Please help me understand having the correct storage drives for pc and RAID and if I need it.

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g335

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Hello

Please help me understand the correct storage drives for pc and RAID and if I need to have it.

I will use my pc for gaming, graphic design, 3D design and rendering, movie makin and editing, music production and editing.

I will have a 256 ssd as my main drive. I want to be able to access my files I use with my programs(music, graphic design, etc) quickly. So should I have another ssd drive for these files or would a WD Black be good? I will have music and movies (from iTunes) on a WD Green or Blue hdd so not worried about those.

Should I set up a RAID system? If so which type of RAID? and external or internal?
 
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turkey3_scratch

turkey3_scratch

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256GB will not be enough for all the tough work you do. You can get another SSD (since they're more reliable than HDDs and live longer) but it'll be a lot more expensive. If I were you I'd just get a 2TB hard drive and install all the big stuff onto the SSD. Or if you have data that is really important and cannot be lost then RAID might be a good idea with a couple of hard drives.
 
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bobs616

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depends on what you want RAID for: speed, security both. Personally I find RAIDs a pain to maintain and not worth it, but I'm not doing mission critical stuff so the usual backup methods are fine for me. SSDs are pretty darn fast and if you are putting frequently used stuff of a HD because you don't have enough room on the SSD you may find yourself getting annoyed at the slower load speed, but alas video tends to use a lot a room. Get the largest SSD you can and keep as much of your current working files on it. As SSD comes down in price you can expand later of course. If you find even a single SSD is to slow you could go to RAID but depending on your expectations it may not be that big a jump in speed over a single SSD (a lot depends on the sizes and types of files you are using, if a file takes say 10 seconds to load on a single SSD and 7 seconds with RAID will that may not be worth it on the other hand multiply those by 10 and the time saved may will be worth it).
 
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turkey3_scratch

turkey3_scratch

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If someone does extremely professional work the last thing they'd need is something like a HD failure. RAID or backing up his data on an external drive might be a good idea considering all the work he says he does involves stuff you'd never want to lose. I don't think RAID would be necessary right away but maybe 2 years down the line might be smart.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Any 'business' that has a RAID 1 array also has an actual backup.
RAID 1 is really only useful for 24/7 ops. It is not a backup.
 
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g335

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So I should put my work files( 3D design, movie editing, music production) onto a SSD as well? Not a WD Black?

Well I can get a Crucial or Samsung 256 ssd for about 110 dollars. Would that be a good size to have as a storage disk for my files and have another ssd for program files and os?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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1 SSD for the OS and applications
Second OS for 'working files'. Stuff that you are actually working with at this moment.
Other HDD drives for long term storage.
Other HDD's for actual backups.
 
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g335

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Ok,
So I'll get a 2nd ssd for working files than.

My ssd I have now is 120gigs. Is that big enough for OS and programs or should I get a 256gig ssd for os and programs?

What should I use the 120gig ssd for? I am building the pc now.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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A 120GB SSD can hold the OS and a LOT of applications.
I have one for that. I also have 2 250GB SSD's for other things. If I were building today, I'd use one of the 250GB drives for the OS and applications.

If I were you....a 250 for the OS, etc, and the 120GB for working files.
 
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G

g335

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Ok

What about games? Should I just use a WD Black for that?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Yes.
The Steam and Origin clients both allow multiple locations for game installs.
 
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g335

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Oh so for games have the main program on the ssd but the game saves and files on the hdd?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Don't worry about where the game saves are.
Just create a couple of locations - 1 on the SSD, 1 on the HDD. Install games on whichever, making sure you do not fill up the SSD too much.
 
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G

g335

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So the games will perform the same on a ssd or hdd?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Level/map load times will be better running from the SSD.
FPS, pretty much the same.
 
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