SSD and HDD

[wowgamer97]

Hey everyone, I'm getting ready to assemble my rig and I've got a 128gb ssd and a 500gb hdd. So I wanted to know how I should set these two up?

I've also got the ASRock z77 with the XFast feature.


So far, from what I've read, I should hook up the SSD first, leaving the HDD unhooked. Then after loading the OS ( windows 7 ) I can go back and hook up the HDD.

I don't understand how any of this works, so I was hoping someone could give me some advice as to how to get all of this installed right and working correctly so that I can get the best performance.

Thanks.

 

[torbendalum]

You can easily connect both, during the install process you will have a choice of on which drive to install windows. But you can also wait and connect the HDD after the installation and it will show in windows.

 

[wowgamer97]

Ok, great and when I start to load other software on, will I automatically be given the option or does window's 7 just automatically do that?

 

[manofchalk]

Yep, when you install Windows, only connect the SSD. This is so there isn't even a chance for something to go wrong and install to the HDD. When Windows is installed, download/install all the drivers you need. Also make sure that the SSD has the latest firmware.
After that's done connect the HDD, initialize and format it in Disk Management (you can find it in the search bar).

Move the user folders (AKA, the download, documents, music, etc) to the HDD so dont fill up the drive.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html

Optimizing the PC for SSD's is a good thing to do, it will increase the life of the drive and possibly boost performance. Only diffrence I would recommend is moving, not deleting the pagefile. The pagefile sort of acts as backup RAM on the HDD in case the actual RAM gets overloaded.
Moving your temporary files to the HDD is also another good thing to do, it reduces the read/write cycles inflicted on the drive by a lot.
http://thessdreview.com/ssd-guides/optimization-guides/the-ssd-optimization-guide-2/2/

 

[wowgamer97]

Thanks again!