Any advice on Win7 fresh install on 2 SSDs

bortbort

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Dec 22, 2011
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I just ordered a P8Z68-V PRO Motherboard w/ Intel Core™ i7-2600K Processor with 2 60GB SSDs (SSD 60G|OCZ SLD3-25SAT3-60G RT). I also have 16GB of RAM (2 X Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB 2X4GB DDR3 1866MHZ PC3-15000 9-11-9-27 1.65V XMP Ready Desktop Memory Kit)

I plan on doing a fresh install of Windows 7 and I need some advice on the best approach. I hear a lot about SSD caching but most of what I read talks about just adding an single SSD to a system that has Windows already running on a spinning disk. If I were to do a fresh install, I would like to make it as fast and stable as possible. The main purpose of this machine if for heavy photoshop and lightroom usage, including filters and image processing. My mobo and processor maybe overkill for these programs but when I spend 10 hours per day in front of the computer, I want it fast! I also wanted the flexibility to move into video editing if I choose. I'm not much of a gamer, so leave that out of the equation for now. I am assuming that both PS and LR will preform better if they are installed on the SSD(s) while the photos themselves are on traditional drives. Here are some of my options:

1. Raid0 - install windows and photo software and over both SSDs. I am assuming the cashing would occur on this drive as well (but I'm not sure how to set it up, or if it happens on default).
2. Raid1 - install windows and photo software on 1 SSD and keep the other as a mirror. I am assuming the cashing would occur on this drive as well (but I'm not sure how). Not sure if the mirror would be a bottleneck.
3. No Raid - install windows and photo software on 1 SSD and use the other for SSD caching.

I am hoping to take advantage of the mobo and CPU's new and advanced features. If anyone has any help, direction or suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks!!
 
My main recommendation is to install your OS and mainly used programs onto the SSDs and just like you said keep all the photos on the hard disk. I personally wouldn't use Raid1 with SSDs from a price and performance perspective it doesn't seem worth it.

In regards to the SRT setup - since your mainly used programs will be on one SSD I would just opt for the raid0 set up.
 
Thanks skaz. So, from what I understand, it's best to use my 2 SSDs, stripe them into raid0 and then install Windows 7. Once setup, I can then use this 1 logical drive for my OS (boot drive), photo software and SRT for caching. I'm assuming that the SSD caching setup is done after the OS setup.
 
I was thinking you could just go with the SSDs in raid0 "as is" for your main (OS, programs) and the hard disk as media storage.

I believe the SRT would be useful if you were installing the OS on the hard disk instead.