[SOLVED] dual hard drives, what size ssd?

[lfba65]

My current desktop is over 10 yrs old and hope to get a new one soon. Am planning on getting dual drives, SSD and HDD. Trying to decide what size SSD to get. I run windows10. I will put all my personal files on the HDD, but not sure what all should go on SDD. I know the OS will go on the SSD but what about installed programs? I had one techie friend say I should install programs on the HDD instead of SDD, but most of what I have read , says if there is room to install on SDD.
This will affect what size of SDD I decide to get. Will probably go for 512 GB or 1 TB. So can someone advise where should the installed programs go. I want to make sure I have a large enough SSD so I will not have problems but do not want to pay for a 1 TB if programs should not be installed there. I plan on having this new computer for 10 years, like I have my current one.
Thanks

 

[Barty1884]

In a perfect world, the HDD should only be used for bulk storage at most (files, save game files etc). You certainly can install programs & games to it, but preference would be onto the SSD unless very infrequently used.

Of course, there's a balance in terms of cost. You could put everything onto an SSD, but you're going to pay quite a bit more for the same volume of storage.

Absolute minimum of ~250GB IMO. A ~500GB is likely a good choice for most people.

Assuming you'd supplement with an HDD (1-2TB) though.... and assuming you'd buy new, not repurpose an old a ~500GB SSD can be found for $50-$60 and an HDD another $30-$40.

You can find reasonable ~1TB SSDs for <$100. You'd get 2/3 of the total storage, but consider how much you're using currently.... a 1TB may not be a bad idea overall (plus you could repurpose an old HDD).

 

[USAFRet]

OS and all applications on the SSD, no question.
Min 250GB, preferably 500GB or 1TB.

Games, maybe, as size permits.

Movies/music/docs....those can go on the large HDD. A 2 hour movie takes 2 hours to watch, no matter where it lives.

 

[lfba65]

In a perfect world, the HDD should only be used for bulk storage at most (files, save game files etc). You certainly can install programs & games to it, but preference would be onto the SSD unless very infrequently used.

Of course, there's a balance in terms of cost. You could put everything onto an SSD, but you're going to pay quite a bit more for the same volume of storage.

Absolute minimum of ~250GB IMO. A ~500GB is likely a good choice for most people.

Assuming you'd supplement with an HDD (1-2TB) though.... and assuming you'd buy new, not repurpose an old a ~500GB SSD can be found for $50-$60 and an HDD another $30-$40.

You can find reasonable ~1TB SSDs for <$100. You'd get 2/3 of the total storage, but consider how much you're using currently.... a 1TB may not be a bad idea overall (plus you could repurpose an old HDD).

I am planning on ordering a customized computer with dual drives, so both will be new. My current computer only has an HDD, I have never used an SDD. My friend seemed to imply that I could damage the SDD by installing programs there, but that is not what I am finding in my google research. But there is a big difference in the way he uses a computer and the way I do, he is a BIG gamer, has lots of large games. I do not do that. A 1 TB hdd will be plenty for my personal data, if I need to install programs there might want to go with a bigger HDD and a smaller SDD. But if there is not a problem created by installing programs on SDD I will go with 1 TB HDD and maybe1 TB SDD, I do not plan on doing this again for a long time.

Thanks

 

[USAFRet]

I am planning on ordering a customized computer with dual drives, so both will be new. My current computer only has an HDD, I have never used an SDD. My friend seemed to imply that I could damage the SDD by installing programs there, but that is not what I am finding in my google research. But there is a big difference in the way he uses a computer and the way I do, he is a BIG gamer, has lots of large games. I do not do that. A 1 TB hdd will be plenty for my personal data, if I need to install programs there might want to go with a bigger HDD and a smaller SDD. But if there is not a problem created by installing programs on SDD I will go with 1 TB HDD and maybe1 TB SDD, I do not plan on doing this again for a long time.

Thanks

Your friend is totally incorrect.

My house system is SSD only. Indeed, all my house systems are.
The only spinning drives are in or attached to my NAS box, and in a 10 year old cheap laptop that is my test box.

 

[geofelt]

The only reason to get any HDD at all is to reduce the cost per gb of storage if you are truly budget constrained.
Any ssd is some 35x faster in random I/O and 4x faster sequentially than even a 10k HDD.
A ssd takes less power, and with no moving parts should be more reliable.

My suggestion is to buy a single ssd of sufficient size to hold everything plus room for expansion.

A 1tb samsung or intel ssd will be <$100.
Stick with top quality units.

It is easy to add storage later if you should run out of room.
The best use of a hdd is for bulk storage of sequential files such as videos.
Or as an external backup.

 

[cryoburner]

How much applications do you have to install, and how much data do you have? If you are not installing games, and plan to put data on a separate drive, you most likely don't need a 1TB SSD in the system. Things that should absolutely go on the SSD would be your operating system and all of your applications, as that should improve general system responsiveness. However, an install of Windows combined with your applications probably won't use more than 100GB of space. So if you're not storing large data files or installing large games to the drive, a 1TB model may be sitting mostly empty, which seems like a bit of a waste.

Also, you mention that you are planning on putting data files on the hard drive, but if these are irreplaceable files, you should make sure that they are backed up to at least another drive. If you did go with a 1TB SSD, you could keep a copy of your data on both drives. Though again, if you don't have much data, you might not even need that much storage.

 

[lfba65]

OS and all applications on the SSD, no question.
Min 250GB, preferably 500GB or 1TB.

Games, maybe, as size permits.

Movies/music/docs....those can go on the large HDD. A 2 hour movie takes 2 hours to watch, no matter where it lives.

I do not have large games. SO it sounds like probably all my apps/programs can go on the SSD along with the OS. That is what I was originally thinking, but started questioning that because of what my techie friend had to saym but again he is a big gamer.

Thanks for your input

 

[lfba65]

The only reason to get any HDD at all is to reduce the cost per gb of storage if you are truly budget constrained.
Any ssd is some 35x faster in random I/O and 4x faster sequentially than even a 10k HDD.
A ssd takes less power, and with no moving parts should be more reliable.

My suggestion is to buy a single ssd of sufficient size to hold everything plus room for expansion.

A 1tb samsung or intel ssd will be <$100.
Stick with top quality units.

It is easy to add storage later if you should run out of room.
The best use of a hdd is for bulk storage of sequential files such as videos.
Or as an external backup.

Budget is an issue, but I want to spend enough to get a system that will last be for 10 years like my current one has. I am retired and budget maybe even more of an issue in the future. I like to keep my data separate from the os (and programs if possible). I currently do that by partitioning my single hard drive. Looks like putting the programs/apps on the SDD is the things to do.

Thanks for your imput.

 

[lfba65]

How much applications do you have to install, and how much data do you have? If you are not installing games, and plan to put data on a separate drive, you most likely don't need a 1TB SSD in the system. Things that should absolutely go on the SSD would be your operating system and all of your applications, as that should improve general system responsiveness. However, an install of Windows combined with your applications probably won't use more than 100GB of space. So if you're not storing large data files or installing large games to the drive, a 1TB model may be sitting mostly empty, which seems like a bit of a waste.

Also, you mention that you are planning on putting data files on the hard drive, but if these are irreplaceable files, you should make sure that they are backed up to at least another drive. If you did go with a 1TB SSD, you could keep a copy of your data on both drives. Though again, if you don't have much data, you might not even need that much storage.

1 TB ssd may be too much. BUt I have read things that any given area can only be written to so many times and that the SSD drives compensates by using a different area. Do not know how true this is, but if it is , I want to have enought space for that. As I said, I plan on having the new computer a long time.

I have 2 external hard drives and do frequent backups of my data. Over the 10 years I have had the computer, I have had a couple of HDD crashes, had to have it serviced new HDD put in , clean install, re-install all my prgrams etc, BUT, I had all my data backed up and was able to just restore that.

Thanks for your input.

 

[USAFRet]

10 years.

In 2010, a 120GB SSD was cutting edge in the consumer space.
Where will we be in 2030?

Get the 1TB SSD.

As far as "can only be written to so many times ". TBW or TeraBytesWritten.
This true, in a theoretical sense. Yes, there is a limit. But that limit is astoundingly large in terms of consumer use.
People may poopoo a particular drive, because the warranty number is 400TBW vs 800TBW for a different drive.
In actual use, that 400 or 800 is years and years and years. My current main system, 7 drives (parts list below), totals yo to around 90TBW. Some of these 7 drives have been in basically 24/7 use since 2014.
That number is not really a concern. And is only what the warranty is, much like number of years.


The drive firmware handles this by shuffling data around.

 

[lfba65]

10 years.

In 2010, a 120GB SSD was cutting edge in the consumer space.
Where will we be in 2030?

Get the 1TB SSD.

As far as "can only be written to so many times ". TBW or TeraBytesWritten.
This true, in a theoretical sense. Yes, there is a limit. But that limit is astoundingly large in terms of consumer use.
People may poopoo a particular drive, because the warranty number is 400TBW vs 800TBW for a different drive.
In actual use, that 400 or 800 is years and years and years. My current main system, 7 drives (parts list below), totals yo to around 90TBW. Some of these 7 drives have been in basically 24/7 use since 2014.
That number is not really a concern. And is only what the warranty is, much like number of years.


The drive firmware handles this by shuffling data around.

I am currently looking at Dell Computer's -the xps 8940 is what I am looking at now. They offer several models that can be customized to a degree, but it is limited. Looks like the prices are changing right now, but looks like a 1TB ssd on a dual drive system will cost me around 100 more than the 512FGB, but as I said that price appears to change between times a look at it. Just need to decide if going from 512 GB to 1 TB is worth it.
Thanks

 

[USAFRet]

I am currently looking at Dell Computer's -the xps 8940 is what I am looking at now. They offer several models that can be customized to a degree, but it is limited. Looks like the prices are changing right now, but looks like a 1TB ssd on a dual drive system will cost me around 100 more than the 512FGB, but as I said that price appears to change between times a look at it. Just need to decide if going from 512 GB to 1 TB is worth it.
Thanks

100% up to your preferences.

Some people like one single drive for everything. Easier to manage.,
Other people, like myself, like multiples. One drive for the OS and applications, other physical drives for other things.


And for backups? There is little reason to not do full drive backups, rather than 'just data'.
A full drive backup will bring the whole thing back to the condition it was when the backup was made. No deed to reinstall the OS and all that....recover the whole thing.

 

[mdd1963]

With even 1 TB NVME drives being pretty reasonably priced, that's where the OS and all apps should go, and, even games if possible. (Try to keep 25-30% of the SSD's space free/available if possible)

Throw in a 4-8 TB drive or two for bulk storage needs, and most will be content for years...

 

[Pytheus]

I got three drives. A PCIe 3 NVMe 500 gig for the OS and standard programs, a PCIe 4 NVMe 500 gig for games, and a 1TB HDD for files, photos, mp3s. The games surprisingly filled up the 500 gig pretty fast.

 

[cryoburner]

In 2010, a 120GB SSD was cutting edge in the consumer space.
Where will we be in 2030?

The install size for an operating system and applications hasn't actually increased all that much since 2010 though. It's not like programs are now requiring 10 times the space or anything like that.

 

[Barty1884]

The install size for an operating system and applications hasn't actually increased all that much since 2010 though. It's not like programs are now requiring 10 times the space or anything like that.

You can still get by with a 120GB SSD these days - I have 120GB in my older XPS 13, but if you want to install much more than just an OS, browser etc, it's going to require paying some attention to capacity etc.

Even 10 years ago though, a 60-120GB would've cost ~$250 AND you'd likely need bulk storage too, probably ~$100. To last another decade is anybodies guess, but opting for the largest SSD within budget would be a good plan. Given a 1TB can be done for <$100, that's a good place to start for longevity.

 

[ragnarok0274]

Please, just stop saying "SDD". It is an SSD.
SDD would be something like Solid Disk Drive or something.
I would go with a 500GB SSD and a 2TB HDD.
That's not what I have, but my storage devices design was 2010, when having a 128GB SSD was fancy.

 

[lfba65]

Thanks to all for your input. Seems like the consensus is that the programs should be installed on the SSD. SO, guess that is what I will plan on.
Thanks again.

 

[lfba65]

Please, just stop saying "SDD". It is an SSD.
SDD would be something like Solid Disk Drive or something.
I would go with a 500GB SSD and a 2TB HDD.
That's not what I have, but my storage devices design was 2010, when having a 128GB SSD was fancy.

Yes, I know it is SSD not SDD, but at times my fingers take over and do their own thing, like sometimes I type "here" when I mean "hear" even though I know the difference. I try to watch for those types of things, but most often do not.