How best to partition a 1tb SSD OS drive for Windows 8

jcsammut · Apr 3, 2014

I am building a new gaming rig and am looking at a 1TB SSD drive that will serve as my OS drive and the location to install all games.

I will have a separate 2TB HDD for all my media.

What partitions should I create, and of what sizes for the 1TB SSD OS Drive?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a 1TB drive - any benefit to getting a smaller one (I am not worried about the cost)?

Many thanks in advance!

Jason.

hubbardt · Apr 3, 2014

What do you want to partition the SSD for?
If you are planning to make image backups or partition based backups of the o/s then it makes sense, otherwise I wouldn't bother.

With the old style spinning disk HDDs the larger drives tended to be slower but that is not true for SSD

USAFRet · Apr 3, 2014

Personally, I'd consider a 256GB or 512GB SSD, and another large HDD.

Partitioning used to be beneficial when drives were very expensive. Keep the OS and applications on one partition, and other stuff on the other. But if the drive actually dies, it doesn't matter. All partitions are gone.
Now....that is done better with different physical drives.

As to the 1TB...games don't benefit that much from being on an SSD. Load times, and level loading yes. Framerate, no.

So the OS and applications on the SSD, and maybe a game or two. Other games on the other HDD, and your media on the second HDD.
More space for less money, with pretty much the same performance.

hubbardt · Apr 3, 2014

I use a 128GB SSD for the o/s and 4-5 games so I agree with USAFRet that 1TB seems a bit of an overkill

WyomingKnott · Apr 3, 2014

The only reason I would partition an SSD is to keep my OS backups small. Other than that, there isn't really much reason to partition one. It doesn't do anything other than restricting space allocation; the geometry effects it had with HDDs are irrelevant for SSDs.

jcsammut · Apr 3, 2014

Thanks so much for all the speedy responses - much appreciated!

It sounds like the only good reason to partition an SSD (of this size) is to keep the backups to a manageable size?

I agree the only benefits of storing games on the SSD will be the speed of loading, and this was my reason for getting such a large hard drive. I tend to keep a library of all the games I buy installed on my PC, hence the 1TB drive.

I know there are cheaper options by getting a smaller drive, but not too worried about the cost as I can get a very good deal through work (less than the price of a 500gb SSD). So my question is, excluding the cost, is there any benefit to getting a smaller SSD - for example durability or speed (I doubt it) etc etc.

Thanks again!

Jason.

USAFRet · Apr 3, 2014

So my question is, excluding the cost, is there any benefit to getting a smaller SSD - for example durability or speed (I doubt it) etc

No speed or reliability issues. Larger drives tend to be ever so slightly faster. Bit no that you'd actually notice outside of artificial benchmark testing.

The OS and applications (apart from games) will take up very little actual space. My 128GB drive is currently ~50GB used. OS and ALL applications. Games live elsewhere.

But that easily allows me to keep an image of that drive elsewhere, for future needs. Games can be easily downloaded again. Your internet connection may vary with this.

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