Best setup with an SSD and HDD

[Kirie63]

So I have upgraded my computer setup with new graphics card, mobo, cpu, cpu cooler, fans, psu, and memory.

And I bought a Corsair 120Gb Force Gt, which was on a sale at the time.
So I have all of the parts setup and ready to go, but the most annoying part that im not completely done with is the SSD and hard drive.
So I have a Samsung 1Tb 7200rpm, which I used in my old computer. With windows and games and all of that, which I used for... 3 days ago.

So what I have done is, installing windows 7 and windows 8 on the ssd with some other stuff. So in that way the computer boots up muuuch faster then it would have done with a HDD. So I have just used the computer for 1 without the HDD, and just the SSD hooked up with the mobo.

So I dont know much about hard drives, ssd's or the different raid's. But I have heard something about, that if I want to have a setup with Raid 0, I need 2 identical SSD's which is over 250 Gb on EACH ssd.

So now I sit here with one SSD that Im affraid to install Steam and games on, and another HDD that has an old OS, and alot of games and documents (that I dont care about, I CAN delete this).

Can anybody please help me set these drives the best way up?

 

[jitpublisher]

So I have upgraded my computer setup with new graphics card, mobo, cpu, cpu cooler, fans, psu, and memory.

And I bought a Corsair 120Gb Force Gt, which was on a sale at the time.
So I have all of the parts setup and ready to go, but the most annoying part that im not completely done with is the SSD and hard drive.
So I have a Samsung 1Tb 7200rpm, which I used in my old computer. With windows and games and all of that, which I used for... 3 days ago.

So what I have done is, installing windows 7 and windows 8 on the ssd with some other stuff. So in that way the computer boots up muuuch faster then it would have done with a HDD. So I have just used the computer for 1 without the HDD, and just the SSD hooked up with the mobo.

So I dont know much about hard drives, ssd's or the different raid's. But I have heard something about, that if I want to have a setup with Raid 0, I need 2 identical SSD's which is over 250 Gb on EACH ssd.

So now I sit here with one SSD that Im affraid to install Steam and games on, and another HDD that has an old OS, and alot of games and documents (that I dont care about, I CAN delete this).

Can anybody please help me set these drives the best way up?

Save anything you want off the old hard drive, format it, and install it as a secondary drive. You really don't even have to format it, but any programs on that drive will have to be reinstalled under the new OS installation to work properly. Use it for storage, like music, video, data, backups, etc. This way you don't use up your SSD space for simple storage needs. It does take some management, like when you download something, set your downloads to go into a folder on this drive, not your SSD.

 

[jackson1420]

I am a little confused. You want to run a RAID setup? It is best to have identical drives unless you really know what you are doing.

I have never heard of having a minimum of 250GB of SSDs to run a RAID 0 setup. You can do that with another 120GB Force GT.

From what it looks like you already have everything set up. You can use your 2tb HDD for secondary documents and music. Just pop that baby in and spin up.

Use your SSD for Applications.

You made the right choice by installing Windows without the secondary drive in at the same time as that messes with boot sectors and if you secondary drive would crash you would have to pull some tricks to recover the primary drive if you are lucky even.

If you want a RAID setup then just buy another Corsair 120GB. There is no minimum size requirements.

 

[Kirie63]

Ahaaa I dont know that much about harddrives because that has allways been the "brain" in the computer... so its just scary to do something with it, incase something goes wrong.

But how to i format it? And if I do, how is the setup of all the folders and files etc? Since ive allways used the main hard drive for games, and Os, then I have allways knew that i had to install it all into programfiles and so on. But if i format the HDD, how does the folder mapping and such look like? Are there any folders in it? Where should I install?

Do I have to make all the folder myself?

All them questions... :O

 

[jackson1420]

Here is a guide that shows you how to format your hard drive:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6026_format-hard-drive.html

When you format don't worry Windows won't let you format your system drive you are running. But also format it as NTFS when prompted as it shows you in the guide. And choose quick format.

When it is done formatting it will be a blank directory when you go in the drive. You can start creating folders.

You have to create your own directories. I don't have the time right now to show you, but you can google for ways to set the default My Documents locations and the default Save To or Install in directory when you install a new program.

I just create the following:

Music
Videos
Documents
Programs (For super lite stuff that doesn't need to waste SSD space)

And anything else I need. But those directories should fit most of your needs.


When you install program or download items just click Browse and goto your desired location on your 2TB drive to save space on your SSD.

Also remember SSDs perform best when they have about 40-50% free space.

 

[Kirie63]

Thank you guys! Helped out alot!

 

[RushNReady]

LOL LOVING YOUR SIGNATURE

 

[RushNReady]

LOL LOVING YOUR SIGNATURE

 

[jackson1420]

Hehe thank you RushNReady just a warning of how easy it is to identify targets on the web

I hope Kirie63's setup is going great!

Did you setup a RAID 0 for performance or RAID 1 for redundancy?

Let us know if you have any further questions 11 months later

GO SEAHAWKS!!!


BTW: These are the guys that give me this awesome signature.

http://www.danasoft.com/

 

[RushNReady]

i would like to see what it would say through tor lol