[SOLVED] Is it still worth it to go OS/program drive + Games/Documents drive

[RodroX]

Hi all!

The main use for my home PC was always gaming, and right now because of the global pandemic I use it for working every day too.
Working is basically pretty low/light usage stuff like office apps, browser, and remote access to the office building masive storage system.

Since a few years ago I been using at least 2 drivers, one for the OS and programs and another for documents and/or games.

Right now I have an almost brand new 500GB WD Blue + Kingston 240 GB (both 2.5" SATA) and a 1TB WD Blue 7200RPM.

I have access to a cheap 1TB Kingston A2000 nvme drive so I been wondering: Is it still worth it to go with a 1 + 1 drive for this kind of gaming/work setup?, Or is it ok to just use 1 nvme drive like the Kingston A2000 since it already have really fast access times, and read and write transfer speed?


Im going to repurpose the other drives on a diferent PC, but I could keep the 500GB WD Blue SSD in my main system if its really worth it, perhaps as an OS + main programs.

Thanks for your time and/or reply!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, it's ALWAYS a good idea to do that, so that when you have to (And you WILL, sooner or later) reinstall Windows or replace the drive it's on, it doesn't affect your saved game and installer or personal files as well. Obviously, you should have those backed up to a THIRD location, at least, if not TWO additional locations, anyhow, but then at least it gives you the leeway to make effective repairs and changes to the OS and application drive without affecting all your games and other files.

Unless you are saving VERY large files, like, a LOT of music, movies, MANY games, that total and exceed 1TB, in which case you'll probably have to settle for a HDD since the cost of very large SSDs is so outrageous, it is a good idea for those secondary drives to ALSO be an SSD of some kind so that even though your games are on a secondary drive, they still load maps, levels, saves and textures quickly, and that there is at least SOME free space remaining on the drive so that it doesn't get too bogged down. It will affect performance the fuller a drive gets.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes. (see my drive list below)
OS and applications on one, other things on other drives.

Of course, backups as well:

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[RodroX]

Yes, it's ALWAYS a good idea to do that, so that when you have to (And you WILL, sooner or later) reinstall Windows or replace the drive it's on, it doesn't affect your saved game and installer or personal files as well. Obviously, you should have those backed up to a THIRD location, at least, if not TWO additional locations, anyhow, but then at least it gives you the leeway to make effective repairs and changes to the OS and application drive without affecting all your games and other files.

Unless you are saving VERY large files, like, a LOT of music, movies, MANY games, that total and exceed 1TB, in which case you'll probably have to settle for a HDD since the cost of very large SSDs is so outrageous, it is a good idea for those secondary drives to ALSO be an SSD of some kind so that even though your games are on a secondary drive, they still load maps, levels, saves and textures quickly, and that there is at least SOME free space remaining on the drive so that it doesn't get too bogged down. It will affect performance the fuller a drive gets.

Thanks for the answer!, and sorry I forgot to mention a few things,

1. Yes, I do regulary backups of saved games and personal documents on an external drive and the cloud. Working data is not local so that does not worry me. Most games, if not all the ones that I really care also have steam cloud saving.

2. Of course If I go with the 1 drive only I will be partitioning it, to keep the OS + Basic Programs/Apps in 1 partition, while documents and games on atleast another one.

3. And no, I don't have really anything big, other than my cd quality music library (70GB), which is also backed up on my external drive.

4. The sum of all my data never went over 600~650 GB.

For all of those points is that I got thinking about simplifying my storage needs into only 1 drive that didn't even need cables lol (I been dreaming about that for years )


Edit: Thanks @USAFRet too, I was just about to post when you did.

 

[USAFRet]

Partitions is still the same physical drive.
Need to replace it...those multiple partitions don't mean anything.

 

[USAFRet]

Of course, other people will chime in with a completely different outlook.
1 single large drive, no partitions, everything in 1 space.

 

[RodroX]

Partitions is still the same physical drive.
Need to replace it...those multiple partitions don't mean anything.

Of course, other people will chime in with a completely different outlook.
1 single large drive, no partitions, everything in 1 space.

Yeah I know, but as you see from the amount of data I work with (which include the OS, games, apss, and lot of crap I sometimes download to use 1 time and remain there just in case), as long as I have a backup, replacing a drive, reinstaling wndows and apps and restoring the data is something that takes me a few hours at the most.

Anyways, thank you both for the input and time, I will give it a lot of thinking, I have time till monday cause all the PC stores are closed on weekend due to the pandemic, so no rush.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Cool man. Anytime. We're both always willing to answer sensible questions.