Finished build already needs upgrade.

[cdenny1]

I didn't get a new hard drive, so I currently use my old seagate 7200.10 160gb. This averages around 53mb/s read (cannot test write speed, some partition error pops up in hdtune), but the problem is that it is almost already filled up, with only 53gb left (and I've had it for two weeks). I don't want it to be a bottle neck in my system (phenom II 920, 8gb ram) with its lowly 8mb cache and slow speeds.
I want to spend less than $100 on hard drives, so what would be fastest choice (I use large files in photoshop, after effects, 3ds max, etc.) and I do not game at all. Also, for use with programs previously mentioned, is the os/apps drive speed more important than the speed of the drive the files are being written/read from? If thats the case I would rather just get one larger hard drive for files/scratch disk and use the 160gb I have for OS/Apps (unless of course my hard drive is just too sucky)

 

[Proximon]

WD Caviar Black 640GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

That should cover everything.

 

[cdenny1]

I dont really have a good backup solution...

 

[cdenny1]

when you say cover everything, do you mean that I should put EVERYTHING on there?

 

[Proximon]

Well, it is quite a bit faster.

Take your old drive out of the case and put it in an external enclosure, use it for backups.

 

[croc]

Well, it is quite a bit faster.

Take your old drive out of the case and put it in an external enclosure, use it for backups.

Actually, most professional photoshop users would have a smaller drive for their 'scratch' disk. The OP's old 160GB drive would certainly fit this bill. Once a project is finished, the scratch drive can be re-formatted, getting rid of all of the temp files and failed files that photoshop generates. Quite the drive eater, Photoshop....

 

[cdenny1]

I think Ill just get the wd 640gb, put everything on there, and use the 160gb hdd for scratch disk/swap files etc. I actually do have a 250gb external usb hard drive I could use for backup as temporary.
I got my vista setup running all nice and stuff, and dont really want to have to redo everything. Is there anyway to move ALL of the stuff from the current hard disk to the new one, or would it make the computer slower and unstable.

 

[croc]

Acronis will do that, it's not free however. But it would be a useful tool anyway.

 

[Proximon]

Files and settings transfer wizard would be the cheap way

 

[Cheeser]

I bought a Seagate drive (.10 version) about a year ago as a backup drive and it came with a variant of Acronis True Image. I used it to clone my main drive.

 

[theAnimal]

I think Ill just get the wd 640gb, put everything on there, and use the 160gb hdd for scratch disk/swap files etc. I actually do have a 250gb external usb hard drive I could use for backup as temporary.
I got my vista setup running all nice and stuff, and dont really want to have to redo everything. Is there anyway to move ALL of the stuff from the current hard disk to the new one, or would it make the computer slower and unstable.

Clonezilla worked well for me, and it's free.