Combine SSD and HDD

dc.luecker · Sep 24, 2017

Hello community!

I know there are a few topics and I already read some of them but I also know that things change very often and I am not sure what to do and if there are any new ways to do it better.

I bought a PC (i5-4750) with a 1 TB HDD - my PC performance is okay - it has some problems sometimes and I see the Disk usage running at a high rate 60-80% most of the time - even now when I am just using Chrome. Games are the bigger problem - I have lags from minor to major (esp in PUBG).

I have my old MacBook with a 2'5 inch SSD 250 GB from Crucial that I really like but I think it will not be enough for my PC which runs Win10. I am now thinking about having both devices in my PC and I wanted to know if there is anything I should do to get the best performance. I had questions like:

- anything I need to do before moving my SSD from Mac to PC or just format it?
- should I get a light version of Win10 or stick to Win 10 Professional or leave it on my HDD straight away?
- will I have any problems with games if I have Win 10 on my HD and games on SSD or even some games on HD if they do not need the SSD performance?
- how about other tools or software - is it ok to just move anything that needs the performance to put on the SSD?
- how about Steam on the HDD but the Steam games on the SSD - will it cause delays if I have two pieces of software on different devices?
- is there actually anything negative about combining both when it comes to performance or compatibility?

Sorry for this question! I only bought this PC to play some games like PUBG and was a bit disappointed after experiencing many lags and unrendered textures.

All the best!

USAFRet · Sep 24, 2017

1. Ideally, you want the OS and your applications on the SSD. This will involve wiping that drive.
You can either do a full reinstall of the OS (and everythingh else), or possible a clone from the existing HDD to the SSD

2. After that, a combination of SSD + HDD is very, very common.
You can have your Steam games live on teh larger HDD, and the Steam client live on the SSD no problem.

3. A 250GB SSD is the sweet spot in size for the OS and applications.

We can go into detail on all this if you desire.

cryoburner · Sep 24, 2017

You can also set up game install folders on multiple drives from within the Steam client. One way is to simply select a new drive to install to from the dropdown list on the game install screen, where "Create new Steam Library on Drive X:\" will appear for each of your drives that don't already have a library folder. You can also add a folder from Steam's settings panel by going to...

Settings > Downloads > Steam Library Folders > Add Library Folder

From there, you can right-click a drive and select to make it the default folder. If you want to move an already installed game from your hard drive to the SSD, you can right-click it from your game list, then select...

Properties > Local Files > Move Install Folder

And select which drive you want to move it to, then "Move Folder". And of course, if you're not playing a game as much later on, or otherwise want to free up space on your SSD, you can do the same to move it back.

One other thing though, it might be worth listing the rest of your computer's specs, since something else could be holding back performance as well. Do you have a dedicated graphics card? And how much RAM do you have?

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