An Ignoble Experiment: I think PC games have got a bit big for their boots... and our SSDs

PC games have got a real storage problem | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hogs up to 213GB of storage space and doesn't care if you want to play other games | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's 213GB storage hogging is because of 'open world Zombies' but don't panic it can be reduced

Created for ignoble.experiment@arconati.us | Web Version

November 5, 2023

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First up

PC games have got a real storage problem

(Future)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is set to take up a huge amount of space on your PC if you want to go the whole storage hog and install everything. It's not the first PC game to demand hundreds of gigs of your SSDs (oh yes, it HAS to be an SSD for CoD), and honestly it's getting a bit much. The devs say you can uninstall a bunch of stuff to make the install smaller, but in a world where previously cheap storage may soon be getting even pricier, thanks to Samsung upping the cost of NAND flash memory, games need to respect your space.

The Big Story

(Activision Blizzard)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hogs up to 213GB of storage space and doesn't care if you want to play other games

As if to prove modern PC games are self-obsessed narcissists that can't imagine you might want to play something else, here comes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with a ridiculous requirement for up to 213GB of storage space. Oh, and that'll need to be 213GB of SSD storage space according to the game's minimum requirements, not one of those clunky old magnetic jobs with spinning platters.

Yup, 213GB. Now, there are caveats to that figure. If all you want to do is play the multiplayer version and you're happy to forgo the full visual experience excluding "high-rez" assets, then the absolute bare minimum install is 79GB. Add the single-player campaign sans high-rez assets and you're looking at 149GB.

So, it's the full multi- and single-player install with high-rez assets that clocks in at 213GB. Now, SSD prices have come down dramatically in the last year or so. Check out our deals page and you'll that you can now get a 2TB SSD for under $100 and even favourites like the WD Black SN850X only run to a relatively attainable $150, and often much less on special offer.

But we're still talking about a huge chunk of space for a single game. Even if you have a healthy 2TB SSD, by the time you account for the OS, whatever files and media you might have on the drive and allowing for the fact that it's never a good idea to have an SSD crammed to bursting, well, you're not going to be installing very many games at 213GB a pop, are you?

Heck, even with a 4TB SSD, if every game was over 200GB, you'd be looking at a maximum installed library of games of about 15 or so. In other words, if you want a really big installed library, games like this tips things over into multiple SSD territory.

Storage hogs

(Activision Blizzard)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's 213GB storage hogging is because of 'open world Zombies' but don't panic it can be reduced

Call of Duty publisher says content can be uninstalled to reduce storage usage.

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Pretty big deals

(Asus)

For a gaming laptop with close to RTX 4060-level gaming performance the TUF A16 feels like a genuine bargain. That 512GB SSD is a bit miserly, but everything else seems like excellent value for money. That RX 7600S GPU is a rare AMD mobile GPU, and sits above the RTX 4050 and a bit below the RTX 4060 in terms of performance. For a $750 gaming laptop, that's a good place to be.

(Gigabyte)

This is a lot of laptop for not very much money. To start with, you're getting a 10-core, 16-thread CPU that will easily cope with pretty much any game you throw at it. There's an RTX 4060 Mobile graphics chip too, that supports DLSS upscaling and frame generation. The storage and RAM are a bit disappointing, and you'll probably want to upgrade it at some point with a large SSD. For portable gaming and school work, though, this Gigabyte G5 laptop will keep you and your wallet happy.

(SteelSeries)

SteelSeries has a reputation for making fantastic gaming headsets, and this Arctis Pro + model is certainly no exception. It's got a crystal clear bidirectional mic, a super comfortable "ski goggle" fabric headband and some great sounding drivers, but the real thing to pay attention to here is its dedicated DAC+ amplifier with OLED screen. This headset sounds absolutely brilliant as a result, and should jump straight to the top of your list.