Guide on Best Allocation Unit Size for Gaming [2024 New]

Did you know that your hard drive can affect your gaming experience? When you format a hard drive, the system allocates many small storage blocks or sectors for file storage. By default, the system assigns the cluster size, or allocation unit size.

To get the best gaming experience, you need to set the Allocation Unit Size for your game optimally. Read on to learn how.

What is the recommended partition size for a game?

A 64KB cluster size is the most suitable for gaming. 4KB and 64KB are the commonly used cluster sizes today, but why is 64KB the optimal allocation unit for games? Let's delve into how this impacts system performance.

So, if you choose a 4 KB block size, your file will be divided into smaller 4 KB chunks, which is best and most efficient for storage. However, the smaller the blocks, the greater the number of them.

So, when you're reading a large file, the system has to skip over a lot of clusters to get to the one it wants. You don't want that extra overhead while you're playing a game, so 4KB clusters aren't ideal.

This is why users storing large files, such as games, 3D movies, and high-resolution images, might prefer a cluster size of 64 KB: the larger the cluster, the fewer the number of fragments, and the fewer the number of jumps the system has to make to locate a file.

By the way, if you're interested in the optimal allocation unit size for exFAT, this link has some good information.

So, ideally, you'd use larger cluster sizes to handle large files for improved read and write efficiency.

Alright, let's see how to set the optimal allocation unit size for PC gaming.

Set the optimal allocation unit size for the game

You can use a disk management utility to do this, either by deleting the old partition and creating a new one with a 64KB allocation unit size, or by simply changing the allocation unit size to 64KB.

But this approach carries the risk of system crashes and data loss. So be sure to back up your system before deleting or altering hard drives.

tools Partition Master is a viable alternative. The software includes a partition manager (hide, show, and delete partitions) and options to adjust the cluster size of your PC.

It's easy to change the cluster size to 64 KB using “Change Cluster Size.” Let's take a look:

1. Right-click on the partition whose cluster size you wish to adjust, and select "Advanced." Click "Change Cluster Size."

**Step 2:** Under "New size," click the Size list, and then select the cluster size that you want to adjust for the disk partition. Click OK.

Change cluster size

Step 3: Click the “Run Tasks” button, and then click “Apply” to confirm.

Another advantage of this software is that it includes the following extra features for added benefits:

• Rebuild MBR: Helps you rebuild the Master Boot Record (MBR), which is the boot sector located at the beginning of the computer's system partition.
• Check for file system errors: The application also assists you in checking the disk, repairing storage-related issues on your computer by automatically scanning for system errors.
• Change cluster size: With this tool, you can easily change the cluster size to meet different requirements, such as the NTFS allocation unit size.

This makes Partition Master the perfect tool for changing the cluster size of a game drive.

For more information about other allocation unit sizes, such as the best SSD cluster size, refer to the following article:

What is the Best SSD Allocation Unit Size in Windows 11/10?

On this page, we will introduce what is the best SSD allocation unit size in Windows 11/10. Meanwhile, you can also get the best solution to change it.

Conclusions

64K is the best allocation unit size for gaming, as it can improve system performance and provide the fastest lookup/load times when playing games. We recommend using Partition Master Tool, a professional disk utility to manage your disk partitions, to set the allocation unit size on your computer. It's fast, secure, and user-friendly.

So, what are you waiting for? Optimize your game's performance with the best cluster size and have an unmatched gaming experience.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Optimal Allocation Unit Size for Gaming

We've covered all the aspects of the best chunk size for your game in detail. However, if you have any further questions, check out the FAQ section below.

1. Does allocation unit size affect speed?

Yes, to reach the target cluster, many smaller clusters must be visited. Larger clusters (4K allocation size) take more processing time. Therefore, for best performance, you need to target the game's optimal cluster (64K allocation size).

2. What is the recommended allocation unit size for an exFAT file system on a 1TB drive?

For an exFAT-formatted 1TB drive, the best allocation unit size is 128K. Microsoft also recommends 128K, as it provides larger clusters that are ideal for creating on high-capacity 1TB drives. It also optimizes your storage for maximum efficiency.

What allocation unit size should I use for NTFS drives?

Set the Allocation Unit Size for NTFS games to 64K. This means you'll have larger cluster sizes that are more suitable for big files, like games or movies. Additionally, this ensures your computer can find files more quickly, resulting in faster overall responsiveness and game load times.