Can I use the same drive to boot and for main storage?

[The crow]

Building my first pc soon and I was just wondering if using the same drive for my OS and main storage would cause problems.

 

[kanewolf]

It could make upgrading to an SSD in the future more difficult. I would recommend that you partition your disk into two pieces. Create a 200GB volume for C: and the rest for D: That will prepare you for replacing your boot volume with a 250GB SSD. It will also get you used to thinking about what volume software is installing onto.

 

[The crow]

Would it be better for me to just buy an ssd now then?

 

[kanewolf]

Would it be better for me to just buy an ssd now then?

If you can afford it, I highly recommend it. My next build, probably next year, may have no spinning disks....

 

[The crow]

If you can afford it, I highly recommend it. My next build, probably next year, may have no spinning disks....

How big would it need to be?

 

[kanewolf]

I don't recommend anything smaller than a 240GB these days. Prices have dropped enough that the extra room makes it much easier.

 

[The crow]

I don't recommend anything smaller than a 240GB these days. Prices have dropped enough that the extra room makes it much easier.

Little pricy, my rig is already running over my £500 budget.

Is it really that big of a deal/is there much difference between load times for SSD and HDD?

 

[kanewolf]

I don't recommend anything smaller than a 240GB these days. Prices have dropped enough that the extra room makes it much easier.

Little pricy, my rig is already running over my £500 budget.

Is it really that big of a deal/is there much difference between load times for SSD and HDD?

An order of magnitude (10X) at least. SSDs transfer 500MB/s and have 0 rotational and seek delay. That corresponds to real time saved.
A 120GB is OK if you have to cut costs. You just need to manage your space usage much more closely. You NEVER want to be more than 90% full on an SSD.

 

[The crow]

I don't recommend anything smaller than a 240GB these days. Prices have dropped enough that the extra room makes it much easier.

Little pricy, my rig is already running over my £500 budget.

Is it really that big of a deal/is there much difference between load times for SSD and HDD?

An order of magnitude (10X) at least. SSDs transfer 500MB/s and have 0 rotational and seek delay. That corresponds to real time saved.
A 120GB is OK if you have to cut costs. You just need to manage your space usage much more closely. You NEVER want to be more than 90% full on an SSD.

I'm okay with that I think, I'll just get a HDD and make some tea in the meantime!

Thanks for your help, man, I really appreciate it!