So,
I wanna order a 128GB USB 3.2 so I can have a portable WoW installed on it, since I play on multiple PCs.
Does anyone have any experience with how WoW plays on a portable USB drive? 
Would love to hear from people who has tried it using any USB 3 types. The one I have my eye on is the latest 3.2 type which has a 20GB/s speed compared to the 5GB/s you find on a regular 3.0 USB.
I’m not a tech expert, but I’m guessing the read speed makes a difference hehe.
I play off a portable SSD, don’t know how it compares to a USB but I’d recommend it.
It’s not quite as small as a USB stick but it fits in the same port and is about the same size as a credit card (but thicker).
Interesting, I have been considering moving WoW from the HD onto a portable SSD (USB-C). Does it make a huge difference?
Do you experience any random freezes? 
Or is it a constant smooth experience.
Yeah I read that one before making this topic. But since it only has one person addressing the usage of USB, and the topic is now closed, I figured it was worth asking about “USB specifically” in a new post.
I’m playing on an external SSD aswell, works like a charm. USB-HDD should work aswell, but your loading screens will likely be a tad longer than what you’re used to.
An SSD is probably the best bang for your buck by a country mile. It’s like walking compared to a car. It will increase your load speeds dramatically.
And to the OP, smooth as silk.
I play like this too. Smooth sailing all the way on my 2tb usb ssd
A friend was thinking of doing this as he’s incapable of installing an SSD himself, nice to know it works.
I did play WoW for many years on a portable HDD and it did always run smoothly! it was a good choice when I was younger and went back and forth between my parents.
But today I run m2 ssd (yes money can buy time) .
Agree! To shorten the loading screen even further if you run external SSD would be to have usb 3.0 compatibility hardware.
I would say it’s doable.
USB3.2 has speeds of 10Gbps.
SATA-III is 6Gbps so if the USB drive is fast enough, should work however not all USB drives are made for this.
It would probably be cheaper to get a USB3.2/USB-C NVME enclosure, buy a 128gb M.2 SSD stick, put it in and it’ll work fine. Not as fast as putting it in the actual M.2 slot on a motherboard, but it be faster than 2.5 inch SSD’s so you wouldn’t have a problem.
A Gen 3 NVME drive is enough really.
Actually if you want PCIE4.0 speeds and motherboard supports, has the connector. USB-C can go up to 40Gbps, if you want things to load up really fast.
It’s an option for those who want to increase drive space externally. Works as well with Thunderbolt 3 connection.
So thinking more on this, there are several options.
Western Digital My Passport 4TB - Read 177MBs, Write 187MBs, USB3.1
ADATA 1TB - Read 1GBs, Write 1GBs, USB3.2 Type C - (Actual SSD)
WD Black Gaming HDD 500GB - 5TB, 140MBs speeds, USB3.0
Samsung T7 Portable SSD 500gb - 2TB, 1GBs speed, USB3.2
And finally for DIY solution.
Just some options if anyone is interested in putting WoW or any other game, but be aware that Battle Net isn’t a true portable program and you can’t just plug this thing into another PC and expect it to work. (Not tested that so unsure.) I would recommend only getting PCIE3.0 M.2 drives as you’re not going to get PCIE4.0 speeds in this way, USB3.2 doesn’t have the bandwidth, neither does Thunderbolt 3. We are going to have to wait for USB 4.0 to get to those speeds.
But since we’re talking WoW here, 3.0 M.2 drive or other USB options is the right way to go, it all depends on how fast you want things to load up. The quickest is the ones that offer near and at 1GB/sec rate. Please note not to have anything else on said USB bus though as that would affect speed also depending on motherboard, USB hub chipset. It’s an option but not as efficient as having an actual drive installed on the motherboard.
Think I’m done, apologies for double posting in the thread.
Moved WoW from HDD to NVME last year, and the difference is night and day. Like others have said, if nvme isn’t an option then external SSD is the way to go
an ssd works like a charm even mine that is only a samsung t5. but i dont now about youre work but the potato we use can def not run wow
A small update:
I have gotten the USB home now.
It was advertised as a USB 3.2 and was bought off of one of the main major electronics companies here in Denmark, but just learned that the online store had a typo in the name of the product… So I instead received a USB 3.0. 
My experience so far is that it feels EXTREMELY sluggish…
It feels as if every time I try to install something on it, both the application or just the Explorer window freezes whenever I click anything on the USB.
Haven’t tried to play WoW yet as it is still installing as I’m writing this. But I can confirm that the install time is LOOONG, and has been under way 6 hours so far to install WoW 45% the way.
I think the freezes are caused by my trying to read off of the USB, while things are installing onto it as well. I will update bellow once WoW is fully installed, to let people know if playing the game is just as bad of a experience, or if it works perfectly.
You’ll be fine with a usb 3 or better external ssd, usb stick will likely be too slow and might have heat issues if it’s a small one. The ssd won’t even be much more expensive.
Ack didn’t see last update so too late……
usbs are not same as ssds
I just got myself a External HDD with 3.2 instead to try out. This time I double checked for any “typos” in the product name, and made sure it was a reliable HDD that others use for this specific purpose.
As I’m writing this I’m installing WoW onto the HDD, and I can already tell the night and day difference. It feels incredibly responsive compared to the sluggishness of the previous USB I tried, and this time the install speed won’t take 3 days. 
I couldn’t even manage to boot WoW properly on the USB, since it would take 2min just to start up, and even then it would just give me the “is not responding”.
I also tried installing Unity on the USB 3.0 after learning that WoW didn’t work on it. Unity would constantly fail its installation, and would constantly freeze. Now with the new HDD, I will give that another go as well.
It is most likely not a “USB issue”, but more of a “3.0 issue”, since I discovered my friend has a expensive 3.2 USB that he uses for having WoW installed on it. Which works.
I will update once WoW is installed on my HDD, and let people know if there are any freezes or slow load times. Figured this information is useful for others who might be interested in having WoW on a External HDD or USB.
UPDATE:
I bought the Toshiba Canvio Gaming, 1TB, USB 3.2, HDD, and it is running like a dream when I play WoW. No stuttering or freezes.
Nice to hear, are your load times a lot quicker? That was the biggest win for me.
Also, is it a HDD or SSD? You want an SSD (solid state drive) - doesn’t look like this is one?
It doesn’t matter what the transfer speeds are it’s the latency. Early SSDs were preferred because although the data transfer rate was lower than a HDD they could respond much faster than one.
Putting a NVMe in an enclosure defeats the purpose of an NVMe if it’s not directly connected to the PCI-X bus.