Help Me Understand Multiple HD Usage

voxdan

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[Because I can only choose one "solution," I did. But if this topic is interesting to you, be sure to read down the replies. Jim90 and USAFRet both deserve the "solution" and Math Geek definitely added value for me. Show them the love if they helped you, too.]

I'm putting together my first computer since the 90's and have a question about using multiple hard drives. I see that many people will use a fast SSD/M.2/etc. and then a larger drive (either SSD or HDD). I will be using the system for gaming, editing/rendering Let's Plays and podcast audio, word processing and office stuff, and basic web usage.

Questions:

1. What should I be putting on the faster drive and what should I be putting on the slower "storage" drive? I assume that operating system goes on the fast drive and random files go on the storage drive, but if someone can elaborate, I'd appreciate it.

2. If I don't need a ton of storage, is there a disadvantage to using, for instance, a single 1TB SSD for everything (maybe off-loading random stuff to an external drive as necessary)?

Thanks for your time!
 
Solution
This does depend on the size of your fastest drive (with costs now much lower than previous years, preferably an SSD, 250-500GB if possible, 1TB if affordable)

OS onto fastest drive then, if space allows, some/all of your most frequently used apps.
Important for SSD drives: keep c10% always free (allows optimum operation).

If you can fit everything onto one 'fast' - and have future headroom left - then you could get away with only one drive.
Consider an HDD (still much cheaper, but slower) if you plan on expanding to a large data store (e.g. audio, video, photos, etc).

Very important: make sure you have a backup routine, preferably with imaging software (Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, etc). All programs on one drive makes this...

Jim90

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This does depend on the size of your fastest drive (with costs now much lower than previous years, preferably an SSD, 250-500GB if possible, 1TB if affordable)

OS onto fastest drive then, if space allows, some/all of your most frequently used apps.
Important for SSD drives: keep c10% always free (allows optimum operation).

If you can fit everything onto one 'fast' - and have future headroom left - then you could get away with only one drive.
Consider an HDD (still much cheaper, but slower) if you plan on expanding to a large data store (e.g. audio, video, photos, etc).

Very important: make sure you have a backup routine, preferably with imaging software (Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, etc). All programs on one drive makes this easier (single image). Backup to portable HDD good option, or, bios hidden HDD in pc (safeguards against corruption issues).
 
Solution

voxdan

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At this stage, I can do whatever is best. I haven't purchased anything yet. I'm totally open to suggestions, so thanks.

USAFRet, you mentioned putting the OS and apps on one drive and files, games, etc. on another. Are games not considered apps? Is it not beneficial to have games on the faster drive, too? What would fall under "apps" in this case?
 

USAFRet

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Yes, they are applications. (I despise 'apps', except in relation to phone thingys)

Games only benefit a little bit living on the SSD. Faster level loading times. FPS, not at all.

What do I consider applications that should go on the SSD?
OS, browsers, MS Office, your chosen image editing application, anti-virus, malware, etc, etc.

Games are a bit problematic, simply due to size. If you have 150GB of games, and a 250GB SSD...that will be an issue with all that other stuff.

I prefer having different things on different drives, so that if something happens to the OS, all that other stuff is still there. Docs, movie, music, etc.
All on one drive? If you need to reinstall the OS, now we have an issue.

And games, particularly Steam or Origin, do not need to be 'reinstalled' like other applications. Simply point the new Steam client at the old steamapps location on the D drive...done.

My main system has 5 drives.
4 x SSD and a 3TB HDD.

SSD #1 (250GB) - OS and applications
SSD #2 (250GB - photo work
SSD #3 (960GB) - games, backup of SSD #2, and doc/music/video
SSD #4 (120GB) - scratch space for Lightroom
HDD (3TB) - backups,and general junk

I'm getting ready to Upgrade this from Win 8.1 to Win 10. In the process, I will have the other 4 drives disconnected.
So no matter what happens, that data is not affected.
The whole OS install could go wrong (accidental power outage halfway through?), and the pics of my grandson when he was 2 years old is still there, untouched. Because it lives on a whole different drive.

No matter what the size of the SSD, I would still have different drives for different purposes.
I haven't had a system with one and only one drive in years.
 

Jim90

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For apps we'd be talking about all software (I agree USAFRet - I should use the term applications/software instead - my brains been that imprinted over the years and not through the thing with the bite out of it :) ) - OS, utilities (e.g. MS office, adobe Photoshop, etc.), games - basically anything that need to be installed.

If you can, >1 drive is more ideal since, amongst other reasons, it gives you much more flexibility on where you chose to store items (installed software and/or data).

The fastest drive (e.g. SSD) recommended for OS & frequently used software (including the odd game but this depends on space.
Games on an SSD - only major benefits are loading times...SSD will have no affect on speed of gameplay.

Most enthusiasts tend to favour multiple drive set ups.
If other factors are present (e.g. cost) then a single fast drive still ok (SDD or HDD).
Remember those backups!
 

voxdan

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Thanks guys! This has been very helpful. I am able to get at least a couple of decent sized SSD's, and will grab a big mechanical if I need to. I like the idea of organizing according to my HD's. Thanks, too, for clarifying what you mean by applications, etc.

I will also be sure to incorporate my current back-up system with the new build. Thanks for the reminder, Jim.
 

Math Geek

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back in the day i used to mess with video a lot. a lot of editing, converting, dvd creation and other such fun stuff. i found that if i had the source files on one drive and wrote the final converted file to a separate drive, it was a good bit faster. i'd guess that rendering would also see some benefit to this type of set-up.

a hdd can only do one thing at once, read or write and not both. it has to read a bunch of data steadily and write is just as steadily for the conversion/render to happen. it was faster by at least 75% when i was converting the video from one drive to another. it was also nice to have a blank drive sitting there for me to play around with and be able to format whenever i felt like it. a good solid temp space is nice to have for any number of uses.

at one point i had 5 drives or more installed for different uses and things went a lot smoother this way. it's well worth the cost to have at least one extra drive for data safety but a third drive for temp workspace is also a luxury worth the cost if you manipulate large files regularly.
 

USAFRet

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voxdan

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Math Geek: That's a great tip! Thanks for pointing that out.

USAFRet: Another great tip, and exactly the kind of thing I may have forgotten when it came time to put everything together. Thanks for the links, too.

I wish I could mark all of these as the "solution." I am editing my original post to note this.

I will definitely be investing in a good quality drive set up now. While it may not be necessary, I personally like the idea of a good set of SSD's to help keep the workflow moving and organized. The extra cost will be worth it for me, I'm sure.

Thanks again!