2 SSD and 1 HDD for new gaming build?

[cb8539]

I am planning to build a new gaming PC and I have very basic knowledge of such things. I had a friend help me with a parts list, which included an SSD for my OS and an HDD for storage. Another friend suggested two SSDs for my OS and second for my games and the HDD for storage. I was just wondering if that is overkill or a good idea. If its a good idea does it matter if the second SSD is the same make and size as the first? This is my currents part list. Thanks in advance.

EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2GB

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0, Black Interior and Four Fans-1x ...
Model #:RC-932-KKN5-GP

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Model #:SABERTOOTH Z77

Thermaltake Toughpower Grand TPG-850M 850W ATX 12V v2.3 & SSI EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS GOLD ...
Model #:TPG-850M

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K
Model #:BX80637I73770K

OCZ Vertex 3 Series - MAX IOPS Edition VTX3MI-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Model #:VTX3MI-25SAT3-120G

OCZ Vertex 3 - MAX IOPS Edition VTX3MI-25SAT3-240G 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Model #:VTX3MI-25SAT3-240G

G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C10D-16GSR
Model #:F3-1866C10D-16GSR

Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:WD1002FAEX

LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner,3D Play Back (WH14NS40) - OEM
Model #:WH14NS40

CORSAIR Hydro series H50 High Performance CPU Cooler
Model #:CW-9060006-WW

 

[inzone]

You can set your computer up any way you choose since your the one paying for it and you can put any combination of parts that you want. If you were trying to stay within a tight budget then you would naturaly not want to be getting two SSDs so that part is up to you.
If you wanted to get the two SSDs that you lised I would make the 240gb the OS drive and the 120gb just for games and then the WD for storage.
An alternative to that setup is to get a 240/256 gb SSD and the Western Digital Veloceraptor 1 TB hard drive , it's a 10,000 rpm hard drive for about $290 and that way you could put the OS and a couple of your more played games and the rest on the WD drive and with it be3ing faster then a regular hard drive you will get the benefit of that extra speed.
My setup is a Samsung 840 256 gb SSD and the WD Veloceraptor and I am happy with it.
If you end up choosing a different setup the other question that you had about the size of the SSDs is that you can have any size combination that you want , the only thing I would suggest is to pay attention to the price so your not getting less then what you can. What is meant by that is this when you have a 120gb ssd and you get two of them the total for the two is more then what a single 240 would cost. The Vertex 3 240 gb is $186 and the 120 gb is $109 so you can see thatr two of the 120's would be $218 while for an additional $75 you can go from the 120 to the 240. These are just things to watch for when your planning what parts you want in your build.

 

[larkspur]

Just get the 240gb SSD and forget the 120gb for now. You can add an additional SSD later. Your friend that suggested 2 SSDs for your system drive was probably thinking of a RAID-0 (in which case you'd preferably want the drives to be the same model/size). But you don't want to do that for multiple reasons including a minimal (and inconsistent) performance difference. Just get the 240gb for your system drive and use a spinning HDD for your data.

Also - the 3570k is pretty much the same for gaming performance as the 3770k. You could save some bucks there. But that assumes you're only gaming.

And - The Corsair H50 isn't worth the money. It works best in small enclosures that can't fit decent aircoolers. Your case is huge - A quality air cooler will outperform the H50. If you want to use a closed-loop cooler, the H100 is significantly better. Otherwise, I'd suggest going with big air.

One more thing - The i7-930 in your sig should still be great for gaming. I doubt you'll see much difference in games when using the same GPU.