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Why 500 GB memory is no longer enough

Posted on by darion

The most important story

  • It is necessary to allocate at least 128 GB of space for Windows and other system files with 500 GB.
  • Although several games are relatively smaller, their DLCs can quickly meet memory requirements above 100 GB.
  • Productivity software like Adobe Suite takes up to 30 GB of space, and storing metadata requires even more.
  • You can buy an additional drive, use external hard drives, or use cloud storage services to get out of the delete and download cycle.

As an avid gamer, I have noticed that newer games are getting bigger and bigger. Almost all modern games are well over 100 GB in size, with some, such as ARK: Survival Evolved, exceeding 200 GB. This is why 500 GB of memory is no longer enough in PCs. One 500GB drive can only fit two to three games without any performance-enhancing software. This means I have to constantly delete games, which can be frustrating and time-consuming.

Windows system files have priority

If you’re using a single 500GB storage device, you’ll need to dedicate most of it to Windows storage. Overall, 128GB for Windows is enough to get you going without causing any problems. However, this means you have even less space to store the games and office software you may need.

If you’re playing low-spec games from the early 2010s, you shouldn’t have any problems, but if you’re planning on serious gaming, you’ll need to consider which game to choose for the long haul.

DLCs ​​constantly increase game storage requirements

In addition to saving more disk space for Windows, new games continue to introduce downloadable content (DLC), increasing their size. For example, Cyberpunk 2077’s base size is around 70GB, while the latest Phantom Liberty DLC is over 100GB.

Here’s a chart showing the base size of the games and how it increases with DLC. After this, you should be able to understand why a 500GB drive may not be enough:

Game Storage Requirements
Comparison of the base size of games and their size with DLC expansions. (Photo by Tech4Gamers)

As the chart shows, I only added newer games. While some are less than 100GB, their DLCs easily exceed that limit. If you save 128GB of the 500 for Windows, you’ll only have about 370GB left. This saves enough space to keep three games if you don’t download all the DLC content. Of course, this also means that you don’t have any other software on your computer.

Productivity software also takes up space

Let’s say you work in a creative space and need a lot of Adobe programs while saving some disk space to play a few games every now and then. If you save metadata for video editing and graphic design tasks, you may need more than 100 GB of free space at all times.

Likewise, longer animations can take up even more space for animation tasks, which makes me wonder how any creative can perform with only 500GB of storage. Personally, even my total 1.75TB storage is starting to run low due to all the saved data I can’t delete.

Data storage solution: what are our options?

Inside the hard driveInside the hard drive
Inside the hard drive

If you have a smaller drive and can’t afford to upgrade immediately, there aren’t many viable options. If possible, you can use external hard drives to save some of your data without having to go through a constant cycle of deleting and retrieving. Otherwise, you’ll have to stick with 500GB of storage, which no longer limits it.

Besides, cloud storage services can significantly help you save all your private data to free up some space on your main drive. However, I recommend purchasing another 500GB drive to get at least 1TB of total storage space. Don’t choose anything expensive; A $20 7200 RPM internal hard drive will serve you well.

What is the future of storage and gaming?

To summarize, as technology advances and newer games are released, our storage needs will increase, so 500 GB of storage will no longer be enough. That’s why I prefer retro games that provide longer hours of play and don’t take up much space or graphics. No matter how much space you take up, you will eventually fall back into the cycle of deleting and downloading.

That’s why we need more efficient and secure storage solutions to meet our constant demands. I’m excited to see what the future of storage holds; perhaps games will become more storage friendly and compressed, but as it stands I don’t see any improvement any time soon.

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