SSD + SSD or SSD + HDD

[dkulprit]

I am a new SSD user. I have built many rigs in the past. It has been a while since I have had the cash flow to build a new machine. Over the black Friday deals I was more concerned about price than the size of the drive. I got a 128gb OCZ Vertex 4. After days of waiting for my equipment to show, I have realized that it will up rather quickly.

My main use of the rig will be gaming. I will be mainly be playing MOH: Warfighter. I will probably be installing other games but not playing them as much.

So to my question. Would it be better for my current end goals to run 2 SSD's or with 1 boot and 1 application? Or 1 SSD with boot and whatever game I happened to be the main game at the time, and the rest on a HDD?

Will there be any performance loss with my SSD?

I have been doing some research on Tom's and found many great things. I would have totally screwed up this upcoming install without it.

 

[osamabinrobot]

i have a 60gb ssd with my os installed on it and a 90gb with games installed on it. i currently have 30gb free on the os drive and 42 gb free on the game drive with a few games installed. you should be good for a minute, if youre worried get another ssd for the os

 

[dkulprit]

Yeah, that is what I was thinking. I was thinking getting a 60-90gb for the OS. And keep my 120 for games.

 

[envy14tpe]

I use my 120gb SSD for OS, programs, and 2 games. I have 2 other games on mh HDD and I don't notice any speed differences. I'd suggest buying a HDD as they have become very cheap and their extra capacity is helpful.

 

[nukemaster]

If it helps me any, I am running almost what you describe.

SSD(M4 256) -> Windows 7 + Ganes(not all)
SSD(M4 256) -> Rest of the games
SSD(Kingston 64. The SSD that got me addicted to SSDs) -> Windows 8 (My games are actually "mklink"ed to the other drives so I do not need to have 2 copies)
HDD -> Files and lots of them + Search Index + Browser cache/profile and steam working folder(downloading/screen captures/ect. These are "mklink"ed to this location so steam it self with games are still on the SSDs).

You can put windows on a 64 gigabyte drive for sure. Just reduce the page file and remove hibernation if you do not use it to free space.

I make extensive use of mklink or junction points to move things from drive to drive at will. It actually means while windows sees a game on c: it can in fact be on f:. This works great because you do not have to uninstall and reinstall games. Install it once then you can move it and make a link to it with mklink(command prompt) or Junction Link Magic(freeware!). I do NOT recommend trying to move anything but games and programs(You can move your entire user profile following a guide another forum member linked.) with the mklink option as it is too easy to mess up windows.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/286458-32-ssds-info-please#t1937735
With a link to
http://lifehacker.com/5467758/move-the-users-directory-in-windows-7
from djscribbles

Before this I had the Hard drive + SSD option too. Some games load very fast with the SSDs(The old republic and guild wars seem to like the extra speed and fast access times) others load just as fast from a hard drive(Just Cause 2 loads FAST on anything).

 

[dkulprit]

Thank you for that info, it will definitely help out when I am doing this build.

I went ahead and bought a Kingston hyper x 120gb. It was on sale and almost as cheap as a 60gb of another solid performing SSD. Now I have a dilemma:

OS on Kingston Hyper X, or on the OCZ Vertex 4. The Hyper X has a faster read/write than the OCZ, so do I want the faster SSD for my apps/games? I know that with games the games barely access the SSD/HDD, but which would be better?

I was thinking Hyper X as boot with OS, with whatever game I am currently playing the most. With the OCZ as my secondary with everything else.

My rig:

Asrock 970 Extreme 3
AMD 8350
16gb Ripjaw 1866
XFX Double D FX-785A-CDFC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI
Thermaltake CLP0596 130mm Frio Advanced CPU Cooler
Rosewill Lightning 1000w
Rosewill Thor V2

 

[nukemaster]

I think it is the access times that make you FEEL the speed from an SSD.
They are all very good in that respect. I would personally use the bigger one for Windows just so I do not have to move to much stuff off of it.

You may have users who go the opposite direction and want more space for the game drive. It all comes down to preference. Some games can even be added to the hard drive if you wish.

If you play any MMO games chances are you want those on the SSD as they tend to load textures on the fly.

 

[dkulprit]

But the question still stands, do I use the SSD with faster read as OS drive or app drive?

I'm thinking about throwing a 3rd 1 tb hdd in there too for extra storage, music, movies, etc.

 

[nukemaster]

OS. chances are you will running the OS more then games.