How much do you use your hard drive?

Advocatus

Advocatus

CAGiversary!
Hello CAG Community...
I like thousands of others cashed in on the HD DVD player deal (but drew the line at box sets)

I plan on getting an Xbox 360 at Christmas time with giftcards from family and friends.
I know I want a box with the new chipsets, but I cannot figure out what size hard drive I want, so I wanted to take a poll of sorts and ask you 360 owners...

How much do you use your Hard Drive?
What size is it?
What do you download or store on the hard drive?
If you have a 20gb drive, have you filled it, and with what?


Thanks!
 
I just got one, but 20GB should be fine for me, as it will just be for game saves and the occasional arcade game as far as permanently stored items go.

Demos and videos get delted as soon as I've watched/played them enough.
 
I use my hard drive all the time. I have a Pro with the 20GB and it got down to 4GB of free space. Mind you, I don't download movie or tv content aside from that free South Park episode they gave away. I also don't keep demos on my drive. It's just having all that game content is what's taking up most of the space. To give you an idea, my Games folder (where all the saves and game content/DLs are saved) is somewhere around 6GB.

I recently bought an Elite and transferred all my content over. Up to 94GB free now. And this may just be me imagining things, but pulling up the Dashboard in-game seems to be hitch-free now and games feel like they're loading faster.

Someone posted a screen of the Dashboard with the possible inclusion of TV recording so that extra HDD space may come in handy down the line for me.
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']A bunch of useful comments[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your input.

I plan on using the 360 as a true HTPC (home theater PC), using the DVD upconverting via HDMI, I already own the HD DVD player, and hopefully downloading TV shows and movies if there are any of interest. I enjoy playing game demos as well. That in addition to the game system is what helped justify the purchase to my wife, who also enjoys gaming. I liked the option of being able to put my DVD player away and have one unit that can do multiple activities... that is another reason I'll learn to read the serial numbers and why I will be buying my Christmas present with gift cards, rather than receive it from my wife/family.

I'd love to hear more opinions... it's difficult to justify the Elite's price tag since it doen't come with any games.
 
[quote name='Advocatus']Thanks for your input.

I plan on using the 360 as a true HTPC (home theater PC), using the DVD upconverting via HDMI, I already own the HD DVD player, and hopefully downloading TV shows and movies if there are any of interest. I enjoy playing game demos as well. That in addition to the game system is what helped justify the purchase to my wife, who also enjoys gaming. I liked the option of being able to put my DVD player away and have one unit that can do multiple activities... that is another reason I'll learn to read the serial numbers and why I will be buying my Christmas present with gift cards, rather than receive it from my wife/family.

I'd love to hear more opinions... it's difficult to justify the Elite's price tag since it doen't come with any games.[/quote]If that's the case then having the extra HDD space would definitely benefit you. You can get all your music on there, too or stream from your PC.

As for the games, I think an Elite bundle is releasing soon that has the same two games as well. I'm not 100% sure on that, but I remember reading something to that effect.
 
I got my 360 back in February, so I was limited to the 20GB drive at first. I constantly found myself having to delete demos and videos in order to have space, due to the fact that I have a ton of games and I've downloaded quite a bit of content for those games.

About a month ago I moved to the 120GB hard drive (during the Amazon.com sale), and I haven't looked back. I love all of the extra space, and as some others have said in other posts - the drive seems a little faster.
 
[quote name='Advocatus']Thanks for your input.

I plan on using the 360 as a true HTPC (home theater PC), using the DVD upconverting via HDMI, I already own the HD DVD player, and hopefully downloading TV shows and movies if there are any of interest. I enjoy playing game demos as well. That in addition to the game system is what helped justify the purchase to my wife, who also enjoys gaming. I liked the option of being able to put my DVD player away and have one unit that can do multiple activities... that is another reason I'll learn to read the serial numbers and why I will be buying my Christmas present with gift cards, rather than receive it from my wife/family.

I'd love to hear more opinions... it's difficult to justify the Elite's price tag since it doen't come with any games.[/QUOTE]

If you plan to download tv shows and movies you need the Elite. My hard drive is always full just from arcade games, demos, and downloaded content for games. I have over 400Mb of content for just Gears of War.
 
[quote name='Indiana']I have over 400Mb of content for just Gears of War.[/QUOTE]


Wow thanks for the heads up on that. Gears of War, is that a good single player game as well, or is that mostly a MMFPS?
 
With only 20GB you use the whole thing all the time. I am constantly deleting demos to make space. Which is too bad, because alot of demos I like to play often and it's slightly hard to decide on which demo to drop when you want to download something new.
 
Definitely go for the Elite. I've had my box for less then a year... only 8gb left. I see that thing being maxed out before the year is over. The more games you play, the more downloaded content... so on. GRAW2 has what? a gig worth of maps... 400mb for Bioshock... you get the idea.
 
[quote name='Lupuri']Definitely go for the Elite.[/QUOTE]


Yeah you guys are probably right, what does everyone think?

My desired game list looks like this
Halo 3
Madden 08 (or whatever date)

What are others that you could suggest that you really love?
I enjoy almost all game types.
 
[quote name='Richlough']I'll put this simply , I resent not having the option to get a 120 HDD at launch .[/quote]

I agree. I'm down to 3.1GB left and I RARELY download anything other than demos and I try to delete as much stuff as possible. I've got a few expendable demos on there right now but at best I'll be left with 8GB of free space... at some point very soon I'll really need some extra space.
 
[quote name='Advocatus']Wow thanks for the heads up on that. Gears of War, is that a good single player game as well, or is that mostly a MMFPS?[/QUOTE]

It's good in singleplayer, but it's very short (like 8 hours) so just rent it if you won't play online.

It's campaign mode is great in co-op though, be it split screen or online with a friend.
 
One thing for those low on space, be sure to look through your old save files and delete ones you don't need. i.e. I had like 20 different bioshock saves when I finished as I kept accidentally hitting new save, and those were often over a MB a piece, so that could add up fast if you've done similar with a bunch of games.
 
[quote name='Advocatus']
What are others that you could suggest that you really love?
I enjoy almost all game types.[/QUOTE]

Bioshock, Gears, Oblivion, Crackdown, Call of Duty 2 (and 4 soon) Guitar Hero 2 or 3, Orange Box.

You should be able to find the bundle with Forza 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for free and those are both decent games as well.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']You should be able to find the bundle with Forza 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for free and those are both decent games as well.[/QUOTE]

Right but then I get a 20GB HD and most people are suggesting the 120GB Elite. Maybe I'll try to find Forza2 cheap after a few months...

ooOOoo Gears of War has Co-op... that is sweet.
 
What will take up space:
demos
DLC
Movies or TV shows

What will not take up a lot of space
Game Saves
Arcade games
 
[quote name='Advocatus']Right but then I get a 20GB HD and most people are suggesting the 120GB Elite. Maybe I'll try to find Forza2 cheap after a few months...

ooOOoo Gears of War has Co-op... that is sweet.[/QUOTE]

The games should be available with the Elite's too I thought (though they've been hard to find).

But yeah, if it's not available with the games, then still go with the Elite since you need the HD space.
 
[quote name='bobthecat23']definetly get the elite with the chipset it will help u out a lot[/QUOTE]

The premiums with HDMI have the same chipsets (either Zephyr or Falcon) as the elites.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']The premiums with HDMI have the same chipsets (either Zephyr or Falcon) as the elites.[/QUOTE]


Which is the newer chipset, Falcon correct?
 
[quote name='Advocatus']Which is the newer chipset, Falcon correct?[/QUOTE]

Yep. That adds the 65nm CPU. Zephyr just added a heat sink and some other mods to help prevent the RRoD, but used the same chips.
 
I'm picking up a 120 gig one tomorrow. I'm more the exception that the rule with all arcade games purchased, free gamerpics and themes downloaded. But here's the breakdown of my hard drive

Games - 12.8 GB
Gamer Profiles - 26 MB
Demos - 11 MB
Videos - 151 MB
Themes - 249 MB
Gamer Pictures - 19 MB
System Items - 5 MB
Music - 0 MB

Free Space - 406 MB

I'd go with the bigger hard drive regardless. You may not need it for a bit, but you will eventually need it. Even free content adds up over time. Factoring in the free GRAW content, Vegas, and Lost Planet...you're looking at at least 3 GB right there.
 
i would be fine with a 40-60gb hard drive, my 20 gb hard drive is running out of space as well, really thinking about upgrading or selling my 360 for an elite just for the 120gb
 
I'm constantly running out of space and I really don't know why even with all the demos I get. Where as my PS3 has nothing but video clips, demos, games saves and I still have a shit load of room.
 
Got my console at launch and I'm on my second replacement. Have the 20 gig and am around 8 gigs right now with zero demos and no trailers. I do have 3 south park episodes and some 8 XBA games, but I don't really think the 120 gb is needed unless you intend on downloading many, shows, demos, and trailers.
 
[quote name='Advocatus']Wow thanks for the heads up on that. Gears of War, is that a good single player game as well, or is that mostly a MMFPS?[/QUOTE]

I have spent 90% of my time playing that game in single player. It's an awesome single player and it's fun multiplayer as well.
 
just so you know, tha 20 gig HD actually only has like 13 or so gigs of usable space, so keep that in mind.
 
If you haven't bought a system yet, think about the Elite, as it gives you the 120GB drive, as well as the HDMI breakout connector for optical and RCA audio out.

I picked up a 120GB drive for my Premium and have about 39GB free, though it's chock full of videos demos and TV shows. I don't regret getting the 120GB drive, as I flipped some games to GC to pay for it, at about $30 out of pocket.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']If you haven't bought a system yet, think about the Elite, as it gives you the 120GB drive, as well as the HDMI breakout connector for optical and RCA audio out.[/QUOTE]

Yeah my plan is to get a 360 at Christmas time with gift cards from family. I think I'm going to get the Elite that comes with Forza 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance... that package is planned to come out for the holiday season. I played Forza 2 over my friend's last night and was rather pleased with how it looked and played.

Thanks for your comments on the 120GB drive everyone... almost everyone has mentioned that the 120GB has given them the freedom they want in downloading demos and TV shows etc etc..and some report that the dashboard seems faster with the 120GB...

You're dead on about the need for the audio adapter... though I saw one included in a package at target, it was a third party company and I'd rather not dabble in that unless it's Logitech. I'll be running video to my 42in plasma via HDMI and the sound to my receiver via coaxial (I think it's coaxial, if not I'll use the optical my receiver has both inputs.)

I've made a deal with my buddy, because he owns Halo3 now and we're playing it, that I would get Gears of War and play co-op on my system when I get it. Co-op is my favorite thing of the old Xbox, and likely to be one of my favorite about the 360.

thanks, CAG community for all of your great suggestions and comments
 
[quote name='Advocatus']Wow thanks for the heads up on that. Gears of War, is that a good single player game as well, or is that mostly a MMFPS?[/quote]

i had a lot of fun single player, it's also fun on co-op. i'm down to about 6G now mostly cuz i'm a freebie whore, any free pics, themes or videos and i'm all over them, bummed that i'm gonna miss out on the free halloween stuff, didn't think to check it out before i left for work, either way, in the long run i think i'd rather have the 120 gig for sure, game saves after a while take a lot,(i have like 11 games and 1.2 gigs taken from saves, imagine the maniacs with like 30+ games out there.) and it'd be nice to know i always have room for whatever i want on there. once it gets low i gotta start deletin crap.
 
based on what you want to use it for, def. get the elite. I have one, have everything I can think of downloaded to it, and still have plenty of space. Movies, demos, saves, etc. Do eet
 
If you plan on downloading/buying DLC for biggers games, such as shooters, and/or movies, then I'd recommend getting the bigger HD.

I always said that the 20GB would be fine for me, but I've invested in a bit of XBLA games as well as downloaded most of the additional map packs for all my shooters (GRAW, GRAW2, GOW, R6V) and that has eaten up my HD so now I'm struggling with only 1-2 GB and need a bigger HD.
 
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