Installing A New SSD Drive. Need HELP! Should I Use It For Games + OS?

[manooly]

Hello! I just purchased a new SSD drive from newegg.com. It is a 120GB Kingston HyperX SATA 3 drive. My current system is running Windows 7 on a 500GB Samsung Spintpoint 7200rpm HDD. I also have another 500GB drive and 2 other 320GB drives in my system. Here are some other specs in case that helps in answerng any questions...

- Antec 1200 chassis
- ASUS p7p55d-e pro mobo
- 8 GB 1600hz DDR3 G.Skill Ripjaw series RAM
- 850w XFX Blach Edition PSU
- 1GB XFX HDRadeon 5870 GPU
- i5 750 Intel 2.66Ghz CPU (OC'd to 3.2Ghz)
- Hyper 212+ heatsink

Not sure if you need any other info. Just let me know!

Should I keep Windows 7 installed on the existing HDD and just use the SSD for gaming purposes? I mainly like MMO type games (like Lord of the Rings Online). I also enjoy playing Skyrim. Should I use the SSD for both the OS and my favorite games?

The main reason for this post is to find out the most painless process for moving Windows 7 from it's current location to he new SSD drive (if I should even move Windows). I do have the Windows 7 disk ready for install. I am familiar with getting into the BIOS and messing aorund with things. Is it as easy as changing the boot drive to the new SSD drive and putting the Windows 7 install disk into the DVD drive once I have it hooked up in my pc? I'm sure it is more complicated than that. What are the optimal settings for the new drive once it is recognized? Is there an existing process that can help me do this? Is there anything else I should be aware of? This great community helped me build my first pc about 2 years ago and now I'm looking for you all to help me start upgrading it. I look forward to all of your replies!

Thanks for your time!

- manooly

 

[tomatthe]

1. No, definitely run your OS off the ssd. Your entire system will feel new compared to running your os off the mechanical drive.

2. OS, and a few games is what a lot of people do and are generally very happy with that setup. Games will load a bit quicker which is nice.

3. I would suggest disconnecting all drives on your system except for the ssd, and make sure to put it on port 1 of the intel controller. Check your bios to ensure the controller is set to ahci, or raid if you ever intend to use raid.

There are tons of articles on the details of installing windows 7, but the MS one should be a good start.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Installing-and-reinstalling-Windows-7

You will likely need the driver that came with your systemboard after windows is installed to get any drivers that windows didn't have installed, although you could also get them from the manufactures website which they would almost certainly have more updated ones there.

 

[xMichaelC]

i recently bought and 240GB Corsair GS .. installed OS on it and BF3 , you dont have to put games on it, only if you want fast load times in the games, but you need to compromise.., cause of limited space. i only now skyrim and fast load times in that game would'nt be bad

 

[manooly]

If I do put the OS on the new SSD drive and I currently have Outlook and all other Microsoft Office programs on the older drive do I just leave them there or do I need to install them on the new drive also?

 

[chugot9218]

You will likely have to reinstall them, you can put them on the other drives if you want but they will need to be reinstalled so the new OS know's where they are. Otherwise there may be programs that can take care of re-assigning the pointers, but I am not familiar with any.