Multiple Drives – Photoshop/Lightroom

[Skirball]

I’m putting together a PS/LR computer (and general computing, but no gaming) and I’m still trying to figure out my storage. Originally I was looking at doing 1 SSD (128 gb) for OS and PS/LR, 1 SSD (128 gb) for scratch, and 1 HDD for data, but after looking into it some more it seems the two SSDs might not be necessary with SSDs. Is this worth it, or should I just get a single good (Samsung 840 Pro 256 gb) SSD?

Also, is the WD Black worth it if I’m just using it for data, or will a Green be fine? I’m not so worried about it taking longer to save files, but I was thinking that Lightroom might bog down a bit since I’ll be keeping my files on the HDD. Does this matter at all?

Thanks,



CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($130.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.94 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($142.87 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($41.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Microcenter)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1243.58

 

[lonewolf7]

Get a large SSD for OS and for some essential programs. Get a HDD for storage.

green drives are low power, slower performance environmental drives
blue are general user drives
black are enterprise/business class drives
red is specifically tested for raid
and Velociraptors are for extreme performance for workstations.

 

[Skirball]

Thanks for your response. As I indicated in my original post, I intend on getting a SSD for the OS and programs, and a HDD for data. I was curious if it's still recommended to get a second SSD for a scratch disk for PS, or if a single large SSD is all the same performance wise. From the latest research I've done it appears this is the current method.

Also, I recognize that the WD green is slower, but I didn't know if this would have a noticeable impact when using a large amount of files from the data drive, like you would when scrolling through a catalog on Lightroom. I would get a 7200 rpm Blue, but those don't go above 1 tb. I wasn't sure if it was worth the extra cash for the Black, or not, given my intended use.

 

[lonewolf7]

If you are not a fan of WD drives, and want more storage space, then I can suggest you this drive :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.34 @ OutletPC)
Total: $88.34
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-05 14:10 EST-0500)

I would go with a single large SSD for OS and PS. A second SSD wont help you with anything. Now its your call. Good luck.

 

[popatim]

As far as I know Adobe still recommends a 4 drive setup for PS. OS, Programs, Scratch, & Data. The only one they strongly recommend be an SSD is the scratch disk and they recommend it be a dedicated drive (not shared or partitioned for use as another one of the 4 functions).
After that its your choice whether you want PS to load in 5 seconds or 10. ie - programs ssd

Lastly I dont see a gpu in your build and the adobe Mercury Graphics Engine in PS can make decent use of the added horsepower. You got more homework to do, some cards work much better than other.
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq.html#Tested video cards for Photoshop CS6

 

[Skirball]

Thanks for addressing my question Popatim. I’m still doing some research, there seems to be some conflicting advice on whether or not there’s a marked difference. On the plus side it’s not difficult to add in a small-ish scratch disk later if need be.

Yes, I intentionally didn’t include a GPU. I was trying to keep my budget reasonable so I was doing it in stages. I figured I could give it a run using the integrated unit, and add a GPU later if necessary. I don’t do 3d and I’m fairly light on stuff like Liquify and Puppet Morph, so I’m not sure how much a dedicated GPU will speed things up for me. Regardless, I thought I’d start with using the integrated GPU and figured I could always upgrade later if need be. For now I was thinking I’d rather spend that cash on one of those new Wacom Pro tablets *drool*