I was thinking of getting a SSD and using it for storage. with my HDD using my OS on it. how would I go bout setting it up

[zelanthis89]

As I stated above. I know there are several answers about setting the SSD as the OS but I'm just looking for it to store games for faster access. do I just install the SSD into my rig and it will register it? I've never used an SSD before so this it new to me

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware, @zelanthis89!

Installing the SSD is like installing any other hard drive really. It uses the same connections and can be physically setup the same way. However, since you plan to have your OS onto it, I'd recommend a fresh install. In this case, you will need to unplug the HDD from the motherboard (via SATA cable) until the Windows installation is completed. This is how you will avoid the OS confusion, which basically scatters the system files across all the SATA devices connected to the motherboard. You should be able to use the same OS and activation code, you are simply changing the booting drive, so the same OS version should work flawlessly. Before beginning, though, make sure the SATA mode for the SSD is set to AHCI and it's in the boot priority before the HDD.
However, you should definitely backup your files from the HDD before beginning the storage configuration update. This is the surest way to avoid any potential data loss. After you have Windows up and running from the SSD, connect the hard drive to the motherboard and use Disk Management in Windows to re-format it. This procedure will erase all the files on it, including the old OS. Once the reformatting is completed, connect the backup drive and copy back all your needed data onto the HDD. It's also advisable to change the default download/install path to the HDD, so that you don't fill the SSD with random writes.

Here's a very detailed step-by-step tutorial you can use about Windows Install & Optimization for SSDs & HDDs.

Let me know if you have more questions! Best of luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[zelanthis89]

this didnt really address what I was saying. I wanted the HDD as my OS disk and to use the SSD as storage. is it okay to just plug it in and go from there

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, @zelanthis89!

I'm sorry I really thought you made a mistake in the title. I rarely come across people who want to keep the OS on the HDD and use the SSD as a storage drive. Why would you want to do that, really? The SSD can provide you with much faster booting times for the OS. Your games won't load much faster, if your OS is still booting. It will also make a noticeable improvement to general computing, loading other programs, general multitasking, etc. Moreover, some games might take too much space of your SSD and multiple random writes to it might affect its performance with time.

Either way, if you are still convinced to use the solid-state drive as a secondary storage for your games, then you can simply plug it in, initialize it and then partition & format it through Disk Management.

You can also check this thread for more storage configuration opinions.

Best of luck!
SuperSoph_WD