External SSD/HDD write speed?

[UrbanSpices]

Hi,

Firstly, if I am going to be recording at 1440p 60fps straight onto an external hard drive, what write speed should the hard drive have to avoid frame skips etc.? Does it have to be an SSD? (currently have a VBR target of 90,000 kbs).

Secondly, if I were to record 4k 60fps, should I also be using an SSD and what write speed would you recommend?

Thanks!

P.S I have nearly filled my primary SSD which is an m.2 ssd and I have the ability to install another m.2 ssd, its just a question of if its worthwhile/an external SSD or HDD is insufficient for the job.

Any questions let me know.

Log file if required: https://obsproject.com/logs/IP4D1Fy3bmzGl-Us

 

[koala]

Every current spinning hard disk or SSD is able to process 90 MByte/s. However, if you connect an external device, the connection matters. If you connect with USB, this might be too slow and a bottleneck.

More important with external disks is that Windows is driving them without write cache to enable quick removal. You can (and need to) manually enable write cache, see here: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/21904-enable-disable-disk-write-caching-windows-10-a.html
If you enable write cache, you need to make sure you always click "Safely remove hardware" in Windows before you actually disconnect the drive, otherwise the file system may get corrupted and all data lost on that drive. And you need to always enable write cache again if you connect that external drive. As far as I remember, this setting is not remembered by Windows.

However, if you mean with "external" that you just add an additional hard disk or ssd into the case of your desktop PC and connect with the usual SATA cable to the mainboard, then forget the above. This is actually an internal hard disk and handled fast with write cache. "External" is a device only if you connect it with a USB/Thunderbolt cable, outside of the main computer case.

 

[UrbanSpices]

Thank you for your detailed response!

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Beware that typical USB flash drives have limited read/write cycles, and typically much lower sustained throughput (write speed), due to using less expensive flash chips/controller, regardless of USB connection speed (there are many, and they are intentionally confusing). When it comes to USB, I find it much more useful to talk in terms of transfer rate (of 5,10,20, or 40Gb/s).
Also, more common in original SATA SSD days, but filling and running with a full SSD can still cause a drive failure. So for performance and stability, go get a 2nd M.2 drive (beware there are 2 types SATA and NVMe, which a motherboard can typically only use 1 of, not either/or, though with your new CPU, I'm assuming NVMe, but.. depends on motherboard)

On my streaming rig, I also installed a 2.5" SATA 1TB HDD to use for archive storage of videos once I'm done recording and backing up

 

[UrbanSpices]

Beware that typical USB flash drives have limited read/write cycles, and typically much lower sustained throughput (write speed), due to using less expensive flash chips/controller, regardless of USB connection speed (there are many, and they are intentionally confusing). When it comes to USB, I find it much more useful to talk in terms of transfer rate (of 5,10,20, or 40Gb/s).
Also, more common in original SATA SSD days, but filling and running with a full SSD can still cause a drive failure. So for performance and stability, go get a 2nd M.2 drive (beware there are 2 types SATA and NVMe, which a motherboard can typically only use 1 of, not either/or, though with your new CPU, I'm assuming NVMe, but.. depends on motherboard)

On my streaming rig, I also installed a 2.5" SATA SSD to use for archive storage of videos once I'm done recording and backing up

Thanks, this is helpful.