Where for windows 7 if using Rapid Storage - SSD or HDD?

Primuspilus

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Nov 12, 2011
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18,510
Hi,

I was hoping someone could clear up some confusion I'm having.

I have a new system using a Crucial 64GB M4 SSD as storage. My plan was, and is, to add an HDD (probably a 1TB WD Green) for main storage (I am a gamer) and enable Rapid Storage. I've read a lot of forums with people (who seem far more knowledgeable than me) saying the best move is to have the OS on the SSD (possibly with drivers?) and all other programmes, games, etc on the HDD, using the spare capacity on the SSD as the cache.

What is confusing me is that I've read elsewhere (Custom PC magazine Dec 11 issue, P115) that to enable Smart Response:
.."Plug in only the hard disk. This is the essential step most guides leave out. You first have to install Windows, and then enable Rapid Storage, but if you install Windows 7 with both the SSD and the hard disk installed, Windows will set up the 100MB boot and recovery partition on the SSD. When you then configure the SSD to be a Rapid Storage cache, this partition will be deleted, Windows will have been irreparably broken and your system won't boot".

So, can anyone please tell me if I go ahead and add the HDD retrospectiveley, will I be in this position, or are there steps I can take to avoid this?

The rest of my relevant system specs are:
GA-Z68X-UD4-B3
Intel i5 2500K
Windows 7 Pro 64Bit

Thanks in advance
 

Wamphryi

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You probably will be in that position and it will be hard to work around the issue. You are much better off getting a 128 GB SSD and setting up the OS and the applications you need on it. Anything else is a work around that will fall short on the results you would achieve by having the correct SSD in the first place. The second point of consideration is that Green drives are not designed for performance. They are more designed for low heat output and power consumption. This makes them ideal for external HDD kits and a NAS but not so crisp for gamers requiring fast load times.
 

Primuspilus

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Nov 12, 2011
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18,510
Thanks for the advice - you've confirmed my suspicions and upgrading the SSD was a consideration to be honest.

On the HDD choice, I had worked on the basis that the slow but quiet HDD was a better choice when paired with an SSD as it's just for mass storage, so Green was a better choice than say WD Caviar Black..but I suppose that's all academic now! Cheers