. So it doesn't change the structure at all and to circumvent the lack of storage.

(And I can do that for more folders if needed' to make sure DCS will install properly it's updates)

Edited February 14, 2022 by Cnuke

[Pikey]

I need a 1TB for DCS as I have a couple of versions. I haven't installed 2 terrains and the size of each install is exactly 250GB, so for one install 500GB is minimum. If you want to do anything else, get a 1TB M.2

[Hammer1-1]

I just realized that DCS takes up almost 490 gigs of hard drive space...of course thats with a few mod packs and skins, but MSFS takes up way less space than that and I find that amazing.

[draconus]

My advice is to keep 1 DCS install unless you really need more versions for anything. You won't be needing another drive unless you get low on space left again. It all depends how much you will download for DCS and install outside of DCS.

I can't agree that NVME.M2 is not much of a difference comapred to the SSD. You can look up videos where guys load a mission in a few seconds (NMVME) vs around 1 minute (SSD) vs 5-10 minutes (HDD). Sure if you load 1 or 2 missions per session it's not a big deal but testing missions, playing MP or anything like it would drive you crazy with slow loading times.