Need suggestions for gaming storage set up (6 TB set up + Intel Optane).

[123364]

I am planning a new build and already have some parts, now I have to figure out my storage set up. I'm new to this Intel Optane memory accelerator concept. The way I understand, it is a way to get faster load speeds on your HDDs? At first, I was disappointed because I read Optane could only be used for your main boot drive, but later I read that some updates from Intel made it possible to use it on secondary drives too.

This is the set up I was thinking. Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Main boot drive: (I will use this for most played games, especially MMOs where loading time matters most): Samsung 860 EVO 1TB, $147.99 (5% coupon) @ Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Inch-Internal-MZ-76E1T0B-AM/dp/B078DPCY3T/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1546084849&sr=8-3&keywords=860+evo+1tb

2nd drive: (I will use this for the rest of Steam library/rest of my games): Seagate BarraCuda Pro SATA HDD 6TB $224.97 (5% cupon) @ Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LOOJBH8/?coliid=I3S2BOSOSZ2QVS&colid=FHQWIESE3Z8S&psc=0

Intel Optane M.2 2280 32GB (I will pair this up with my 2nd drive for increase loading speeds) https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820167427

3rd drive: (I will use for back up/iTunes/photos/videos backup): Need suggestions!

CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HHN6KBZ/?coliid=I11K8GK96DI89W&colid=FHQWIESE3Z8S&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Mobo: GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS Master https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813145089&Description=GIGABYTE%20Z390%20AORUS%20Master%20&cm_re=GIGABYTE_Z390_AORUS_Master-_-13-145-089-_-Product

Let me know what you think or if this whole plan is dumb lol, thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

Do you really have 6TB of games?

What I would do is....

Main drive - 500GB 860 EVO, or your selected 1TB
Second drive - 1TB 860 EVO (Other games can live here)
Third drive - 4TB HDD

Steam games can easily be moved back and forth across drives.
A 1TB SSD is fast across its whole space, both read and write. An Optane boosted HDD is at HDD speed for the write function.

 

[123364]

Do you really have 6TB of games?

What I would do is....

Main drive - 500GB 860 EVO, or your selected 1TB
Second drive - 1TB 860 EVO (Other games can live here)
Third drive - 4TB HDD

Steam games can easily be moved back and forth across drives.
A 1TB SSD is fast across its whole space, both read and write. An Optane boosted HDD is at HDD speed for the write function.

Why do you recommend having two ssds? This set up sounds interesting.

 

[USAFRet]

Do you really have 6TB of games?

What I would do is....

Main drive - 500GB 860 EVO, or your selected 1TB
Second drive - 1TB 860 EVO (Other games can live here)
Third drive - 4TB HDD

Steam games can easily be moved back and forth across drives.
A 1TB SSD is fast across its whole space, both read and write. An Optane boosted HDD is at HDD speed for the write function.

Why do you recommend having two ssds? This set up sounds interesting.

1 for the OS and applications, 1 for other stuff that can use the speed of the SSD.
An HDD for other large stuff where it does not matter.

Or all SSD...😉

My current drive lineup:

The top one is the OS/application drive.
The others each have a particular use.
(The 120GB Kingston is to be replaced with a 1TB SanDisk, once the RMA replacement arrives)


NOTE:
All those drives did not appear at once.
The 120GB Kingston was first, as the boot drive in 2012. Paired with a couple of HDD's.
Then a 250GB 840 EVO
Then another one
Then the 500GB 850 EVO
Etc, etc

Eventually, the SSD's replaced all the HDD's.
The only moving parts in this PC are the fans.

 

[123364]

Do you really have 6TB of games?

What I would do is....

Main drive - 500GB 860 EVO, or your selected 1TB
Second drive - 1TB 860 EVO (Other games can live here)
Third drive - 4TB HDD

Steam games can easily be moved back and forth across drives.
A 1TB SSD is fast across its whole space, both read and write. An Optane boosted HDD is at HDD speed for the write function.

Why do you recommend having two ssds? This set up sounds interesting.

1 for the OS and applications, 1 for other stuff that can use the speed of the SSD.
An HDD for other large stuff where it does not matter.

Or all SSD...😉

My current drive lineup:

The top one is the OS/application drive.
The others each have a particular use.
(The 120GB Kingston is to be replaced with a 1TB SanDisk, once the RMA replacement arrives)

Haha, nice setup. I can't believe I didn't think of this. Even though your suggestion is simple I really like it because with the $61.57 it costs to buy the Intel Optane I can roughly buy 500gb of SSD (In fact, I already have one-it's the 500gb 860 Evo you mentioned, but I wanted to decide on setup before I returned it). Do you have any suggestions for a 4tb?

 

[USAFRet]

Haha, nice setup. I can't believe I didn't think of this. Even though your suggestion is simple I really like it because with the $61.57 it costs to buy the Intel Optane I can roughly buy 500gb of SSD (In fact, I already have one-it's the 500gb 860 Evo you mentioned, but I wanted to decide on setup before I returned it). Do you have any suggestions for a 4tb?

HDD's are not all that different.
Seagate, HGST, WD...
The only HDD's I've bought in the last few years are 4x 4TB Seagate IronWolf, for my NAS box.

 

[USAFRet]

One thing you need to add in there is a backup drive.
One of my SSD's died last week. Suddenly, absolutely no warning.
SanDisk 960GB, with 605GB data on it.
Just...dead. Don't know why, and mostly don't care.

Slot in a new drive, recover with Macrium from the backup that lives in the NAS box...2 hours, done.
605GB data (games and other random stuff) resurrected exactly as it was at 4AM that morning.

A dead drive should never be more than "Aw crap, I need a new drive."
Your data should never be at risk.

 

[123364]

Haha, nice setup. I can't believe I didn't think of this. Even though your suggestion is simple I really like it because with the $61.57 it costs to buy the Intel Optane I can roughly buy 500gb of SSD (In fact, I already have one-it's the 500gb 860 Evo you mentioned, but I wanted to decide on setup before I returned it). Do you have any suggestions for a 4tb?

HDD's are not all that different.
Seagate, HGST, WD...
The only HDD's I've bought in the last few years are 4x 4TB Seagate IronWolf, for my NAS box.

One thing you need to add in there is a backup drive.
One of my SSD's died last week. Suddenly, absolutely no warning.
SanDisk 960GB, with 605GB data on it.
Just...dead. Don't know why, and mostly don't care.

Slot in a new drive, recover with Macrium from the backup that lives in the NAS box...2 hours, done.
605GB data (games and other random stuff) resurrected exactly as it was at 4AM that morning.

A dead drive should never be more than "Aw crap, I need a new drive."
Your data should never be at risk.

I've never really had a backup drive, in 7 years I never had any problems-just lucky I guess (but all I did was game and some college hw). I want one with this build though. I'll be looking into proper backup practice as I'm new to it. Backup Drives don't have to run at 7,200 rpm, right? What's a good size??

 

[USAFRet]

I've never really had a backup drive, in 7 years I never had any problems-just lucky I guess (but all I did was game and some college hw). I want one with this build though. I'll be looking into proper backup practice as I'm new to it. Backup Drives don't have to run at 7,200 rpm, right? What's a good size??

Drive fails are rare, but when (not if) they happen, it can be pretty mind bending.
And its not just for drive fail, but also all the other ways of data loss.
Accidental deletion, corruption, nasty virus infection...

If my current C drive were to somehow become totally hosed with a virus, no different than a physical drive fail.
Recover from last nights backup.

Or, with a good backup plan, recover the whole system (or an individual file) as it was "last Tuesday".
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3383768/backup-situation-home.html


Drive size is dependent on your particular needs.
2 weeks of Full and Incremental images from my 3 main systems consumes about 3.5TB space on my NAS box.

 

[123364]

I've never really had a backup drive, in 7 years I never had any problems-just lucky I guess (but all I did was game and some college hw). I want one with this build though. I'll be looking into proper backup practice as I'm new to it. Backup Drives don't have to run at 7,200 rpm, right? What's a good size??

Drive fails are rare, but when (not if) they happen, it can be pretty mind bending.
And its not just for drive fail, but also all the other ways of data loss.
Accidental deletion, corruption, nasty virus infection...

If my current C drive were to somehow become totally hosed with a virus, no different than a physical drive fail.
Recover from last nights backup.

Or, with a good backup plan, recover the whole system (or an individual file) as it was "last Tuesday".
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3383768/backup-situation-home.html


Drive size is dependent on your particular needs.
2 weeks of Full and Incremental images from my 3 main systems consumes about 3.5TB space on my NAS box.

Very informative! I will start doing a lot more reading on proper backup practices for sure. Not sure what all "2 weeks of Full and Incremental images from my 3 main systems consumes about 3.5TB space on my NAS box." means, but it sounds neat lol. So, after 2 weeks 3.5TB get used up, then the cycle starts again or what?

Regarding my original question, I think I will go with what you suggested instead. 500 Gb 860 Evo for OS/Apps., 1tb 860 Evo for main games, 4tb HDD for other games, plus 1 back up drive. This seems to fit my needs perfectly without overcomplicating it. Does this sound decent?

 

[USAFRet]

My backup routine is set to delete the eldest Image, on a 2 week rolling schedule.
Delete the eldest, make a new one.

The scheduling options in Macrium Reflect are fine grained enough that you can designate whatever time period you desire and have drive space for.

All automated, I don't have to "do" anything, until I need to recover one of the drives.


For your drive config for this new system, what you've outlined will work just great.

 

[123364]

My backup routine is set to delete the eldest Image, on a 2 week rolling schedule.
Delete the eldest, make a new one.

The scheduling options in Macrium Reflect are fine grained enough that you can designate whatever time period you desire and have drive space for.

All automated, I don't have to "do" anything, until I need to recover one of the drives.


For your drive config for this new system, what you've outlined will work just great.

What!? That is so cool...if my backup needs ever get serious I will have to consider something like this. Thanks for your help!

 

[Insevin]

Is it possible to install Optane with a 4th gen Intel/1150 platform, maybe w/ adapters? (No M.2 slots or anything)

 

[USAFRet]

Is it possible to install Optane with a 4th gen Intel/1150 platform, maybe w/ adapters? (No M.2 slots or anything)

Not that I've ever seen.
And especially if it has no m.2 port.

 

[123364]

Is it possible to install Optane with a 4th gen Intel/1150 platform, maybe w/ adapters? (No M.2 slots or anything)

Not that I've ever seen.
And especially if it has no m.2 port.

I have one last question for you if you're still around. After some thinking, I decided to that 2Tb will get me by for now and I'll probably just buy more SSD storage later on. I narrowed it down to these two, but can't decide which one to get. Now sure what the pros and cons are for each. They both cost about the same, and both have 5-yr. warranties.

Seagate BarraCuda Pro SATA HDD 2TB, $109.99 https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Computers-ST4000DM006/dp/B01MYWS7LO/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1546121713&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=ST2000DM009&th=1

Seagate 2TB FireCuda Gaming SSHD, $95.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IEKG2HM?tag=price124410d-20&ascsubtag=wtbs_5c27f2c525e9126edf3a1b48

Is one more reliable than the other? Already have my 1tb ssd for speed.

 

[USAFRet]

I have one last question for you if you're still around. After some thinking, I decided to that 2Tb will get me by for now and I'll probably just buy more SSD storage later on. I narrowed it down to these two, but can't decide which one to get. Now sure what the pros and cons are for each. They both cost about the same, and both have 5-yr. warranties.

Seagate BarraCuda Pro SATA HDD 2TB, $109.99 https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Computers-ST4000DM006/dp/B01MYWS7LO/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1546121713&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=ST2000DM009&th=1

Seagate 2TB FireCuda Gaming SSHD, $95.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IEKG2HM?tag=price124410d-20&ascsubtag=wtbs_5c27f2c525e9126edf3a1b48

Is one more reliable than the other? Already have my 1tb ssd for speed.

1. Barracuda Pro. Longer warranty. $110

2. FireCuda. SSHD hybrid drive. There is a small 8GB cache, to theoretically speed up read performance in some areas. $96.
That speed increase only works if you are reading the same blocks of data ll the time. Something new, regular slow HDD speed.
And all writes are at regular, 5400RPM slow speed.

3. Other option. 2TB Barracuda (not Pro). $66 at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Computers-ST4000DM006/dp/B01IEKG402

Personally, I'd go with #3.
For stuff that ends up on the HDD, you almost certainly would not notice any difference. And warranty? Meh...don't drop it off the desk, and it is unlikely to actually die anytime soon.
Your data is safe in the backup routine you've instituted...

 

[123364]

I have one last question for you if you're still around. After some thinking, I decided to that 2Tb will get me by for now and I'll probably just buy more SSD storage later on. I narrowed it down to these two, but can't decide which one to get. Now sure what the pros and cons are for each. They both cost about the same, and both have 5-yr. warranties.

Seagate BarraCuda Pro SATA HDD 2TB, $109.99 https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Computers-ST4000DM006/dp/B01MYWS7LO/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1546121713&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=ST2000DM009&th=1

Seagate 2TB FireCuda Gaming SSHD, $95.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IEKG2HM?tag=price124410d-20&ascsubtag=wtbs_5c27f2c525e9126edf3a1b48

Is one more reliable than the other? Already have my 1tb ssd for speed.

1. Barracuda Pro. Longer warranty. $110

2. FireCuda. SSHD hybrid drive. There is a small 8GB cache, to theoretically speed up read performance in some areas. $96.
That speed increase only works if you are reading the same blocks of data ll the time. Something new, regular slow HDD speed.
And all writes are at regular, 5400RPM slow speed.

3. Other option. 2TB Barracuda (not Pro). $66 at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Computers-ST4000DM006/dp/B01IEKG402

Personally, I'd go with #3.
For stuff that ends up on the HDD, you almost certainly would not notice any difference. And warranty? Meh...don't drop it off the desk, and it is unlikely to actually die anytime soon.
Your data is safe in the backup routine you've instituted...

Hehe, ya I was thinking the same thing. Thanks again, will order today.