Exploding_Silver

I have always in the past only had one hard-drive, on that I have windows and the game I am running and the fraps file I am writing. I have always had to lower the res of what i am recording because (ie record half screen) because writing to the same disc i am reading the game from,just is a slow bottleneck

However this week i bought a 1tb external hard drive with usb 2.0 connection
I am now writing my fraps file to this usb2 external drive and reading my game from my internal drive. This has improved recording immensely, i can now record at 1280*720 and record smooth footage while playing my game at max that my graphics card can do

so the rough rule of thumb is;
If you are recording onto the same drive that has windows and the game, then you will need to lower game video settings and record half screen. however if you are recording onto a separate hard-drive from your game then you can play at max graphics and record at full screen

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Reaperassault

I've never had a problem recording at 1440x900 @40 FPS on my single HDD but I have one of the better performing HDDs out there. So maybe the rule of thumb is get a good or second HDD.

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Jetheren

How much was that second Hard Drive Silver? I'm looking into an external hard drive myself for recording purposes. Having that big of space would be perfect for FRAPS videos .

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"...Two roads diverged in a wood and I-
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference." Excerpt from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Exploding_Silver

in the Uk I got it from Curry's on a special for £65 (which is about 25% cheaper than the normal price)

as for US prices or Canadian prices, I don't know

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Jetheren

That's cool Silver thanks! Just wanted a rough estimate, didn't matter what currency.

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"...Two roads diverged in a wood and I-
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference." Excerpt from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Housekeeper

**edit - just played back the video I tested out using the second drive for recording- WOW the difference is huge. This was in BR however not in-game so have to do some more tests but before was not able to run at full res in any game mode.

You can pick up a 1tb external drive here in n. america for $100 or less. Careful with quality though - cheaper manufacturers use cheaper drives. Best bet is a maxtor or seagate built enclosure which of course uses seagate drives (pretty good bang for the buck and they provide 3yr warranty). If you buy a cheap enclosure and get some no-name HDD inside, chances are its going to perform poorer and die quicker.

As for recording onto a different drive, it makes sense logically. I record onto the same drive as my 2142, but have a different windows drive and can't seem to record at high settings. Perhaps I will start putting the files onto my 3rd drive, a 1tb internal sata primarily used for movies/tv.

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2142: |TG|Housekeeper007
TF2: House.Keeper

*Squad waits patiently for House to spawn in on an infantry only mini-verdun as the seconds tick away...*
Zho - "House you going to spawn in or what?"
House, after completely spacing out -"Oh... uhhh I was just practicing for when BF2:BC comes out, lets spawn on frozen!"