While this is a case-by-case question depending on the type of gamer that you are, the base size of your storage should at least be 500 GB. Any less than that, and it simply would not be feasible to use it as a gaming PC.
I’m an IT professional by day, and a PC gamer by night. With that combined knowledge, I hope to help you decide on the right storage size. For reference, I currently have 2 TB of storage and only have about 200 GB of free storage left.
Throughout this article, I will go into the details of game sizes and how as time progresses and games get prettier and better, their size also increases.
Contents
Key Takeaways
- Games can vary significantly in size, so it is best to review the size of the games you know you’ll want to play.
- There is a difference in gaming performance when using an HDD versus an SSD.
- If you run out of drive space, you can expand your storage.
SSD and HDD Storage in a Gaming PC
The first thing you need to decide before the amount of storage is the type of storage that you will be using within your new gaming PC. Both options have ups and downs, so it is all up to personal preference.
An HDD, or Hard Disk Drive, is a spinning disk drive. These tend to be much more affordable than Solid State Drives, but the trade-off for the price is the speed. You can get a large HDD for a fraction of the cost of an SSD.
If you put an HDD in a gaming PC as your sole drive, you will see longer load/boot times for your OS and games and an increase in noise due to the physical spinning disk. If this holds no sway over you, an HDD would be a solid choice.
An SSD, is smaller, faster, and more powerful than the alternative. The price reflects this boost in overall performance as solid states can get much more expensive than Hard Drives.
How Much Storage Do Games Take Up on a Gaming PC?
How much storage you need will depend on the types of games you intend to play with your new gaming PC. Video games have quickly advanced, and graphics have become almost unreal and uncanny in their realism and beauty.
But with these advancements and improvements, comes a caveat. In 2023, triple-A games can take up to 100 to 200 GBs. Below are some of the most popular triple-A games, and the total space they take up if installed.
| Game | Required Space |
| Modern Warfare 2 | 78GB |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 150GB |
| GTA V | 75GB |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 70GB |
| Total: | 373GB |
500 GB of Storage Space for your Gaming PC
Undoubtedly, 500 GB should be the baseline for any gaming PC. You don’t want to get any less since you can see above the space only a small handful of games can take up. On top of this, Windows 10 takes up 20 GB on its own, only leaving you about 480 GB of usable storage.
With that limited storage space, you will have to uninstall games to make room for others constantly. Unless you plan on playing small indie games, which tend to be smaller or only have a limited amount of games, it would be better to get more storage.
The price difference between a 500 GB HDD and a 500GB SSD is not much of a gap at all. You can pick up a 500 GB hard drive for about $17-$30.
A 500 GB SSD will run you about $27 to $35. The price gap is barely noticeable between the solid-state drives and hard drives of this storage capacity.
1TB of Storage Space For your Gaming PC
I believe that 1 TB of storage space is the sweet spot for any gaming rig. A terabyte (TB) is 1,000 GB. With Windows installed, you would still have 980 GB of wiggle room to install games to your heart’s content.
You won’t have to constantly check your disk space to ensure you have enough room to install your next game. With a hard drive or SSD of this size, you can have about 12 to 15 games installed at once. Of course, this depends upon the types of games you install.
This is where the price gap begins to be seen between solid-state drives and hard drives. For a 1 TB SSD, the price will be between $50 to $100.
2 TB and Beyond for Your Gaming PC
Once you hit the 2 TB and above range, you can install more games than you could feasibly play through to completion before running out of space. Upwards of 30 triple-A titles could be installed all at once, along with other files and such.
This is getting into the range where the price discrepancies widen even further. Without much digging, you can find a 2 TB HDD for a price range between $30-$60. You can pick one up quickly for an affordable price.
SSDs, however, begin to get more expensive the more expansive the storage space becomes. Prices vary between $80-$170 depending on the brand name and the read and write speeds.
Can I Expand My Storage Space When I Run Out of Space?
Gaming computers come with multiple SATA ports on the motherboard, making expanding your gaming storage space as simple as possible. You can easily buy and add another SSD or HDD to your gaming PC.
Final Thoughts
Regarding your gaming PC, the amount of storage you need will vary depending on several factors. Despite how large or small your gaming library is, the lowest storage space option you should ever go with to have an enjoyable time is 500 GB.
