I'm doing a fresh install for the 3rd or 4th time on this machine (I got a new 256gb SSD that I'm using as the OS drive), and I've heard conflicting things about the best method to install Windows with my configuration of 2 SATA drives in RAID 1 and an SSD for the operating system.
1. The first suggestion (and the way that I previously installed Windows last time on this machine/configuration) is to only have the SSD connected and install Windows on the SSD as if that were going to be the only drive, then connect the two other drives and set up the RAID 1 afterwards. The person who suggested this method said that this will keep the 100mb boot partition on the SSD, rather than Windows possibly placing it on any of the other connected drives. When I did this previously, I believe I had to do some registry hack to be able to set up the RAID after Windows installation (which I would prefer not to do again, if there's no benefit).
2. The second method is to just hook up the SSD and the RAID drives from the get-go, and install Windows as normal (selecting the SSD as the system drive of course).
Pretty simple question, should I go with method 1 or method 2 (or maybe a different method)? Thanks in advance for any assistance!
Relevant system specs:
-i5-2500k
-Asrock Z68 Xtreme3 gen3 mobo
-256gb SATA III SSD
- 2 1tb 7200RPM storage drives (to be set up in RAID 1 in Intel RST)
1. The first suggestion (and the way that I previously installed Windows last time on this machine/configuration) is to only have the SSD connected and install Windows on the SSD as if that were going to be the only drive, then connect the two other drives and set up the RAID 1 afterwards. The person who suggested this method said that this will keep the 100mb boot partition on the SSD, rather than Windows possibly placing it on any of the other connected drives. When I did this previously, I believe I had to do some registry hack to be able to set up the RAID after Windows installation (which I would prefer not to do again, if there's no benefit).
2. The second method is to just hook up the SSD and the RAID drives from the get-go, and install Windows as normal (selecting the SSD as the system drive of course).
Pretty simple question, should I go with method 1 or method 2 (or maybe a different method)? Thanks in advance for any assistance!
Relevant system specs:
-i5-2500k
-Asrock Z68 Xtreme3 gen3 mobo
-256gb SATA III SSD
- 2 1tb 7200RPM storage drives (to be set up in RAID 1 in Intel RST)