First time RAID, what drives to get? how to do it?

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WDParsell

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Feb 22, 2015
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Here is my situation, I currently have a 120GB boot SSD + a 1TB HDD for games and media. Both of my drives are always brimming, with all the programs on my SSD and all the data on my HDD. I was thinking of buying a 240GB SSD and have 2x2TB HDDs in RAID 0. Why? I think having a RAID 0 for 4TB will be better for me than just one drive. This way I can access my massive library of memes faster, and never have to put games on my SSD for better load times. This massive increase in HHD storage will help with the video work I plan on doing.

If my budget is around $330 USD, what SSD and two Drives should I get. I was thinking a Crucial SSD and two WD Black drives would be good. I don't want my HDDs to fail anytime soon, but I won't be keeping anything too important on them. I also don't want too much noise or vibration coming from my case. Extra superfluous challenge - try to keep things black/gray/silver/blue if you can!

After I have my purchase chosen, I also will need to know the proper sequence to install and set up my new storage. Including the best way to reinstall windows 10!

Sorry if that was a lot! Thank you for your time!
 
Solution
Hlsgsz
I strongly advise against RAID 0. You are asking for trouble and the benefit is minimal when you are not transferring massive files. Your memes and games will not really see any benefit. Plus, no raid configuration will ever get close to teh performance of an SSD, so your best course of action is to get the biggest SSD that fits your budget(500 gb 850 evo) and a 4TB WD black. If you feel that you need more storage with fast access, you can make a partition at the beginning of the HDD that is max 20% but ideally 10%. That partition will be ALOT faster than the rest of the drive and than two drives in RAID 0 because it will use the extreme exteriour of the platters that have a vastly larger circumference, ergo, per the same rotation...
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Feb 29, 2016
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I strongly advise against RAID 0. You are asking for trouble and the benefit is minimal when you are not transferring massive files. Your memes and games will not really see any benefit. Plus, no raid configuration will ever get close to teh performance of an SSD, so your best course of action is to get the biggest SSD that fits your budget(500 gb 850 evo) and a 4TB WD black. If you feel that you need more storage with fast access, you can make a partition at the beginning of the HDD that is max 20% but ideally 10%. That partition will be ALOT faster than the rest of the drive and than two drives in RAID 0 because it will use the extreme exteriour of the platters that have a vastly larger circumference, ergo, per the same rotation speed, can access alot more data. This technique is called "short stroking".
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($196.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $346.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-30 07:46 EDT-0400
 
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Solution
Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Feb 29, 2016
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As for teh OS, you can use Samsung's data migration software to transfer your system to the new EVO. It's as easy as a couple of clicks. You just connect the new drive, boot from the old ssd and run the software. It wil automatically detect waht it needs to do and instruct you on what you need to do(change boot priorities in the BIOS after the fact).
 
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WDParsell

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Feb 22, 2015
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I appreciate the sound advice, I'll wait for some other opinions, but your solution seems like it will do good. Can you recommend an external disc drive, kinda unrelated, but I figured you might know.
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Feb 29, 2016
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Nothing to recommend, really. Go for the cheapest WD you can find in the capacity you need. Just make sure it's USB 3.0.
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Feb 29, 2016
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There will be no conflicting opinions from the experts on this one :)
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Feb 29, 2016
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Sorry! Optical Drive.

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Nothing to recommend here either. Get teh cheapest you can find that does what you need it to(do you need wo write blu-ray or just dvds?)
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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I agree with the above.
Add a 250 or 500GB SSD, and a large WD Black.

Keep the current drives in the system.
Use the new SSD for OS and applications.
The 120GB for a couple of games.
The 4TB for all that other stuff, and most of your other games.
The current 1TB for backups of the OS drive, and other things that you need to keep safe.
 
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