New SSD--RAID or ? Looking for advice.

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
G

giftigdegen

Honorable
Feb 5, 2014
79
0
10,630
I picked up a new 500GB 750 evo SSD. I'm trying to figure out where best to use it, and wherever I end up putting it I need to find out where to put the SSD it's replacing.

I had thought of putting it in my laptop. Currently my laptop has a 240gb Kingston SSDnow 300 in it.

Reasons for putting it there: My laptop runs out of space, doesn't have room for a second drive. Laptop is a 3rd gen i7, gt 630m, 8gb ram. Have to use it for work, but like to game as far as it can when not working on it.

Desktop: i5-2500k, 12gb 1600 RAM, EVGA GTX 1070 SC 8GB, windows installed on same model Kingston SSD as above. I also have a 2TB WD Green (media storage and older/less intensive games) and a 120GB SSDnow in there that is pretty much devoted to new games. There's a lot of moving around depending on the game I want to play (backup and restoring from Steam, etc.).

So. If I put it in my laptop, I'd want to put my 240 from my laptop in my desktop. I had hoped to be able to RAID it with the current 240, hence my post: is it possible to do that without reinstalling Windows? I'll be using Macrium Reflect to copy the contents of the laptop 240 to the 500. This way I end up with 500 in the laptop and 480 on C in the desktop.

But I'm completely open to suggestions. I work 2 jobs, 7am to 9pm so I'm really, really looking for the option that takes the least amount of time.

Thanks!
Daniel / Giftig

Personal note: I know I need to upgrade my CPU/MB/RAM on my desktop. I also know I need to replace my 5 year old Samsung laptop. I also have student loans I'm paying off. First things first.
 
Solution
USAFRet


Right.
The tl-dr is that RAID 0 (striped) brings little if any real world benefit in the SSD world. Yes, the 'benchmarks' look huge.
But in actual use, it is actually no faster.
And then there is problem of that if you wish to...
Sort by date Sort by votes
G

giftigdegen

Honorable
Feb 5, 2014
79
0
10,630


Sorry I hadn't finished updating my original post. It has more info if you'll refresh the page.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,315
17,829
184,590


OK...Do NOT RAID those 2 drives. Gives you zero benefit, and many drawbacks.
Just have them as individual drives.

Read this all the way through:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

giftigdegen

Honorable
Feb 5, 2014
79
0
10,630
I've just finished reading it. I didn't understand more than half of it. But I think I get the idea: the results are not good enough in favor it striping to go through the work to do so.

My issue then is this: My C: on my desktop is only 240gb. That fills up quickly. Is there a way to increase that without striping and with my current options? That is, 2 120gb drives, 2 240gb drives. I had heard that Windows 10 had a way of using several different drives to virtualize a single drive?

Thoughts?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,315
17,829
184,590


Right.
The tl-dr is that RAID 0 (striped) brings little if any real world benefit in the SSD world. Yes, the 'benchmarks' look huge.
But in actual use, it is actually no faster.
And then there is problem of that if you wish to repurpose one of the drives, or the rare case of one dying...all data on both drives is lost.

I'd love for the RAID 0 concept to push SSD performance similar to what it did with HDD performance.
But it's not there....not remotely worth the hassle in everyday use.

Now...if you were routinely moving large chunks of data between 2 RAID 0 arrays...then sure. Go for it.

Options?
1. Individual drives and drive letters.
This is my current system:
6G6aL43.jpg


4 x SSDs and a large HDD. No RAID 0 in sight.
Each drive is a drive letter, and a specific purpose.
500GB = OS and applications (this could easily fit in a 250GB drive)
250GB (#1) = photo work
250GB (#2) = 3D files, video work, other docs
960GB = games, other random stuff
3TB HDD = backups, mostly.

If I wish to take one out and use it in another system, I simply copy that data off to another drive and remove it.
With a RAID 0, you're stuck.

With your current OS drive, 240GB, you just have to be cognizant of where things are installed. Don't just throw everything on the C drive.
Maybe designate one of the others for games. Another for doc/music/video.
Things like that.

It is very easy to designate what should go on which drive. The OS has the function to redirect the Documents library off to another drive. All seamless to the user.
Save, and it saves to that other drive, rather than filling up the C drive by default.

Read more here:
Win 7 & 8: http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1834397/ssd-redirecting-static-files.html
Win 8.1 & 10: http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2024314/windows-redirecting-folders-drives.html




2. Windows Storage spaces
Windows has the functionality to treat multiple drives as a single pool of space, along with some potential backup functionality.
I've never used it, but the functionality is there.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
G

giftigdegen

Honorable
Feb 5, 2014
79
0
10,630
I'll be using storage spaces. As is, my 2tb drive is for local copies of onedrive/google drive, and media--my libraries are already there. I just moved my cloud storage there so I guess I really don't need to expand my C: any further (moving cloud there freed up 150GB).

The SSDs store my games, and with games like DOOM '16 taking up over 60GB and Fallout 4 taking over 40GB, my 120GB SSDs can only hold like 3 games. So combining them into a storage space makes sense.

Thank you for your detailed input. I really appreciate it. I knew Windows 10 had some kind of built in software/virtualization of RAID, but I couldn't remember what it was called. I'd only read about it before 10 came out. You gave me the name :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

giftigdegen

Honorable
Feb 5, 2014
79
0
10,630
Follow up question. Using Macrium Reflect, I've successfully cloned my 240GB onto my 500GB and swapped them in my laptop. Now I've got 260GB of unallocated space in my drive and Windows Disk Management won't let me expand my C: to include that. Thoughts?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,315
17,829
184,590


Can you show a screencap of your Disk Management window?
Unless you use a 3rd party tool, you can only extend a partition to the right. As in, the free space must be to the right of the active partition.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,315
17,829
184,590


Oh my.
That looks like the result of several failed install or clone attempts.

But...to extend - the two partitions must be right next to each other, and the free one to the right.
You'll need to use some 3rd party partition tool to do this.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,315
17,829
184,590


Right. That EaseUS thing should work.
I highly recommend a full disk image before you start on this.
Just in case...:)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

giftigdegen

Honorable
Feb 5, 2014
79
0
10,630
To be honest, I don't think I need all that jazz on this laptop (the samsung backup, all them other little partitions). But I've never fiddled with it because I also don't want to screw it up. I've done that in the past--formatting laptops and reinstalling etc. What I've gotten as a result are several lost functionalities, like the screen brightness or the touchpad or whatever. So I just haven't messed with it on this laptop.

Ironically, at some point on Windows 8.1 Pro an update broke the screen brightness adjustment.

I'm a computer guy by trade, but I run out of time to fix things or do them and I recognize there are a ton of things I know very little about. Laptops are one. Desktops, servers, even mobile phones (android) I can fiddle with and tweak with the best of them. But laptops are an area I've not ventured into very far because some manufacturers don't make them very tinker friendly and I end up with lost functionality.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

giftigdegen

Honorable
Feb 5, 2014
79
0
10,630
At this point it might be worth it to just wipe and start fresh. I have everything I'd need backed up already on cloud or my desktop. My laptop is literally just a mobile portal to what my desktop and cloud have.

I just have to have it for work.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

giftigdegen

Honorable
Feb 5, 2014
79
0
10,630
My worry would just be lost functionality, because it is 5 years old and it seems the farther we advance in technology the less manufacturers consider backwards compatibility or support for older hardware.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,315
17,829
184,590
A couple of those small partitions (300-800MB) are essential. That is the boot info.
Which ones, however, is the question. Wipe out the wrong ones, and no boot for you.

If it were me, I'd probably just start with a clean install on that.
Wipe out ALL the partitions, and let a clean install create what it needs.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
USAFRet

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mar 16, 2013
171,315
17,829
184,590


Functionality would just require getting the drivers from the manufacturer.
Display, touchscreen, audio, etc.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom