250GB vs 500GB - Gaming

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Talmok

Talmok

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Jan 26, 2014
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10,510
Hello!

I'm about a week away (less if I can sort a few issues out quickly) from ordering the parts for my new PC. You all have been extremely helpful in other areas of confusion so I'm hoping you can once again help me here.

My new build is primarily for gaming but it'll be used for day to day general stuff, bit of programming etc. At the minute I'm trying to decide between getting either a 250GB or 500GB SSD with a 1TB HDD as a 2nd drive for documents, other applications / games, pictures, music etc.
I was going to go with the 250GB but I'm not sure if that's enough space or not. I was going to use the SSD as the boot drive but also to install my most played games and most used applications.
However when it comes to Steam I usually have quite a lot of games installed at once (I can't get internet at my house so I have to use a dongle, so uninstalling then reinstalling when wanting to play them isn't really an option).

I was wondering, would it be best to go with a 500GB SSD or is it possible to install certain Steam games to a different drive? I know some games do have the option to be installed to a different folder but I was wondering if it was possible to install Steam to the HDD and install most games there but then install others to the SSD.
For example Skyrim with mods to the SSD for smoother loading etc.

This may be a stupid question, or if it's already been asked sorry for asking this again without being able to find it =/

Thanks o/
 
Solution
jay2tall
I got close to filling a 240GB drive in about a year. So I know where you are coming from with your game library. Steam has a nice builtin backup option that you can backup an installed game to a folder with backup files on another drive or burn to disks. I was doing this to free up disk space and just put the games on my Data drive. It's a great option to use if you run out of space on an SSD and don't want to re-download a game.

I ultimatly ended up buying a 2nd identical drive and creating a RAID0 so I didn't need to worry about this as much.

If you have the funds and know you will have a decent number of installed games, I'd get the 500GB drive. However, if by doing this it takes funds away from the rest of your system that...
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jay2tall

jay2tall

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Apr 9, 2007
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I got close to filling a 240GB drive in about a year. So I know where you are coming from with your game library. Steam has a nice builtin backup option that you can backup an installed game to a folder with backup files on another drive or burn to disks. I was doing this to free up disk space and just put the games on my Data drive. It's a great option to use if you run out of space on an SSD and don't want to re-download a game.

I ultimatly ended up buying a 2nd identical drive and creating a RAID0 so I didn't need to worry about this as much.

If you have the funds and know you will have a decent number of installed games, I'd get the 500GB drive. However, if by doing this it takes funds away from the rest of your system that could be used for a better CPU or video card, I would go with the 250GB and manage games through backups and such and maybe add a 2nd drive later.

Note: In order to add a 2nd drive you need a cloning software that supports RAID drives. I used Acronis, which actually came with my wifes OCZ SSD. I created a boot disk and cloned it to a file on my data drive, created the raid, and cloned it back. Super simple as long as you have the right software. Just thought I would note this.

2nd note: Search the internets for articles on ways to conserve space on an SSD. You can free up several GB of space by lowering the system page file to a static 1GB rather than letting windows determine this. I also highly recommend disabling the system restore option and shadow copies. This will remove the option to roll back your system to a previous state or restore a file to a previous version, however, I have never once used this or at least successfully to resolve any issues I've had. It's a huge waste of space.
 
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Solution
Talmok

Talmok

Honorable
Jan 26, 2014
24
0
10,510
I got close to filling a 240GB drive in about a year. So I know where you are coming from with your game library. Steam has a nice builtin backup option that you can backup an installed game to a folder with backup files on another drive or burn to disks. I was doing this to free up disk space and just put the games on my Data drive. It's a great option to use if you run out of space on an SSD and don't want to re-download a game.

I ultimatly ended up buying a 2nd identical drive and creating a RAID0 so I didn't need to worry about this as much.

If you have the funds and know you will have a decent number of installed games, I'd get the 500GB drive. However, if by doing this it takes funds away from the rest of your system that could be used for a better CPU or video card, I would go with the 250GB and manage games through backups and such and maybe add a 2nd drive later.

Note: In order to add a 2nd drive you need a cloning software that supports RAID drives. I used Acronis, which actually came with my wifes OCZ SSD. I created a boot disk and cloned it to a file on my data drive, created the raid, and cloned it back. Super simple as long as you have the right software. Just thought I would note this.

2nd note: Search the internets for articles on ways to conserve space on an SSD. You can free up several GB of space by lowering the system page file to a static 1GB rather than letting windows determine this. I also highly recommend disabling the system restore option and shadow copies. This will remove the option to roll back your system to a previous state or restore a file to a previous version, however, I have never once used this or at least successfully to resolve any issues I've had. It's a huge waste of space.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Moneywise I was wanting to keep my build around £1,500 but it wasn't a hard budget and even with a bumped up SSD it's still just shy.
Everyone complains about the PSU being overkill but it was incase I decided to stick a 2nd 780 in there later at some point, it's cheaper than the Seasonic and has gotten great reviews putting it up there with the Seasonic X-Series and others.

Thanks for the help and suggestions, I'll look into that!
 
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L

Layarion

Distinguished
Aug 8, 2013
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18,630


i wanted to give my personal insight about your PSU, your thinking about getting 2 GPU's right? my first and so far only build i got a big PSU for 2 cards (just in case). eventually i did get a second card, however i discovered it was 100% worthless because simply put it by the time i got the second card on sale two years later that didn't change the fact that it was an old proccessor/chipset in the cards. unless you have the money to buy 2 new high end cards every few years it's better to get 1 really good card every few years than 2 mid-range cards.

im debating 250 vs 500GB myself. i have a 3TB HDD i just bought. i might go with the 250gb and move my games as needed, i keep my photo's n stuff on the hdd. 840 EVO is what i'm looking at

 
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