USB block size -> .iso performance

09-01-2020, 06:52 PM #1

Hey guys,

So when I started ripping my GCN games via CleanRip to a USB drive, all I did formatting wise was make sure it was FAT32, and I left the block size at 4KB. Lo and behold, after I already ripped 20 discs I saw on the internet that ideally I should have set the USB block size to "unlimited" to keep things contiguous. Naturally, my response to this was "well frick" lol.

How big of a deal is this on a modern machine? The game performance on my PC seems fine (consistent 60FPS) other than the occasional jump-stutter at transitions. If the worst this does is add a few extra processor clock ticks to loading screens, that's fine. But if there are legit performance differences as consequence of block size, the OCD in me is temped to restart the ripping process lol.

Thanks y'all.

**JosJuice** · 09-01-2020, 07:24 PM #2

You can't set the block size of a drive to "unlimited". I think the most sensible way to interpret that advice would be that you should set CleanRip's chunk size setting to "max". However, the only consequence from setting the chunk size too small is that the game will end up being split into multiple parts, requiring you to merge the parts before you can run the game. Once you've merged the parts, the file will be exactly the same as if CleanRip hadn't split the game to begin with. Also, if you're ripping Wii games to a FAT32 drive, CleanRip has to split the game no matter what you set the chunk size to, due to limitations of FAT32, so the chunk size setting really isn't especially important if you're using FAT32.

As for the actual block size of the drive, it might have a minor impact (probably not even noticeable) if you're running games directly from the USB drive, but if you've copied the game to a different drive, then it can't have any effect.

09-01-2020, 08:06 PM #3

(09-01-2020, 07:24 PM)JosJuice Wrote: You can't set the block size of a drive to "unlimited". I think the most sensible way to interpret that advice would be that you should set CleanRip's chunk size setting to "max". However, the only consequence from setting the chunk size too small is that the game will end up being split into multiple parts, requiring you to merge the parts before you can run the game. Once you've merged the parts, the file will be exactly the same as if CleanRip hadn't split the game to begin with. Also, if you're ripping Wii games to a FAT32 drive, CleanRip has to split the game no matter what you set the chunk size to, due to limitations of FAT32, so the chunk size setting really isn't especially important if you're using FAT32.

As for the actual block size of the drive, it might have a minor impact (probably not even noticeable) if you're running games directly from the USB drive, but if you've copied the game to a different drive, then it can't have any effect.

Thanks for the thorough reply! Yeah the nomenclature was "max" not "unlimited" (my memory failed me lol).

Seems like everything's fine then. The rip always results in a single .iso (I've only ripped GCN games so far), and I move all the games from the USB to my HDD and run them from there.