I’m thinking of ordering the Gen 2 1TB Expansion card to use as a dedicated “game drive” but I’ve seen there are some issues with it. Is it worth getting, or does it need some tweaks still?
Thanks in advance.
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It’s essentially an expensive external USB drive in the expansion card format. I’d personally always refer a larger nvme SSD instead of buying something like this and blocking an expansion card slot, but I guess in some cases it makes sense, e.g. if you already have the largest nvme drive readily available and still need more storage, of if you’re not able to upgrade the nvme drive for various reasons. Or maybe if you need a backup drive, although backups to offline/not always connected drives are usually safer.
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Thank you. It was more about the convenience of it, and how the Gen 2 performs.
Just getting a bigger main ssd for this use case is better in almost all aspects (apart from it not being as removable as an expansion card).
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I have one, and it’s convenient for quick OS testing or large file transfers - much more “portable SSD” class performance than “flash drive” performance. It can get quite toasty, though; thermal throttling is an issue.
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Thank you for the info, I think I’m inclined to get one and see how I go. I’m locked into the SSD I have, but I will be able to change it later. So either way, this could work for me 
I have one and have found it can sometimes be a bit quirky when I plug something else in. There’s an EFI setting that controls when the TPM triggers that may have been causing that. Otherwise it also gets a bit warm. But overall I’m pretty happy with it.
Generally, a larger internal nVME would probably make more sense for most folks. For me I use it for my /home directory on Linux and have encrypted it with LUKS. The idea being when traveling I can either carry the drive on me if I don’t need the laptop or put the drive in a safe if the laptop won’t fit. Stuff like that.
Also it gives me more room to offload video and photos when I’m using my camera for lots of things.
Finally it’s a fun way to share the same /home between systems, though I don’t really do that.
It is a sort of “win more” kind of device. You can get a similar experience with other brands and things, but without the integration. Defintiely not needed but glad I got one just the same.
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Having an expansion card also makes dual booting a lot simpler. Specially if Linux is living in the expansion card. The OSes don´t have to coexist in a drive. And the installation is portable which is nice.
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I really think the prices of the expansion cards are way too high now.
SSD prices have come down significantly, since the cards were released.
I can get a WD Black 1TB 2230 SSD for 85€ on amazon. The expansion card is 140€.
Also i would be in the market for a 512GB, which unfortunately does not exist, but is the perfect sweet spot imo
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Thank you - all of you. I have taken the l; leap and ordered one. Looking at all the comments and reviews, I think it will be perfect for the way I have set my FW13 up (Windows 11 Pro build, nothing exciting, lol)