I want to add a second Hard Drive to my PC for gaming, whats the best course of action?

[UsaidYousaf]

I have a 1TB hardrive which is nearly full so i need a new one.
I was thinking of getting a 2tb HDD and just replace the 1TB one but that leaves the 1TB wasted.
I have not thought about getting an ssd but that could also be an option, im looking for the best way to increase my storage for games without the original hard drive going to waste


whats the best choice here?

 

[boosted1g]

Well what is on your 1TB drive?

Ideally best option would be to clear out unneeded files on 1tb drive, get a 500gb SSD and clone drive to that, and then have 1TB drive for storage/backups.

Then you have 2 drives and best of all a fast SSD drive.

 

[UsaidYousaf]

Well what is on your 1TB drive?

Ideally best option would be to clear out unneeded files on 1tb drive, get a 500gb SSD and clone drive to that, and then have 1TB drive for storage/backups.

Then you have 2 drives and best of all a fast SSD drive.

On my 1tb hardrive there is everything. Games,windows, steam etc. Absolutely everything is on it. You want me to put my games on an SSD?

 

[boosted1g]

Windows plus programs plus most played games would be ideal.

By running CCleaner, uninstalling old programs and unplayed games, and doing some other cleaning up can you get the used space down to near 500gb?

How much space is used by personal files?
How much space is used by games?

 

[Eximo]

If you are after more space, then you can just add a drive and start using it. Hard drives are pretty cheap, so get the size you want.

Then if you are interested in doing a proper inplace SSD upgrade, you can use the new drive as your swap point. Take any bulk files off your old drive and put it on the new, reducing the used capacity on the drive to under the size of the new SSD.

Then you can clone the drive, using something like Macrimum Reflect or Acronis True Image. Boot from the new SSD and new hard drive. Check if everything works, then plug in your old drive and format it, or keep it as a backup drive for important files.

 

[UsaidYousaf]

Windows plus programs plus most played games would be ideal.

By running CCleaner, uninstalling old programs and unplayed games, and doing some other cleaning up can you get the used space down to near 500gb?

How much space is used by personal files?
How much space is used by games?

most of the space is taken by games, i dont have many personal files like images and stuff.
Is Ccleaner a hard drive cleaning software or something?

 

[UsaidYousaf]

If you are after more space, then you can just add a drive and start using it. Hard drives are pretty cheap, so get the size you want.

Then if you are interested in doing a proper inplace SSD upgrade, you can use the new drive as your swap point. Take any bulk files off your old drive and put it on the new, reducing the used capacity on the drive to under the size of the new SSD.

Then you can clone the drive, using something like Macrimum Reflect or Acronis True Image. Boot from the new SSD and new hard drive. Check if everything works, then plug in your old drive and format it, or keep it as a backup drive for important files.

would i have to choose a new download point in steam? Will it matter where my games are stored if i opt for a second hard drive?
im not keen on getting an ssd just yet, maybe in the future

 

[Eximo]

You could simply move things around to free up space on the first drive, but I don't see why you wouldn't move the download and install folder for steam.

 

[UsaidYousaf]

You could simply move things around to free up space on the first drive, but I don't see why you wouldn't move the download and install folder for steam.

so i could have a 2 tb hardrive only for games and that would be fine? i wouldnt have to move my other files and such?

Only steam, Origin, Battlenet and Rockstar files need to be moved?

 

[Eximo]

You could simply move things around to free up space on the first drive, but I don't see why you wouldn't move the download and install folder for steam.

so i could have a 2 tb hardrive only for games and that would be fine? i wouldnt have to move my other files and such?

Only steam, Origin, Battlenet and Rockstar files need to be moved?

If you wanted, yes. Some games are not that easy to move. Steam has a good guide though, and so do Blizzard games as I recall. Just has to do a one time verification I think.